Mozilla Sheriff Duty

The build systems and test suites for Mozilla’s products require frequent monitoring. This duty falls to the sheriff, a community member responsible for addressing stability issues each day. To increase participation and simplify coordination, I designed and prototyped a flexible calen­daring system for managing the rotation of sheriff duty.

My Role

  • Creating a calendaring system for tracking and changing sheriff duty.
  • Establishing secondary channels for monitoring sheriff duty in ambient ways.
  • Designing interactions for requesting and offering exchange of sheriff duty.
  • Creating a unique visual design for the web interface.

Challenges

Prospective sheriffs need a way to track when they will be on duty next, as well as when other sheriffs need to exchange days. This should be done in a way that is easy to understand, quick to determine, and compatible with the way they work.
When a sheriff is unable to assume duty on a day he has been assigned, he must request another sheriff to take on his duty. This should be done in a ways that is straightforward for the sheriff requesting help and highly visible to the sheriffs that might provide it. The system should also facilitate the exchange of duty with a minimum of difficulty.
The system should support the ability to add new sheriffs over time. The system should assist in finding an initial day to assume duty, as well as establishing a schedule afterward. It should do so in a way that does not disrupt current sheriff’s duties, leading to unpredictability.