Yhn SportBaseball first seen 5 d ago, last 6 min ago, peak #1

Developer pays people to test README instructions

Original: I paid people to try and follow my README

A UK software developer paid participants to attempt setting up a project using only its README file, then wrote up the results. The experiment highlights how often open-source documentation fails first-time users, and readers are debating the value of paying outsiders to test docs versus relying on the authors' own assumptions about what is clear.

Why now: Documentation quality and usability testing are recurring pain points that resonate with the developer community

Terence EdenREADMEopen-source documentation

Open on hn →

Rank over time, top of the chart is #1. 9 snapshots from 11 h ago to 6 min ago.

Evidence

• I paid people to try and follow my README · edent · 429

Elsewhere

• Mmastodon #19 · 4 d ago

API: https://socialmediatrends-api.osmike.com/v1/trends/1855500