Selenium Community Live - Episode 5
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The fifth episode of Selenium Community Live happened on April 25th 2025.
The event featured speakers Ashley Hunsberger , Director at NBCUniversal with close to 25 years of industry experience and a long-time friend of the Selenium, alongside Puja Jagani, Open Source Engineer & Developer Advocate at BrowserStack and member of the Selenium leadership(TLC and PLC). The event was hosted by Pallavi Sharma, Founder 5 Elements Learning and a long-time Selenium Committer.
The theme of the community event was “Beyond Code: Understanding Developer Satisfaction in Open Source Contributions”.
While many discussions around open source have happened that focus on code contributions and technical aspects, there is a vital human element involved, something that keeps the contributions rolling for decades, i.e. developer satisfaction. This community event was dedicated to discussing the human factor in open source contributions. The speakers shared their insights and experience on developer satisfaction in open source.
What motivates Open Source contributors?
Ashley’s LinkedIn states that “My driving principle is simple: people first” and building on that, Ashley and Puja both highlight that open source is “by the community, for the community,” where collaboration and human connections are foundational motivating factors for them.
Ashley shares her journey with Selenium, highlighting how the warm, caring community has helped her build genuine friendships and good memories.
“In the end, do people really remember what we build? They’re going to remember how we made them feel.” - Ashley Hunsberger
She states that for her, a main motivational factor is community, and what she thinks drives people is the altruistic purpose of giving back to the community beyond their organisation and serving a great purpose. According to her, motivation drives behaviour, and if you have clear motivation, that will drive your place in the community in the long run.
Beyond altruism, Puja thinks there is a diversity of motivators, emphasising that contributions extend far beyond code. Contributions might include:
- Helping with documentation
- Managing continuous integration (CI) pipelines
- Handling legal, and financial aspects, and other administrative aspects
- Organising conferences, community events, and meetups.
These roles are often in the spotlight but critical to the health and growth of open source projects. A huge spectrum of motivators drives people’s behaviour and keeps the open source project breathing and growing.
No single factor that contributes to developer satisfaction
Ashley brings a unique perspective to the idea that developer satisfaction can be understood through the lens of the Job Characteristics Model. This model outlines key aspects of work that lead to positive outcomes such as retention, motivation, and job satisfaction.
Key factors include:
- Skill Variety: Open source contributors engage in a wide range of skills, from coding to release engineering, documentation, and advocacy.
- Task Identity: Contributors often see their work through from start to finish, building and shipping features that users directly benefit from.
- Task Significance: Understanding the impact and value of their contributions motivates developers to continue their work.
- Autonomy: Contributors enjoy flexibility in how, when, and where they contribute, within the project’s guidelines.
- Feedback: Constructive feedback loops help contributors improve and feel connected to the community.
These elements combine to foster long-term satisfaction.
The Evolution of Motivation in Open Source
Puja shared her own journey with Selenium, from initially feeling nervous about contributing to becoming a part of the technical leadership. Initially, simple contributions like fixing a bug brought immense satisfaction. Over time, the motivation evolved to include community appreciation and the visible impact of her work on the end users of Selenium. She recounts a meaningful interaction at a recent conference where an attendee thanked her for contributing to Selenium, highlighting how such moments validate and inspire ongoing commitment.
Handling Conflict in Open Source
Ashley and Puja acknowledged that interactions on platforms like GitHub or chat channels can include harsh or unexpected comments or the project itself can have some differences of opinion. And this could be largely due to the diverse background of people, any open source project experiences. This difference of opinion and thought diversity is what makes the group awesome, but certain situations need to be resolved with care.
Ashley shares her first experience receiving a non-constructive code review and emphasises the importance of kindness and clarity in feedback: “Be kind, but clear. Clear is kind. You don’t have to be nice, but be clear about what happened, why, and how to improve.” - Ashley Hunsberger
Effective conflict resolution involves open questions, understanding the intent, and focusing on shared goals. It’s important to remember that conflicts are natural in any group, but they can be handled constructively with the key focus being on what is important for the situation. It is also essential to make sure an open source project has a code of conduct that is implemented in such situations and that the community is aware they have a safe space to report their issue and that they will be heard.
Inclusivity
Ashley distinguishes between mentorship and sponsorship as two pillars of inclusion:
- Mentorship: Providing advice, guidance, and support to help someone grow and navigate the community.
- Sponsorship: Actively advocating for someone, opening doors, and recommending them for opportunities
Ashley further discussed that inclusivity needs to be beyond code. Such as ensuring inclusive language and removing any barriers of entry for new contributors. The key focus should be on building an inclusive environment and creating a welcoming space for new contributors and the community.
Overcoming Impostor Syndrome
Impostor syndrome is a common challenge for developers, especially when engaging in large, visible open-source projects. Ashley shares candidly about her struggles and offers practical advice when Pallavi asked her to share her insights on how to enable people to overcome impostor syndrome. Ashley shares the following
- Be kind to yourself and reframe negative thoughts. Add “yet” to statements like “I don’t know how to do this… yet.”
- Recognise that many others share the same fears and questions.
- Build a support network of trusted friends, mentors, and peers who understand your journey.
- Use tools like worksheets to identify negative thinking patterns and consciously reframe them.
- Focus on facts about your skills and contributions rather than self-doubt.
These strategies can help contributors maintain confidence in their open-source journey.
Next they discussed how open source projects can help people, and here the importance of visibility and recognition in sustaining open source motivation was emphasised. Seeing the direct impact of one’s work, whether through download statistics, user feedback, or conference stories, reinforces the value of contributions. Whether you are a seasoned contributor or a newcomer, reflecting on the above areas can hopefully help you foster a more satisfying developer experience.
Selenium is now entering its 21st year of existence, has had contributors spanning across various time zones, geographies and areas of expertise. With nearly 800 contributors over two decades, we take this moment to express gratitude to each of them. Through continuous feedback and meaningful interaction with the community, Selenium remains dedicated to work towards a healthier developer satisfaction.
Watch the Recording
Couldn’t join us live? Watch the entire episode!
You can watch the episode on YouTube here- Episode 5 on YouTube or you can watch the episode on LinkedIn here- Episode 5 on LinkedIn.
Thank you! Stay tuned as we bring the next! Subscribe here to the Selenium HQ Official YouTube Channel.
