Pika: Empowering Non-Programmers to Author Executable Governance Policies in Online Communities

TL;DR

Pika is a system that enables non-programmers to easily create and manage executable governance policies for online communities using a user-friendly interface and a modular, declarative language.

Contribution

It introduces a declarative, modular language and interface that allow non-programmers to author complex governance policies, expanding participation beyond technical users.

Findings

Non-programmers can author policies 2.5 times faster than programmers in code.

Pika supports diverse community governance policies.

User studies demonstrate Pika's usability and expressivity.

Abstract

Internet users have formed a wide array of online communities with nuanced and diverse community goals and norms. However, most online platforms only offer a limited set of governance models in their software infrastructure and leave little room for customization. Consequently, technical proficiency becomes a prerequisite for online communities to build governance policies in code, excluding non-programmers from participation in designing community governance. In this paper, we present Pika, a system that empowers non-programmers to author a wide range of executable governance policies. At its core, Pika incorporates a declarative language that decomposes governance policies into modular components, thereby facilitating expressive policy authoring through a user-friendly, form-based web interface. Our user studies with 17 participants show that Pika can empower non-programmers to author governance policies approximately 2.5 times faster than programmers who author in code. We also provide insights about Pika's expressivity in supporting diverse policies that online communities want.