Wayfinding

Why this problem

Every cohort, problem and person is different, so the experience adapts. Participants can't feel progress in something that keeps changing, and funders can't back what they can't point to. We're finding out how to make progress visible without freezing it.

We're one of three Research Pods in Build Cycle C04, six weeks in which neighbors pick a hard problem about The Labs, research it properly, and build something real in response. Oct 24 to Dec 8, 2026.

Help us find out

Right now we're doing archaeology: finding out how this became a problem and what's already been tried, here and anywhere else. That takes people who've lived it and people willing to go ask. You don't need to code, and an hour helps. Pick one:

• Tell us when you last felt you were getting somewhere here, and what told you.
• Talk to someone who has had to explain The Labs to a funder or a boss.
• Find one program, anywhere, that shows progress without turning into a checklist.

Say which one, or bring your own, and a maintainer will set you up. You'll write down what you learn, we'll read it together on Nov 7, and it goes into the record with your name on the contributors list.

New to GitHub? Say so in your comment. We'll walk you through it.

Go further: build with us

Each pod is looking for two to four more builders in residence. A builder in residence gives 4 to 6 hours a week through Dec 8, mostly nights and weekends, with a coding agent doing the heavy lifting. You help run the research now. After Nov 14 you lead one project of your own, with a team you recruit, and ship a working change to how The Labs runs. You become a maintainer of this pod.

If you've been waiting for a reason to build something real with people who'll actually use it, this is the reason.

Prototypes

Rough probes we show people to learn how they react. Made-up data only.

• None yet. The first ones come after Nov 2, once we've talked to people.

Where we are

• Oct 26Talking to people who've lived this problem, here and elsewhere.
• Nov 7We write down why it's hard, in one paradox.
• Nov 14Project proposals, and the room votes.
• Dec 8We ship something people at The Labs use.

Everything we find is in the pod's repo.