Episode 274: Qianqian Ye on p5.js

Guest Qianqian Ye Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this
episode of Sustain, Richard hosts a conversation with Qianqian “Q”
Ye, an artist, creative technologist, and educator who recently led
the p5.js project, an open-source JavaScript library designed to
prioritize accessibility and diversity in learning to code. Q
shares her journey from an architectural background to contributing
and eventually leading p5.js, a library created by artists for
artists with a strong focus on visual feedback and accessibility.
They discuss the importance of decentralizing leadership, setting
boundaries to avoid burnout, and empowering contributors to ensure
the project's sustainability. Key topics include the role of care
work in open source, the community-driven evolution of p5.js, and
strategies for maintaining a collaborative and inclusive
environment. Q also highlights the significance of providing clear
documentation and recognizing all forms of contributions to foster
a welcoming community. Press download now to hear more! [00:001:01]
Q explains what p5.js is and how it teaches people to code.
[00:02:11] Q shares her journey from former architect turned
creative technologist and highlights her community progression
through translation and outreach. [00:04:19] Why is p5.js
different? Q emphasizes the output is art, not code, making it more
inclusive and intuitive for beginners. [00:05:40] Richard inquires
about the p5.js community and contributors and Q tells us there are
700-800 contributors officially recognized. [00:06:33] Q elaborates
on the relationship with the Processing Foundation. P5.js operates
semi-independently under its support, and she talks about the staff
size for p5.js. [00:07:49] Q believes the traditional open source
volunteerism is problematic and the Sovereign Tech Agency provided
funding to support mentors and contributors. [00:09:19] Q’s essay
“Care Work in OSS” explores the invisible labor behind software
projects and advocates for recognizing emotional labor and
decentralized decision making. [00:10:15] We hear about the
rotating leadership and inclusivity and how documentation and
mentorship is the key to smooth transitions. [00:13:18] Q talks
about the translation stewardship with a decentralized structure
with language-specific stewards and using inclusive onboarding and
translations. [00:15:31] Richard questions preventing burnout in
stewards and Q elaborates how p5.js handles this and why access
includes joy and inclusivity. [00:18:05] We hear how decisions
about feature acceptance are made through community review and
discussions, as well as how some users challenged the access-first
policy. [00:20:15] Balancing art and community is discussed here as
Q clarifies that open source and the arts often conflict due to
individualism vs. collectivism. [00:21:48] How does Q help the open
source community learn and give credit to other people well all the
time? She gives routine shoutouts in release notes, social media,
and seeks to credit all contributions, not just code. [00:24:48] Q
shares how she deals with emotional burnout and boundaries and tips
for setting boundaries. [00:28:18] What’s next for Q? She’s
returning from maternity leave as Manager of Community and
Partnerships for the Processing Foundation, and focus on building
relationships and discussing sustainable funding at UN Open Source
Week. [00:29:32] Find out where you can follow Q and p5.js on the
web. Quotes [00:08:00] “I strongly believe that the volunteer-based
model in open source is very problematic, and I’ve been trying to
experiment different ways on doing thing alternatively.” [00:09:55]
“OSS appears faceless, but there are so many people behind OSS.”
[00:11:17] “Creators and maintainers of OSS carry bias of their own
when they maintain the software.” [00:16:20] “Having to say no
helped us to clarify the vision for the p5.js project.” Spotlight
[00:30:01] Richard’s spotlight is the book, Things Become Other
Things by Craig Mod [00:30:50] Q’s spotlight is two contributors,
Dave Pagurek and Kenneth Lim. Links SustainOSS
(https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org
(mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org
(mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse
(https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon
(https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky
(https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open
Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute)
(https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials
(https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Qianqian Ye LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/qianqian-ye-23693364/) Qianqian Ye
Website (https://qianqian-ye.com/) p5.js (https://p5js.org/) p5.js
Access Statement (https://p5js.org/contribute/access/) All
Contributors (https://allcontributors.org/) Processing Foundation
(https://processingfoundation.org/) Sovereign Tech Agency
(https://www.sovereign.tech/) Lauren Lee McCarthy
(https://get-lauren.net/) Making p5.js by Lauren Lee McCarthy
(https://medium.com/processing-foundation/making-p5-js-fd293ba91a32)
UN Open Source Week 2025, NYC, June 16-20
(https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/content/open-source-week-2025)
Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod
(https://craigmod.com/ridgeline/174/) P5.js 2.0 and an open source
philosophy by Dave Pagurek
(https://www.davepagurek.com/blog/p5-2.0-philosophy/) Designing an
addon library system for p5.js 2.0 by Kenneth Lim
(https://dev.to/limzykenneth/designing-an-addon-library-system-for-p5js-20-3d4p)
Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/)
Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound
(https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr
Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest:
Qianqian Ye.