Deskana (WMF)

Dan Garry

Lead Product Manager, Editing, Wikimedia Foundation

"Direct action is not always the best way. It is a far greater victory to make another see through your eyes than to close theirs forever." - Kreia

About me

I started editing the English Wikipedia as Deskana in 2005. I became an administrator in 2006 and have done many things since then, but my most prominent activity has been in my service as a CheckUser.

Before I joined the Wikimedia Foundation, I was doing research using mathematical models of electroencephalogram to give insights into new treatment methods for absence epilepsy. Before that, I studied computer science and mathematics.

In my spare time, I enjoy cycling, travelling, video games (in particular StarCraft II), tasting different beers, and fixing/breaking computers. Also, I spend some of my spare time on that whole Wikipedia thing. You might have heard of it? ;-)

My work

I am the Lead Product Manager for Editing. Our mission is to build and maintain the editing experiences on the Wikimedia wikis. We work on VisualEditor, the 2017 wikitext editor, the WikiEditor, and other tools used by our content contributors.

Previously, I was the Lead Product Manager for Discovery. Discovery's mission is to make the wealth of knowledge in the Wikimedia projects easily discoverable. I guided product development across Discovery, and served as the product owner for search.

Before that, I was the Associate Product Manager for Mobile Apps. The apps are designed to provide the best reading experience for Wikipedia, and have been featured apps on both the iOS App Store and Google Play.

Disclaimer: I work for or provide services to the Wikimedia Foundation, and this is the account I try to use for edits or statements I make in that role. However, the Foundation does not vet all my activity, so edits, statements, or other contributions made by this account may not reflect the views of the Foundation.

Contact me

E-mail: dgarrywikimedia.org
IRC: Deskana
As a volunteer: Deskana