By Gregory Wolanski
Five hundred open source projects in need of design help
Backstory
You’re a designer. You would like to get involved in open source but don’t know where to begin. You don’t want to work on any open source project. You want to make an impact. But how can you find open source projects that are looking for design help and are being used by many people?
I’ve been asking myself this question for at least a few months. I haven’t been able to find the answer on the web. So I decided to treat it as a design problem.
For more than a year, I explored my answers to the question “What would you like to do if money were no object?” “Building free software” was one of my answers.
I did my research. Most open source projects are on GitHub. GitHub has a feature where users can star projects. This is how GitHub describes stars:
You can star repositories to keep track of projects you find interesting and discover similar projects in your news feed.
Starring a repository makes it easy to find again later. […]
Starring a repository also shows appreciation to the repository maintainer for their work.
In the absence of better alternatives, I allowed myself to assume that the number of stars could serve to measure the impact of a project.
Things to do in projects are called “issues” on GitHub. GitHub has a search engine. Is it possible to do a GitHub search for current issues labeled “ux”, “ui” or “design” and sort them according to the number of stars awarded to the projects?
No.
Hmm.
I learned what I needed to learn and wrote a program that builds such a list. At the time of this writing, it returns 17,742 issues. 17,742 things to do in 2,942 projects. It took two hours to extract all this data from GitHub. And these are just the things from the last 12 months. It’s an excessive amount of data.
What can be done with all this data? A lot. The first thing I’m doing is making the following list of 500 open source projects in need of help from designers. I hope that this is an inspiration for you. It helped me and I believe that it will help you too.
freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp・291470 stars
atom/atom・42019 stars
Microsoft/vscode・39428 stars
jekyll/jekyll・32036 stars
getlantern/lantern・30073 stars
zurb/foundation-sites・26701 stars
neovim/neovim・25132 stars
TryGhost/Ghost・24453 stars
nylas/nylas-mail・23737 stars
ant-design/ant-design・20182 stars
Leaflet/Leaflet・20065 stars
apache/incubator-superset・16920 stars
storybooks/storybook・16143 stars
npm/npm・14633 stars
facebook/jest・13737 stars
angular-ui/ui-router・13671 stars
ipython/ipython・12177 stars
angular/material2・12073 stars
NativeScript/NativeScript・11807 stars
diaspora/diaspora・11493 stars
keystonejs/keystone・11433 stars
tootsuite/mastodon・11413 stars
source-foundry/Hack・10407 stars
LightTable/LightTable・9930 stars
JuliaLang/julia・9577 stars
Automattic/wp-calypso・9463 stars
fabric/fabric・9298 stars
pockethub/PocketHub・9087 stars
chmln/flatpickr・9055 stars
spree/spree・8870 stars
WhisperSystems/Signal-Android・8475 stars
elastic/logstash・8302 stars
OpenEmu/OpenEmu・8187 stars
docker/kitematic・8057 stars
metabase/metabase・7605 stars
FineUploader/fine-uploader・7346 stars
Wox-launcher/Wox・7329 stars
CachetHQ/Cachet・7300 stars
mailpile/Mailpile・7141 stars
mozilla/metrics-graphics・6759 stars
ether/etherpad-lite・6621 stars
apex/apex・6386 stars
travis-ci/travis-ci・6263 stars
ory/editor・6232 stars
brave/browser-laptop・6227 stars
SFTtech/openage・6213 stars
telegramdesktop/tdesktop・6106 stars
ianstormtaylor/slate・6051 stars
insidegui/WWDC・6036 stars
reactioncommerce/reaction・6009 stars
joemccann/dillinger・5716 stars
keeweb/keeweb・5687 stars
owncloud/core・5656 stars
zulip/zulip・5582 stars
gravitational/teleport・5431 stars
the-control-group/voyager・4990 stars
MonoGame/MonoGame・4724 stars
OpenRA/OpenRA・4657 stars
ant-design/ant-design-pro・4527 stars
topcoat/topcoat・4276 stars
icsharpcode/ILSpy・4105 stars
Strider-CD/strider・4053 stars
spinnaker/spinnaker・3940 stars
rsms/inter・3917 stars
rtfd/readthedocs.org・3873 stars
prose/prose・3869 stars
apex/up・3835 stars
HospitalRun/hospitalrun-frontend・3772 stars
Sylius/Sylius・3723 stars
mattgodbolt/compiler-explorer・3584 stars
netlify/netlify-cms・3582 stars
askmike/gekko・3575 stars
scylladb/scylla・3539 stars
malcommac/SwiftDate・3435 stars
jaegertracing/jaeger・3391 stars
koreader/koreader・3382 stars
flarum/core・3380 stars
apache/couchdb・3338 stars
nextcloud/server・3221 stars
wallabag/wallabag・3172 stars
vmware/harbor・3146 stars
HearthSim/Hearthstone-Deck-Tracker・3133 stars
hashicorp/nomad・3040 stars
mawww/kakoune・2995 stars
transloadit/uppy・2995 stars
twitter/heron・2990 stars
jupyter/jupyter・2941 stars
googlearchive/chromedeveditor・2901 stars
eventbrite/britecharts・2890 stars
postmanlabs/postman-app-support・2854 stars
ricochet-im/ricochet・2812 stars
HubPress/hubpress.io・2773 stars
benvanik/xenia・2753 stars
NVIDIA/DIGITS・2712 stars
phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin・2708 stars
martanne/vis・2700 stars
pyrocms/pyrocms・2672 stars
sitespeedio/sitespeed.io・2659 stars
lektor/lektor・2567 stars
TykTechnologies/tyk・2558 stars
mozilla-services/react-jsonschema-form・2504 stars
lesspass/lesspass・2481 stars
kangax/compat-table・2443 stars
statsmodels/statsmodels・2424 stars
Microsoft/sqlopsstudio・2402 stars
gitextensions/gitextensions・2374 stars
redox-os/tfs・2372 stars
gephi/gephi・2353 stars
owncloud/android・2335 stars
duplicati/duplicati・2322 stars
freedomofpress/securedrop・2210 stars
MovingBlocks/Terasology・2203 stars
rundeck/rundeck・2189 stars
thoughtbot/shoulda-matchers・2155 stars
wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS・2104 stars
aseprite/aseprite・2081 stars
nteract/nteract・2059 stars
iron-meteor/iron-router・2057 stars
cssmagic/blog・2023 stars
tomahawk-player/tomahawk・2004 stars
wireapp/wire-android・1976 stars
EFForg/https-everywhere・1960 stars
bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton・1944 stars
opentoonz/opentoonz・1928 stars
prikhi/pencil・1919 stars
ktorio/ktor・1913 stars
iron-io/functions・1861 stars
getguesstimate/guesstimate-app・1854 stars
howtographql/howtographql・1852 stars
CMB2/CMB2・1838 stars
Netflix/security_monkey・1833 stars
OpenZeppelin/zeppelin-solidity・1812 stars
punkave/apostrophe・1807 stars
mumble-voip/mumble・1794 stars
OpenGrok/OpenGrok・1764 stars
fnproject/fn・1747 stars
ckan/ckan・1744 stars
ampache/ampache・1734 stars
fontforge/fontforge・1714 stars
trailsjs/trails・1693 stars
CartoDB/cartodb・1647 stars
alexrj/Slic3r・1643 stars
asciidoctor/asciidoctor・1641 stars
onyx-platform/onyx・1633 stars
solidusio/solidus・1608 stars
SUSE/Portus・1606 stars
rubygems/rubygems.org・1600 stars
divmain/GitSavvy・1597 stars
atom/teletype・1587 stars
wordpress-mobile/WordPress-Android・1585 stars
goldendict/goldendict・1574 stars
LMMS/lmms・1572 stars
frontendbr/forum・1568 stars
verdaccio/verdaccio・1566 stars
Radarr/Radarr・1565 stars
canjs/canjs・1547 stars
status-im/status-react・1546 stars
snipe/snipe-it・1525 stars
git/git-scm.com・1522 stars
montagejs/montage・1519 stars
sagalbot/vue-select・1508 stars
SSilence/selfoss・1493 stars
NixOS/nix・1488 stars
SpiderOak/Encryptr・1460 stars
vector-im/riot-web・1432 stars
swimlane/ngx-charts・1432 stars
kimchi-project/kimchi・1410 stars
django-admin-bootstrapped/django-admin-bootstrapped・1405 stars
seven332/EhViewer・1401 stars
Teradata/covalent・1376 stars
WordPress/gutenberg・1347 stars
jnunemaker/flipper・1322 stars
duckduckgo/duckduckgo・1316 stars
pypa/warehouse・1285 stars
wesnoth/wesnoth・1264 stars
bitovi/jquerypp・1256 stars
720kb/ndm・1238 stars
ASKBOT/askbot-devel・1231 stars
nyaadevs/nyaa・1224 stars
mustache/mustache.github.com・1220 stars
icefox/git-achievements・1213 stars
corda/corda・1207 stars
donejs/donejs・1202 stars
blockstack/blockstack・1188 stars
firebug/firebug・1169 stars
nunit/nunit・1150 stars
osTicket/osTicket・1141 stars
mozilla/thimble.mozilla.org・1129 stars
isaacs/github・1118 stars
GSA/data.gov・1114 stars
Elgg/Elgg・1097 stars
Automattic/simplenote-android・1045 stars
Schmavery/facebook-chat-api・1034 stars
ankidroid/Anki-Android・1028 stars
bpmn-io/bpmn-js・1028 stars
boostorg/beast・1016 stars
jxtech/wechatpy・1012 stars
24pullrequests/24pullrequests・1003 stars
composer/packagist・1002 stars
iRareMedia/iCloudDocumentSync・997 stars
justwatchcom/gopass・987 stars
smartstoreag/SmartStoreNET・974 stars
purpleidea/mgmt・970 stars
dotnet/corefxlab・965 stars
translate/pootle・929 stars
modoboa/modoboa・910 stars
devsnd/cherrymusic・909 stars
craftcms/cms・896 stars
lightningnetwork/lnd・891 stars
fritzing/fritzing-app・889 stars
pantsbuild/pants・883 stars
stampery/mongoaudit・883 stars
EFForg/privacybadger・881 stars
jfurrow/flood・872 stars
mypaint/mypaint・864 stars
mixxxdj/mixxx・858 stars
thredded/thredded・844 stars
Yoast/wordpress-seo・816 stars
trailofbits/manticore・812 stars
atom/autocomplete-plus・810 stars
blockstack/blockstack-browser・809 stars
mirage/irmin・806 stars
4pr0n/ripme・779 stars
frappe/frappe・776 stars
boostorg/compute・772 stars
yeoman/yeoman.github.io・762 stars
guyzmo/git-repo・741 stars
securitywithoutborders/hardentools・739 stars
python/pythondotorg・737 stars
allegro/ralph・737 stars
ThemeFuse/Unyson・730 stars
brave/browser-ios・730 stars
duckduckgo/zeroclickinfo-goodies・725 stars
akira/exq・712 stars
patternfly/patternfly・711 stars
JabRef/jabref・704 stars
securitytxt/security-txt・702 stars
mozilla-mobile/focus-ios・697 stars
owtf/owtf・688 stars
eslint/espree・687 stars
potree/potree・681 stars
mavlink/qgroundcontrol・672 stars
insidegui/PodcastMenu・667 stars
funretro/distributed・655 stars
projecthamster/hamster・654 stars
pods-framework/pods・653 stars
firasdib/Regex101・652 stars
FreshRSS/FreshRSS・649 stars
opentx/opentx・641 stars
LLK/scratch-blocks・640 stars
solvespace/solvespace・640 stars
HTBox/allReady・629 stars
factor/factor・628 stars
wavebox/waveboxapp・619 stars
nodejs/nodejs.org・612 stars
NativeScript/nativescript-cli・605 stars
glowing-bear/glowing-bear・605 stars
erengy/taiga・595 stars
bitovi/funcunit・585 stars
sulu/sulu-standard・585 stars
webrecorder/webrecorder・583 stars
hsz/idea-gitignore・582 stars
mulesoft/api-console・579 stars
eclipse/smarthome・579 stars
emberjs/website・576 stars
emoncms/emoncms・572 stars
vickychijwani/quill・563 stars
ManageIQ/manageiq・562 stars
simonmichael/hledger・554 stars
wroscoe/donkey・537 stars
rwengine/openrw・528 stars
alephdata/aleph・518 stars
hootsuite/atlantis・513 stars
nextcloud/android・511 stars
DynamoDS/Dynamo・511 stars
consul/consul・509 stars
GoldenCheetah/GoldenCheetah・503 stars
flosell/lambdacd・503 stars
friendica/friendica・500 stars
noflo/noflo-ui・498 stars
KeitIG/museeks・497 stars
mozilla-mobile/focus-android・489 stars
exercism/cli・488 stars
scout-app/scout-app・487 stars
coreinfrastructure/best-practices-badge・486 stars
h2non/gentleman・478 stars
owncloud/ios・473 stars
hyperledger/composer・472 stars
vifm/vifm・470 stars
prusa3d/Slic3r・467 stars
agrafix/Spock・463 stars
vector-im/riot-android・462 stars
log2timeline/plaso・457 stars
GhostText/GhostText・446 stars
ushahidi/platform・443 stars
EFForg/privacybadgerfirefox-legacy・442 stars
influxdata/chronograf・435 stars
istresearch/scrapy-cluster・433 stars
tgstation/tgstation・432 stars
quodlibet/quodlibet・429 stars
wallabyjs/public・422 stars
colobot/colobot・421 stars
chronotope/chrono・418 stars
ParabolInc/action・417 stars
atom/tree-view・415 stars
spack/spack・413 stars
HabitRPG/habitica-android・410 stars
osresearch/heads・410 stars
gdg-x/hoverboard・404 stars
fossasia/open-event-webapp・404 stars
owncloud/apps・402 stars
julianguyen/ifme・402 stars
google/blockly-android・402 stars
hashview/hashview・401 stars
Icinga/icingaweb2・395 stars
mikeboers/PyAV・394 stars
pencil2d/pencil・390 stars
bit-team/backintime・389 stars
ethereum/browser-solidity・381 stars
OpenXRay/xray-16・377 stars
atom/github・375 stars
Storj/core・374 stars
partkeepr/PartKeepr・372 stars
awesome-jobs/vietnam・371 stars
kubernetes-helm/monocular・370 stars
symfony-cmf/cmf-sandbox・366 stars
magefile/mage・364 stars
monero-project/kovri・360 stars
grena/gruik・358 stars
fossasia/loklak_search・357 stars
paragonie/airship・357 stars
openSUSE/osem・353 stars
redmatrix/hubzilla・348 stars
OpenPTT/OpenPTT・347 stars
kotcrab/vis-editor・342 stars
RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.iOS・336 stars
jsxc/jsxc・336 stars
threema-ch/threema-web・335 stars
mysociety/fixmystreet・333 stars
NUKnightLab/juxtapose・331 stars
codeforscience/sciencefair・329 stars
Etar-Group/Etar-Calendar・329 stars
Microsoft/pxt・326 stars
LLK/scratch-www・325 stars
theia-ide/theia・323 stars
byte-foundry/prototypo・322 stars
internetarchive/openlibrary・319 stars
aurelia/cli・317 stars
ZenHubIO/support・311 stars
haskell-foundation/foundation・308 stars
Storj/storjshare-gui・304 stars
OpenUserJS/OpenUserJS.org・304 stars
cla-assistant/cla-assistant・302 stars
roadiz/roadiz・301 stars
kbenoit/quanteda・300 stars
Spomky-Labs/jose・300 stars
nguillaumin/osmtracker-android・299 stars
vaadin/vaadin-grid・294 stars
ppy/osu-web・291 stars
humanmade/WordPress-Importer・288 stars
hotosm/osm-tasking-manager2・287 stars
Bionus/imgbrd-grabber・286 stars
lbryio/lbry-app・284 stars
AzureAD/azure-activedirectory-identitymodel-extensions-for-dotnet・282 stars
Glucosio/glucosio-android・276 stars
vinszent/gnome-twitch・276 stars
streetmix/streetmix・270 stars
CGCookie/retopoflow・265 stars
EasyRPG/Player・265 stars
coyim/coyim・264 stars
tylergaw/colorme・263 stars
nuttyartist/notes・261 stars
aframevr/aframe-inspector・259 stars
autolab/Autolab・256 stars
500tech/mimic・253 stars
Kotlin/kotlinx.html・252 stars
php-censor/php-censor・249 stars
opencollective/opencollective・247 stars
ludumdare/ludumdare・245 stars
brave/browser-android-tabs・240 stars
refreshoxford/django-cbv-inspector・236 stars
steemit/condenser・235 stars
linkeddata/dokieli・234 stars
Microsoft/vscode-arduino・234 stars
sulu/sulu・234 stars
LLK/scratch-gui・234 stars
RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.Android・233 stars
Alanaktion/phproject・232 stars
nilmtk/nilmtk・232 stars
rambler-digital-solutions/rambler-it-ios・226 stars
Camelcade/Perl5-IDEA・225 stars
openopps/openopps-platform・222 stars
benbernard/RecordStream・222 stars
mysociety/alaveteli・219 stars
Sprytile/Sprytile・217 stars
enjalot/blockbuilder・216 stars
nunit/docs・215 stars
apex/static・215 stars
owncloud/music・211 stars
bardsoftware/ganttproject・211 stars
Automattic/sensei・210 stars
mysociety/mapit・208 stars
xibosignage/xibo・208 stars
Syonix/monolog-viewer・207 stars
OpenLiberty/open-liberty・207 stars
stelligent/mu・206 stars
hacktoberfest17/programming・205 stars
astroidmail/astroid・205 stars
18F/18f.gsa.gov・204 stars
Philip-Scott/Notes-up・200 stars
caskdata/cdap・199 stars
nextcloud/calendar・199 stars
liberapay/liberapay.com・198 stars
atom/one-dark-ui・198 stars
Reedyn/Saga・197 stars
vector-im/riot-ios・196 stars
getgrav/grav-plugin-admin・195 stars
rsjaffe/MIDI2LR・195 stars
hakaru-dev/hakaru・193 stars
chromium/hstspreload.org・193 stars
GetDKAN/dkan・193 stars
Runalyze/Runalyze・192 stars
joakimskoog/AnApiOfIceAndFire・190 stars
monero-project/monero-gui・190 stars
RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech・189 stars
ipfs-shipyard/peerpad・189 stars
snowleopard/alga・188 stars
atom/find-and-replace・187 stars
DMOJ/judge・185 stars
archimatetool/archi・184 stars
Storj/storjshare-daemon・184 stars
onury/accesscontrol・183 stars
propensive/rapture・183 stars
dtolnay/syn・182 stars
Vector35/binaryninja-api・182 stars
Automattic/wp-super-cache・180 stars
TrustWallet/trust-wallet-ios・180 stars
mroth/scmpuff・179 stars
wallabag/android-app・179 stars
decrypto-org/rupture・178 stars
trufont/trufont・177 stars
algorithmic-music-exploration/amen・175 stars
matrix-org/dendrite・175 stars
libratbag/libratbag・175 stars
Spreads/Spreads・174 stars
semperfiwebdesign/all-in-one-seo-pack・174 stars
nextcloud/bookmarks・172 stars
vmware/docker-volume-vsphere・171 stars
lidarr/Lidarr・171 stars
uxbox/uxbox・168 stars
OpenRA/ra2・168 stars
Spacelog/Spacelog・167 stars
AdguardTeam/AdguardForiOS・167 stars
RestComm/Restcomm-Connect・165 stars
pychess/pychess・165 stars
camunda/camunda-modeler・164 stars
nextcloud/news・162 stars
nextcloud/ios・161 stars
codeforamerica/click_that_hood・160 stars
ejgallego/jscoq・159 stars
Trustroots/trustroots・157 stars
QubesOS/qubes-issues・157 stars
Microsoft/workbooks・157 stars
podlove/podlove-web-player・157 stars
publiclab/plots2・156 stars
magarena/magarena・156 stars
amilajack/popcorn-time-desktop・155 stars
quicwg/base-drafts・155 stars
balancemymoney/balance-open・154 stars
pixelated/pixelated-user-agent・152 stars
gap-system/gap・152 stars
inaturalist/inaturalist・152 stars
HabitRPG/habitica-ios・150 stars
lightninglabs/lightning-app・150 stars
yetibot/yetibot・149 stars
go-restruct/restruct・148 stars
nextcloud/nextcloudpi・142 stars
nextcloud/mail・140 stars
AdguardTeam/AdguardForAndroid・139 stars
smartchicago/chicago-atlas・139 stars
aaronpk/IndieAuth.com・138 stars
cloudflare/doca・138 stars
CaliOpen/Caliopen・138 stars
googlefonts/fontbakery・137 stars
juju/juju-gui・132 stars
ekylibre/ekylibre・131 stars
atom/settings-view・131 stars
rosedu/wouso・130 stars
vgstation-coders/vgstation13・129 stars
stefan-niedermann/nextcloud-notes・129 stars
AppleWin/AppleWin・129 stars
httpwg/http-extensions・129 stars
mozilla/fxa-content-server・128 stars
ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K・128 stars
clojure/clojure-site・127 stars
lewissbaker/cppcoro・126 stars
JohnCoatesOSS/Limitless・126 stars
OpenChemistry/tomviz・126 stars
PS: Don’t forget to read How to Contribute to Open Source.
