Gatsby's efforts to improve the plugin authoring experience were informed by interviews with several prominent plugin developers, who shared motivations and challenges. Developers often create plugins to address specific issues that existing plugins cannot solve due to lack of maintenance, incompatibility, or non-existence. For instance, Tyler Barnes developed a more efficient WordPress source plugin to avoid repetitive and time-consuming data downloads. The challenges faced by developers include outdated plugins, inconsistencies with tools like Yarn, and a lack of understanding of testing and asynchronous operations. Gatsby proposes solutions such as enhancing documentation, introducing scaffolding for plugin creation, and establishing support channels like Discord. The goal is to reduce time and frustration for developers, making plugin creation and maintenance more accessible and efficient.