Tech: Software in social development. Phoenix

Software in social development.

-

Selby Evans (AKA Thinkerer Melville)

-

Phoenix has a viewer support group in Second Life, founded  by Ed Merriman.  Phoenix has now posted a pre-beta version of its Viewer 2, and is developing for the Hypergrid.

-

http://jayrcelasecondlifetechnologist.blogspot.com/2011/02/phoenix-firestorm-preview-release-my.html

-

Mystery Phoenix Virtual World Client Viewer Hyper Grid Ready

-

So I am taking Phoenix  and its work more seriously than before.  I joined that group, Phoenix Viewer Support.  I can follow the discussion even though I am not running the pre-beta.  And I saw a new twist in the future.  A new form of creative collaboration.  A new disruptor for software development.

-

Cloud-sourced collaboration.  User prototyping.  

-

The Phoenix Viewer Support group is as chatty as any group I have been in.  And they are providing help to users.  But  I think the devs are working the group too.  So the users are providing help to the devs.  

-

What kind of help can users provide to devs?  Rapid prototyping.   Develop the user interface with ongoing user interaction.  And develop the instructions at the same time.  Whatever the users don't understand, you have to fix either in the interface or in the instructions.  If you develop both in parallel, you get to choose where you put the fix.  My preference is to fix the UI if possible.  That cuts things out of the instructions.  And makes the users happy.

-

So the users are helping the devs develop toward User Satisfaction.  Of course, one of  the S-tech principles is that people who are involved in the construction of something develop a sense of ownership.  They become committed  to the result.

-

Media: CoCreation in games, A sense of ownership does wonders

 -

So the people who are now getting help from the Phoenix Viewer Support group are preparing to be evangelists for Phoenix.  And the Phoenix devs are learning to see things from the standpoint of users. Software co-creation.

-

Snowstorm and the Open Agile

The Snowstorm group has also been making a serious effort to build bridges to the users.

-

Snowstorm, the Agile Solution, is delivering results

Sep 16, 2010

Snowstorm: the Agile Solution promising results Second Life Blogs: Snowstorm starts to produce useful...: "Among the changes made in Sprint 3 that finished on Monday includes making panels detachable from the sidebar and resizeable...

-

Snowstorm is here and they really mean it.

Aug 19, 2010

Second Life Blogs: Snowstorm tasks being undertaken in the...: "Create ability to undock/redock the various tabs in the sidebar and move them around the screen and minimise them just like normal floaters in 1.23 (yes, this is one of the most hated features about the sidebar being fixed

-

Virtual Outworlding: Project Snowstorm -- opening up open source

Nov 08, 2010

"Snowstorm is the name of the team responsible for coordinating development and integration of the Second Life Viewer 2, and for engaging the open source development community in its evolution.

-

The SecondLife Technologist: SecondLife Veiwer 2 SnowStorm 2.5.0.216735 "Getting Better Every Day":
"I have to admit, although things seem to be moving a bit on the slow side, but this is a very well organized, and dedicated group of people.  Thats right, Monday thru Friday you can download a fresh copy of the upcoming next version of the SL Viewer 2."

-

Where does that lead?

The Phoenix Viewer Support has developed a much more powerful solution.  Crowd sourced.  Crowd sourced help.  Crowd sourced focus group.  Free.  Sustainable.  If I had to bet now which viewer will be dominant next year, I would put my money on Phoenix.    

-

That will astonish some people, because I have been outspoken on the benefits of Viewer 2.x.

-

Tech: V2.x. The good, the bad, and the ugly-

I still use Viewer 2.x, and will till JayR tells me that Phoenix has a v2 version that is suitable for production use.

-

But I am talking about the future. The future is not about the product we have now.  It is about the development technology we are using now.  The development technology I see potentially emerging from the Phoenix Viewer Support group is s-tech at its best.  Agile on steroids.  That's why I would bet on it.

-

"Potential means you ain't done it yet."  And maybe Linden Lab will figure out a way to use the same s-tech.  Phoenix is open source and open dev.  Linden Lab can adopt the Phoenix code, so it does not have to be far behind Phoenix unless it chooses to be.

-

But that is the subject for another post.

Background

S-tech is here. E-tech is last year

Jan 25, 2011

===============

Hobo Kit: Table of Contents