Fri, Feb 25, 2005
News Flash: Transclusions Already Ubiquitous! #
No, this is not an advertisement for PurpleWiki (although PurpleWiki does support TransClusions). This is a wakeup call. TransClusions already exist and have existed for a long time. No, I'm not talking about ProjectXanadu. I'm talking about the WorldWideWeb and spreadsheets, among others. (IDZ)
First things first. What's a TransClusion? A transclusion is a link where the content of the link is displayed inline. For example: (IE0)
is a link. This: (IE2)
is the content of that link displayed inline. Which, of course, is example number one. Images on the Web are transclusions. When I include a URL in <img> tags, the content of that URL is displayed. (IE4)
We use TransClusions all the time in spreadsheets. When I write =E27 in a cell, the spreadsheet displays the content of cell E27. (IE5)
TransClusions are useful, and they're ubiquitous, but not necessarily as "transclusions." They're not yet part of a shared conceptual framework for collaborative tools. Once we explicitly acknowledge their existence and their utility, we can think about implementing them across different applications in an interoperable way. (IE6)
/tech/purple | Posted at 11:00am
Shut Up And Listen #
Okay, I'm out. I watch The Apprentice religiously. (IDJ)
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's start with the Donald's not-so-trite advice from last night's episode: Shut Up and Listen. Tara felt that as a native New Yorker and as an African-American woman, she would best understand Net Worth's target demographic: males residing in Harlem, ages 18-35. It was clear from the start that she had a strong vision for what the ad should look like, and throughout the task, she consistently ignored what everyone else had to say. Even in the end, after watching folks from the focus group say how the ad didn't appeal to them, whereas Magna's did, Tara insisted that her ad was better. (IDK)
Meanwhile, Alex, a white guy who grew up on a farm and admittedly had no idea what the picture should look like, stumbled onto a brilliant plan. He found his target audience, he asked them questions, and he listened. Surprise, surprise. Magna won. (IDL)
There's an important lesson here. I had Tara down as one of the top candidates, and I think Trump made a mistake in firing her. (Of course, his early round decisions tend to be a bit arbitrary, most likely for the ratings.) As Trump himself said, she's smart and tough. But that doesn't make you a good listener. (IDM)
In writer's workshops, the writer is often asked to sit outside of a circle of critics and is usually asked to sit on his or her hands. I learned this past weekend that the requirements are similar for designers or developers during usability testing. Sitting on one's hands is an important pattern, because the instinct to defend is so strong in these circumstances. (IDN)
WilliamLangewiesche tells a beautiful story about listening in American Ground. He describes a meeting on November 12, 2001 between those running the WorldTradeCenter recovery, including RudyGiuliani, MikeBurton, and BillCote, and the widows of the firemen who died. The widows were furious about their treatment throughout the recovery process, and the strength of their feelings blindsided the recovery organizers. Langewiesche writes: (IDO)
The mayor handled himself well that night. He was patient and compassionate, and he allowed the grieving crowd to rail, but he did not pander to it. (IDP)
... (IDQ)
Burton and Cote were badly shaken. When the meeting ended, after more than three hours of emotional storms, the two of them got into Burton's Jeep and drove away through the quiet streets. At first they did not speak, except briefly to agree that the experience had been the worst of their lives. In the theater district they found a bar, and went in for a drink. The other customers there -- tourists pioneering a return to the city, lovers hunched together before bed, late-night regulars of various kinds -- could never have guessed the role of these nondescript men, or the utter seriousness of their talk. (IDR)
The widows' meeting turned out to be a watershed in the Trade Center recovery. Burton and Cote were tough guys, accustomed to seeing life as a struggle, and they would not have been unjustified had they responded impatiently to the encounter. This was dangerous to admit out loud, but it was on many people's minds: the firemen's widows were victims of victimization itself, and in their agony and myopia they were starting to blunder around; moreover, they clearly did not represent the thousands of others who had lost family on September 11 and were coming to terms with the events more stoically. It would have been understandable, therefore, if Burton and Cote had mentally stiff-armed the widows, privately dismissing their emotions as overblown and rededicating themselves to the efficiency of the excavation. They had it within their power to do this -- and had they been officials in many other parts of the world, they probably would have followed such a hard line. It was lucky for the ultimate success of the recovery effrt that this was not the way they naturally reacted. (IDS)
Instead, over a couple of beers they talked for the first time since September 11 about people's emotional reactions to the attack, and they questioned why they themselves had felt so little affected by the death and destruction at the site. Burton called Cote a "cold fish." Cote pointed out that neither of them had family or close friends who had died. It also had to be admitted that the project was going well, and that for both of them it was utterly consuming professionally, offering an emotional advantage that others did not have: they simply did not have time to dwell on the tragedy. Still, each had been moved that night by the suffering of the widows, and had been troubled by the realization that, though they had tried to do the best possible job, there were people who now believed that their actions were wrong, even wicked. It made them question the doggedness of their approach, and reminded them of a simple imperative that in the crush of daily decisions they were tending to forget: that the unbuilding was more than just a problem of deconstruction, and that for the final measure of success they would have to take emotions into account. They finished their beers, drove downtown, and walked through the site. (IDT)
/collaboration | Posted at 8:43am
Thu, Feb 24, 2005
J. Fairchild and Community Space #
KatrinVerclas, co-director of AspirationTech and co-organizer of the FLOSS Usability Sprint, wrote a fantastic piece entitled, "Great Good Spaces for Community, Activism, and Better Software." It's no accident that we connected when we first met at the Advocacy Developer's Convergence last June. Even though our missions are different, there's great overlap in our thinking and philosophy. That holds true with the other organizations BlueOxenAssociates has partnered with as well. (ID7)
A critical element in building strong community and in facilitating effective collaboration is having the right space. As Katrin points out, this holds true for both physical and metaphysical (or online) spaces. I had three intellectual inspirations in starting BlueOxen: DougEngelbart, ChristopherAlexander, and GeorgeLakoff. ChristopherAlexander is an architect who wrote about PatternLanguages in the 1970s, which was all about designing great spaces, spaces that were alive, that had this QualityWithoutAName. BlueOxen is trying to understand and discover patterns of effective collaboration, which encompasses issues of space. (ID8)
When Katrin wrote her piece, we were looking for a space to hold our sprint, and we weren't finding a place that satisfied us. Luckily, I had a wildcard in my back pocket. JeffShults was the manager of the KnoWhereStore in the late 1990s, which was MGTaylor's showcase for its collaborative environment and process. When the store closed, Jeff purchased all the furniture and bided his time until he could open his own space. That time came late last year, when he struck an agreement with SFIA to manage their new space on 10th and Mission in SanFrancisco. (ID9)
I first met Jeff at PlaNetwork in 2003, but the first time we worked closely together was at the 7-Domains Workshop last July. Jeff is literally an environmental master. He has this sixth sense for configuring spaces to maximize collaboration. He has both thought deeply about the subject and has practiced it for some time. He's also a fantastic listener, which is an attribute he shares with all the great facilitators I know. (IDA)
I had seen the space last fall, and to say that it was in rough condition is an understatement. But in early January, when we still hadn't found a good space, I decided to call Jeff anyway. The transformation the space had made in the course of two months was amazing. Although Jeff hasn't officially opened his facility, he not only let us use his space, but he agreed to be one of our sponsors. (IDB)
I can't tell you how many people walked into our event last week, looked around, and said, "Wow, what a great space!" I'd hear this, laugh, and respond, "You don't know the half of it." All of us have an intuition that allows us to recognize a great space when we see one, an intuition that sadly doesn't wake up often enough. But you have to discover the thinking and hard work that goes into creating such a space before you can truly appreciate it. (IDC)
Jeff's company and space is called J. Fairchild. If you need a great meeting space in SanFrancisco, talk to Jeff and let him know I sent you his way. (IDD)
/collaboration | Posted at 8:33am
Paul and Babe #
JimFournier stopped on a recent drive down from Arcata to send me this: (ID0)
Speaking of which, I was in NoeValley a few months ago and saw this beautifully illustrated children's book about PaulBunyan in the window of Phoenix Bookstore: Paul Bunyan The Work Giant, by IdaVirginiaTurney. The book was published in 1941, is in pristine condition, and cost me $10. They just don't make books like they used to. (ID2)
/blueoxen | Posted at 7:42am
Wed, Feb 23, 2005
Hiding the Agenda #
Before last weekend's sprint, several people approached me about the agenda. I responded by offering a general overview of the weekend (Friday, meet each other and plan for Saturday; Saturday, test, analyze, and maybe implement; Sunday, wrap-up), but I did not offer anything more detailed than that. It made many people nervous, but all I could do was to ask folks to trust me. Why the secrecy? Was I being coy, or was I just disorganized? (ICV)
For highly interactive events with large, diverse groups, I've found that the best processes do not share agendas with participants. There are two reasons for this. First, you want the participants to focus on the work. The facilitators (or in the case of MGTaylor, the KreW) watch the clock for you. Second, you want flexibility in the agenda, so that you can self-organize. On the one hand, participants hate meetings that waste your time. On the other hand, they tend to freak out when they see, "To be planned later." It's not lack of organization, it's an acknowledgement of self-organization. You have to be really confident in your process to make it work. (ICW)
''Leaping the Abyss'', a book about the MGTaylor process coauthored by BlueOxen advisor, ChrisPeterson, has a great story about why agendas aren't given in advance, and what effect this can have on participants. (ICX)
If your design and facilitation are good, it works beautifully. Several people approached me after the event saying how skeptical they were during and at the beginning of the event, and how amazed they were afterwards about how it all came together. (ICY)
AllenGunn (Gunner), our facilitator, is good, maybe even a little cocky. On the morning of the first day, he was constantly throwing out statements like, "We'll make it up as we go along." I'd laugh to myself and cringe at the same time when I heard him say this, but I knew what he was doing and kept my mouth shut. As Gunner explained to someone afterwards, in a way, he's hustling the crowd. But, as I noted to the same person, you can only get away with hustling if you win. (ICZ)
/collaboration | Posted at 6:45pm
FLOSS Usability Sprint Redux #
We wrapped up the FLOSS Usability Sprint last Sunday, and I'm just about recovered. It was a wonderful, wonderful event: thought-provoking, inspiring, and most importantly, productive. The key, as always, was having a great group of participants, great facilitation (thanks to my partners in this endeavour, AllenGunn and KatrinVerclas), and a great space (thanks to JeffShults, environmental and listening master). Also, many thanks to our sponsors, without whom this event would not have been possible. (ICD)
We accomplished many things. First and foremost, we helped improve the usability of the six projects that participated: AMP, Chandler, CivicSpace, FotoNotes, IdentityCommons, and OpenACS. So far, the follow-through with this event has been significantly better than that of previous events with which I've been involved, and we'll be able to point to some very concrete achievements that are a direct result of the sprint. (ICE)
Second, we explored several broader issues surrounding usability and OpenSource software. It was an unbelievable learning experience for everyone involved. Those of you who have heard my BlueOxen spiel know that my ultimate goal is to foster a LearningCommunity around collaboration. My claim is that these collaborative learning processes are many times more effective and accelerated than traditional learning methods. They are also better suited for continuous learning. Our participants got a first-hand taste of this phenomenon this past weekend. (ICF)
Third, we laid the groundwork for what I hope will be a burgeoning community devoted to improving the usability of OpenSource software. This will not be a quick process, and it will depend on brilliant, passionate, good people. We were fortunate to have forty of them at our event, and I'm already looking forward to reconnecting with all of them. (ICG)
I'm in the process of writing up a final report about the weekend's accomplishments, but if you're interested in seeing the unpolished artifacts of the event itself, check out the sprint Wiki and the photo gallery. I'll also be speaking about the event at next month's BayCHI (March 8 in PaloAlto), and I hope to see many of you there. (ICH)
/events | Posted at 5:22pm
Thu, Feb 10, 2005
Steinbeck on Emergence #
From JohnSteinbeck's Cannery Row: (IB6)
How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise -- the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream -- be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book -- to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves. (IB7)
/collaboration | Posted at 2:40am
