I was just reading a post by Hutch Carpenter where he was talking about the process we all go through during meetings or communications which require us to go from a starting point – Point A – to the end product – Point B. Most of the time the road between those two point while needed are usually misunderstood and confusing. It’s a very good read but I suddenly realized while reading it one of the best uses for the new Rooms feature on FriendFeed.
As a developer the one thing you are always looking for is continuous feedback – both good and bad on your project. A way for people to easily add in bug reports unlike most error tracking software which is a pain and most people don’t want to use. Along with that you want your people using the software to talk about it, brainstorm about it and yes even complain about it. But the key for all this to happen is that it has to be incredibly easy for these users to interact with you and each other.
Enter the FriendFeed Rooms. Set up a room for your project and next thing you know people will start getting involved – naturally – because it is drop dead simple to do. I would bet that any developer that goes this route will get some of the best conversation about their project that they will have ever experienced using other methods.
So which developer out there is going to give it a try – I bet you won’t regret it.
Hey, like this post? Why not share it with a buddy?
Tweet
Great idea. I wonder how FriendFeed copes with intranet links.
Great idea. I wonder how FriendFeed copes with intranet links.
And the funny thing is, Rooms-for-projects was how the FriendFeed guys were using them. From the announcement blog post: “It started when we wanted a better way to share feature ideas and product plans with each other here at FriendFeed, but not the rest of the world — a mini FriendFeed of our own. We could have set this up on its own machine in the office, but we knew that we weren't alone in our desire and that the right way to go was to extend FriendFeed's capabilities for everyone. And so FriendFeed rooms were born. ” (http://blog.friendfeed.com/2008/05/get-room.html)
Already doing it for RSSmeme (http://friendfeed.com/rooms/rssmeme) and fftogo (http://friendfeed.com/rooms/fftogo). It's been extremely useful for 1) squashing bugs and 2) adding features that the users *actually* want.
That's really innovative Benjamin. I like the use case. And Rooms let you focus only on true users and fans.
Now that I just watched the screencast of Jottit.com I'd say that Jottit might be an even better and easier idea than FF rooms.
I tried to get my team at work to use an FF room I created. Out of 6 people I could only get one to bite… not much of a conversation with just the two of us… sigh. It would be a REALLY good way for us to share information. Right now, we have nothing… not even an email distribution group.
This is a pretty awesome idea. I know a lot of developers probably “listen” for people talking about them, but this would be much more useful, I think.
I tried to get my team at work to use an FF room I created. Out of 6 people I could only get one to bite… not much of a conversation with just the two of us… sigh. It would be a REALLY good way for us to share information. Right now, we have nothing… not even an email distribution group.
This is a pretty awesome idea. I know a lot of developers probably “listen” for people talking about them, but this would be much more useful, I think.