On Tue, 2010-06-29 at 16:23 +0200, Josselin Perrus wrote:
> In the project tab :
> 1. I would get rid of the Feedback and Contribution sections.
> [...] I think it is too early to make people vote for specific
> new features when the basics are not there yet, and anyway all
> the heavy lifting for the subjects related to these sections
> is done through the diffusion list.
> 2. I would also get rid of Guidelines and Marketing : part of it
> is just lists, and the rest could be replaced by a blog, it
> would actually a better format to build an audience.
> 3. I would keep but simplify Gameplay Lab and communication
> section
> 4. Developper's corner and Translation could be hidden in some
> specific place for now : they are not very relevant yet...
> In the Company tab : I would only keep the Pitch and Business plan
> section.
> I would get rid of the whole References tab and use the content to
> fuel the blog...
Thanks for the details! So, if I follow you correctly, the following
sections are the ones that we should bring forward more, right?
- Everything in game
- In communication:
* News (includes social networks)
* Forums / mailing-lists
* Chat
- In gameplay:
* HackIt! - Use case & mock-ups
* Alpha1 Usability Improvements
* Mission engine
* Monetization Principle
- Everything in web design
- Business plan & pitch
+ A blog
> I would get rid of the Feedback and Contribution sections.
Btw, there are two different things at stake here:
1) Finding a way to present the essential information for the newcomers,
and putting in there the essential pages and information that someone
new to the project would want to read to get up to speed.
2) Retaining the rest of the information in a more "hidden" place -
remember that the website is the wiki of a free software project, and as
such it's its nature to contain lots of half-empty pages and stubs -
before becoming an interesting and structured page, a wiki page starts
of as a few paragraphs, or a list.
I agree that the priority must be on making 1) good asap - but we can
still keep adding stuff to the less relevant parts. It's easier to
improve the other things gradually when they come up, it's better to
have a page summarizing the state of a starting discussion than having
to go through forum archives : ) I agree that they shouldn't get in the
way of newcomers, though.
> I think it is too early to make people vote for specific new features
> when the basics are not there yet, and anyway all the heavy lifting
> for the subjects related to these sections is done through the
> diffusion list.
A note about votes - it's never too early to use something like
UserVoice. It allows to get a different kind of feedback than the one
you get on mailing-lists (it's more structured, it's easier/more fun
than writing an email), and you end up having a better picture of what
the game inspires and what is missing. Of course, there is still some
interpretation to do on top of it, and there will always be.
I understand your point about better defining the target and the framing
of the game at this point, and I largely agree with it. But don't
underestimate the value of this type of early feedback either, even when
the community is as small as we are today and on an unfinished
prototype. It's important to know that the minigame and the missions
seem more important today to the people who went to vote than the
cooperation features, for example. It says a lot about the strategical
part that we originally planned - it's not what the concept inspires to
those who already take an interest in it.
Over the last month, we have all learned a lot about what HackIt is and
could be. The mental image we have of it has been largely reshaped, we
are now much more prepared to define an audience and frame the game.
Things like the votes people took the time to put on the UserVoice
played a large role in this.
> I would also get rid of Guidelines and Marketing : part of it is just
> lists, and the rest could be replaced by a blog, it would actually a
> better format to build an audience.
Yup, the blog is a good idea - and it's true that we could use those
lists to provide content for it. How would you see the blog? Would you
be ready to work on it with me (and anyone else interested)?
> 1. Developper's corner and Translation could be hidden in some
> specific place for now : they are not very relevant yet...
For translations, it's true, it's not urgent, and we can always handle
this directly at this point. For the developer corner, I disagree -
that's the first thing people from free software will look for. If they
don't easily find the source code, this will give a bad impression (even
if they don't plan to actually look at the code - veryfying that it is
available is often one of the first reflexes).
> In the Company tab : I would only keep the Pitch and Business plan
> section.
Same thing about the social contract, company manifesto and decision
process - this is part of the positioning of the company and the
project. We are not only doing a game - we are doing a participative
game. Clearly stating our values is an important foundation for the
project.
Also, it's a very important aspect of community building - there is
never a better opportunity to shape community values than at the start.
It doesn't mean it's set in stone afterwards, but it's a lot harder to
change the perception and values once the community is mature. This is
an ongoing process that has to be part of the main priorities from the
start.
> I think you have to further define your target (...)
Since this is already a very long email, I'm going to open a new thread
for that part.
Thanks again for all this, it's very useful! Let's get all this to
fruition now : )
Xavier.
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