Monday, Monday (So good to me)
So I left off Sunday evening, getting ready to attend the 11th annual SXSW Web Awards. Eugene Mirman was quite the card, and made no attempt to hide the fact that he had no idea what any of the categories meant (“CSS? I don’t even know what that means”). Not sure who’s idea it was, but accepting the award for absentee winners was a ninja who seemed to be channeling Will Ferrell’s Robert Goulet. There were a lot of great nominees, some of whom I’d seen, some new, and you can find links to them all on the SXSW Web site. Enough about that; Monday provided another day of panels that made for some pretty hard decisions…
Day 3: Monday
Billy and I started the day in the “Developing Friendly APIs” panel. Hosted by Avi Bryant (CEO of the online database creation site DabbleDB), Leah Culver (founder of Pownce), Carl Mercier (CEO of defensio.com) and Ari Steinberg (Engineering Manager at Facebook). They discussed the different and similar formats they provide for developers, and the reasons they are using one format over another. This topic provided the most debate among the group. Authentication was a topic on which there was general agreement that security should always be a concern, regardless of whether data is being requested via a third-party app or the client. The discussion on ow they handled change revealed that Facebook does not have a sandbox for their developers – a fact that left the other panelists more or less dumbfounded… Other topics this panel touched on included performance concerns when others are using your APIs, and the importance of fostering an active community by providing the tools they request and making sure there are clear lines of communication.
We then attended a “Core conversations” session which consisted of several round tables on design and design principles. There was a bunch of stuff going on in the room, and I bounced around a bit before settling in on the Designing Metrics discussion. From time to time I felt drawn back to check in on the the Blueprint for design topic, as well. The take-aways I appreciated from the Designing Metrics topics included being prepared and know how you plan to respond when inviting feedback on your site, know and trust your source of data before broadcasting metrics (both internally and externally), and avoiding invasive techniques for collecting data. The discussion made me think about a book Billy had lent my wife, who is in reatil, called “Why Web Buy” which explores the science of shopping. The book describes how data was collected by watching people in a retail environment to draw innumerable conclusions about shopper’s behavior. Anywho, the conversation really illuminated how different collecting similar data about online users and online shoppers really is…
I guess I’m a sucker for keynotes, as I found myself back in the ballroom where these events have been taking place. Today it was Frank Warren of postsecret.com. This was a very entertaining presentation and cast Mr. Warren in the role of story teller. From the beginning of the project offline as a conceptual art piece, to the art taking on a life of its own and growing online. The session ended with the floor being opened for others to tell their own secrets and stories and ask questions. Lo and behold, the first attendee to volunteer came forth and proposed marriage to his girlfriend, which she accepted (could have been awkward…). I really wanted to know how Mr. Warren prevents himself from getting bogged down in what are often very personal, very disturbing, and very depressing confessions; how one person takes all that in and is not brought down by the weight of it all. Unfortunately the time for questions did not allow me to pose this to him. Thank goodness for email.
I did not have to travel far for the next session I attended, “10 Tips for Managing a Creative Environment,” hosted by Adaptive Path’s Bryan Mason, Chief Operating Officer and Sarah Nelson, Design Strategist. Not an aptly named panel, as it was more about exploring the commonalities between effective creative groups. Given the design process can be ambiguous, and in many senses is an emerging discipline, they wanted to figure out what these commonalities were, and began by asking, “How do high functioning (creative) groups become high functioning?” In order to answer this question, they talked to several creative organizations, ranging from theater companies to orchestras to other design agencies. They looked for patterns when talking to these groups, and also look at personal experiences in creative endeavors outide their experience at Adaptive Path. And (drum roll, please) here is what they found out:
- Cross train the entire team – develop a cohesive group where everyone understands what everyone does, perhaps even slipping into each others roles easily.
- Ownership – Give everyone a sense of ownership for their own projects.
- Divergence/convergence – Make sure this split is understood, and when a project moves from one phase to the other; eliminates “what if’s” and moving targets: Good ideas executed poorly.
- Know your roles – Knowing your role, your responsibilities, and trusting other to do the same.
- Practice, practice, practice – in the group context, practice is not just about improving individual skills, but improving the group skills: repeat the process that works. Look for opportunities to practice.
- Make your mission explicit – communication is critical to the success or failure of a) a project and b) the group. By boxing in that message (mission), this actually opens up opportunities for creativitiy.
- Killing your darlings – Reliable, systemic, respectful ways to say, “That’s not going to happen.” (Or as we say in Web Services, “Let’s put that in Phase II.”)
- Leadership is a service – Those in charge (directors, managers) are there to provide others with what they need to do their job. Seeing those role(s) as a facilitator, not a dictator.
- Generate projects around the group’s creative interests – Also give people a sense of ownership, engagement and investment. Find aspects to projects that focus on individual member’s interests. Side projects can help foster this principle.
- Remember your audience – It is easy to forget for whom you are “performing.”
Kumbaya alert: I think we score pretty high in a lot of these areas; the areas where we need the most improvement are areas I believe we are working to address.
More tomorrow, but if I get into any trouble at some of the social events tonight you may have to read about that on postsecret.com rather than the Web Services blog 
