6 ms·

We use Pragli, and I feel like it's the opposite. Rather than a Slack back and forth to see if someone is available, setting up a video conference, connecting,

We use Pragli, and I feel like it's the opposite. Rather than a Slack back and forth to see if someone is available, setting up a video conference, connecting, etc, you can pop in and say "hey, you have a minute?". They can say "no" or "can you come back in 10?". It's like stopping by someone's desk. If they really wanted to be heads down they can be in do not disturb mode. They can still show as online (so their presence can be "felt"), but have a status that says "Focusing" and block "calls". I think it's great.

moltar 7y ago
Problem is most people are socially inclined to say yes. It’s just human nature. They are more willing to break the flow than to break the social norms.
hinkley 7y ago
I really feel like this part is something you could automate. Give me a choice box of now, snooze bar, or several other options culminating in “take it to email, my hair is on fire.”
steve1977 7y ago
>They can say "no" or "can you come back in 10?" By then, the damage to concentration has already been made. Yes, you can set your status to "do not disturb". But you have to remember to do that.
- andyfleming 7y ago
  Sure, it's still an interruption, but I don't think it's completely derailing. That's why I compared it to stopping by someone's desk. It still requires both parties to be responsible and aware.
  - dorkley 7y ago
    You've clearly not got a clue how a software engineer works if you think its not derailing.
  - barrkel 7y ago
    Stopping by someone's desk is derailing, FWIW. I frequently find myself losing 30+ minutes before getting flow back from a 2 minute interruption.
    - p_l 7y ago
      One interruption an hour is enough to result in me not being able to get anything done for the whole day... Actually, I'm starting to think I lost ability to concentrate because of that.
mosselman 7y ago
I am not sure you really know how concentration works. For example: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-28923-001 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-28923-001 "We found that cellular phone notifications alone significantly disrupted performance on an attention-demanding task, even when participants did not directly interact with a mobile device during the task." Imagine then what damage random people's voices asking you things while working would do to your concentration.
- jiofih 7y ago
  Did you read the Pragli article at all? It specifically addressss this.
  - p_l 7y ago
    I did. I see no mention of special do not disturb handling, instead high value placed on others being able to start voice communication without waiting for you to accept - the only thing that is opt-in is answering them, by the time your attention is already wrecked.
    - tom_mellior 7y ago
      > no mention of special do not disturb handling There's a section on setting manual statuses, including one specific example of "focussing - do not disturb". The animated screengrab below suggests that if someone wants to contact you with such a status set they will get a window informing them and the option to bother you anyway. Not sure how special you would want your handling, but something is definitely there. Though it isn't really clear to me if the example in the screengrab is based on a status or on a calendar entry. I do agree that this isn't something I would want to work with, and as I wrote elsewhere, if my company had this I would set it to perpetual DND or just not run the software at all.
      - p_l 7y ago
        The resigned me would accept that DND mode because somehow it would be made hard to work without this software, possibly with HR involved. The naive me would think there's going to be something better or that people would actually respect that. The cynical experienced me wants a progressively higher level of pain delivered before you can call someone in DND mode.

moltar 7y ago

Problem is most people are socially inclined to say yes. It’s just human nature. They are more willing to break the flow than to break the social norms.

hinkley 7y ago

I really feel like this part is something you could automate. Give me a choice box of now, snooze bar, or several other options culminating in “take it to email, my hair is on fire.”

steve1977 7y ago

>They can say "no" or "can you come back in 10?" By then, the damage to concentration has already been made. Yes, you can set your status to "do not disturb". But you have to remember to do that.

andyfleming 7y ago
Sure, it's still an interruption, but I don't think it's completely derailing. That's why I compared it to stopping by someone's desk. It still requires both parties to be responsible and aware.
- dorkley 7y ago
  You've clearly not got a clue how a software engineer works if you think its not derailing.
- barrkel 7y ago
  Stopping by someone's desk is derailing, FWIW. I frequently find myself losing 30+ minutes before getting flow back from a 2 minute interruption.
  - p_l 7y ago
    One interruption an hour is enough to result in me not being able to get anything done for the whole day... Actually, I'm starting to think I lost ability to concentrate because of that.

mosselman 7y ago

I am not sure you really know how concentration works. For example: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-28923-001 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-28923-001 "We found that cellular phone notifications alone significantly disrupted performance on an attention-demanding task, even when participants did not directly interact with a mobile device during the task." Imagine then what damage random people's voices asking you things while working would do to your concentration.

jiofih 7y ago
Did you read the Pragli article at all? It specifically addressss this.
- p_l 7y ago
  I did. I see no mention of special do not disturb handling, instead high value placed on others being able to start voice communication without waiting for you to accept - the only thing that is opt-in is answering them, by the time your attention is already wrecked.
  - tom_mellior 7y ago
    > no mention of special do not disturb handling There's a section on setting manual statuses, including one specific example of "focussing - do not disturb". The animated screengrab below suggests that if someone wants to contact you with such a status set they will get a window informing them and the option to bother you anyway. Not sure how special you would want your handling, but something is definitely there. Though it isn't really clear to me if the example in the screengrab is based on a status or on a calendar entry. I do agree that this isn't something I would want to work with, and as I wrote elsewhere, if my company had this I would set it to perpetual DND or just not run the software at all.
    - p_l 7y ago
      The resigned me would accept that DND mode because somehow it would be made hard to work without this software, possibly with HR involved. The naive me would think there's going to be something better or that people would actually respect that. The cynical experienced me wants a progressively higher level of pain delivered before you can call someone in DND mode.