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I think we've all seen various attempts to solve this issue over the years, but no one has quite figured out a decent UX to replicate the party experience. I'm
by ConnorBowlan 6y ago
I think we've all seen various attempts to solve this issue over the years, but no one has quite figured out a decent UX to replicate the party experience. I'm glad to see you haven't gone the common & kind of intellectually-lazy route of moving an avatar around a virtual space.
Am I far off in thinking that the core challenge would be replicating the transition between sub-groups? That moment where you'd like to move on from a conversation and can gracefully step away without interrupting a conversation to announce your exit, walk through the room until you hear something interesting, sidle on up to another conversation without it feeling obtrusive, then join in.
I wonder if the abrupt nature of popping into someone's conversation with a new video-chat window would go against this. Either way, seems like an interesting puzzle to solve. Plus, the market is big, has a ton of attention right now, and any product has some inherent virality built in since some number of attendees will try it again afterwards. Very cool.
- Ali_Jiwani 6y agoWe have been thinking about this A LOT. We actually have some ideas and I am happy to share them with you. Some include helpful nudges, permissions, a quick DM etc. Want to brainstorm or hear some more ideas? Happy to jump on a Rally call and throw some ideas around!
- wcarss 6y agonot a user yet, but: if you could "pay attention to" a second group, elevating their priority so you can see/hear them as well as your current group, then not have to 'hop' to them officially until you speak, and could have some ability to send your audio to that other group primarily for a moment -- that's pretty similar to turning your head a little and briefly joining a different conversation at a big table.
- moron4hire 6y ago> kind of intellectually-lazy I think that was rather uncalled for. My own use of avatars was a result of a lot of specific design decisions, around dissatisfaction with webcam video, i.e. the incongruity between the theoretical reason for why it's there ("to provide eye-contact!") and the reality that it fails at that task.
- Ali_Jiwani 6y agoWe need all sorts of ideas to make sure this industry progresses. I wouldn't take this comment to heart.
- skinnymuch 6y agoIt was not a personal attack. Makes sense some people won’t like avatars in a world. I don’t think I’d like it either even though I wouldn’t word it like OP. Good luck with your project.
- rland 6y agoSo much of the dynamics you describe are mediated by body language and spacial/kinematic cues. If anyone manages to actually crack that, either by simulation or some other method, they'll monumentally change telework. This product looks very cool, it's a step in that direction.
- skinnymuch 6y agoHouseparty’s culture is to mostly just enter and leave as you please. It is nice. None of what you described as issues. Similarly in a remote coworking community I started in 2019, we have also settled on a culture of not worrying about “politeness” when it comes to coming and going. It is so much better. Of course like you say, to have all of this work for people across the board is a much harder feat.
- lksslr 6y agoOur project "laptopsinspace" shifts the whole experience into 3D which makes it feel a lot more natural. https://twitter.com/NeeshStudio/status/1279130738500272129 https://twitter.com/NeeshStudio/status/1279130738500272129 For bigger events, there is an elevator, that takes you flying from room to room: https://twitter.com/NeeshStudio/status/1286010155772108802 https://twitter.com/NeeshStudio/status/1286010155772108802