4 ms·

Meta’s metaverse app is too buggy and employees are barely using it, says exec

28 points by annexrichmond 4y ago

hrbf 4y ago
My interpretation is that Horizon obviously sucks. Bugs have never prevented an exciting experience from being exciting.
JoeAltmaier 4y ago
I suppose the engineering staff isn't using a metaverse app because it adds nothing to their work process. Why walk around in some virtual space when you can share docs and text instantly to anybody in the company? Much of technical work isn't face-to-face negotiation. Managers like that; engineers don't have much use for it.
- smsm42 4y ago
  > Why walk around in some virtual space when you can... This is the key question not only for engineers, and I don't think anybody has a good answer for it except for "we want to make more money and existing markets are already taken".
- Yaina 4y ago
  Engineers are also in meetings. I guess the reality is that nobody – no matter if PMs, designers, engineers or anyone – wants to sit in a weird virtual environment, if instead they could just quickly join a zoom meeting. Who wants to put on a headset and stare at a dead-eyed avatar if you could just turn on your webcam. And that's just the work part of it, I would assume that Horizon Worlds has even less recreational value.
  - JoeAltmaier 4y ago
    Or even meet and not turn on your webcam, which is the norm in all engineer meetings I attend.
- quantified 4y ago
  Maybe if work was actually meta-fied, there'd be some reason to try it. Like the only way a bug report could be filed or a ticket closed was through some VR metaphor. I have a feeling they need the creativity of the engineers to figure out why they'd bother dogfooding it.
cloudking 4y ago
“Everyone in this organization should make it their mission to fall in love with Horizon Worlds. You can’t do that without using it.” This is brutal exec-speak that is typical in big tech projects. VPs & execs have a tough time understanding what users actually want, because they rarely talk to users.
- smsm42 4y ago
  Director of Product Management uses phrases like "you must fall in love with ..." and then wonders why this product doesn't fly... It's not like "we need to think how to build something people would love", it's "we got this thing, love it now, quickly!". Surely mandating its use would fix it. Or the beatings will continue until the morale improves!
bryan0 4y ago
Is the original memo posted anywhere? This article with the accompanying Zuck-in-the-meta screenshot is so ridiculous it seems like it can’t be real…

28 points by annexrichmond 4y ago

hrbf 4y ago

My interpretation is that Horizon obviously sucks. Bugs have never prevented an exciting experience from being exciting.

JoeAltmaier 4y ago

I suppose the engineering staff isn't using a metaverse app because it adds nothing to their work process. Why walk around in some virtual space when you can share docs and text instantly to anybody in the company? Much of technical work isn't face-to-face negotiation. Managers like that; engineers don't have much use for it.

smsm42 4y ago
> Why walk around in some virtual space when you can... This is the key question not only for engineers, and I don't think anybody has a good answer for it except for "we want to make more money and existing markets are already taken".
Yaina 4y ago
Engineers are also in meetings. I guess the reality is that nobody – no matter if PMs, designers, engineers or anyone – wants to sit in a weird virtual environment, if instead they could just quickly join a zoom meeting. Who wants to put on a headset and stare at a dead-eyed avatar if you could just turn on your webcam. And that's just the work part of it, I would assume that Horizon Worlds has even less recreational value.
- JoeAltmaier 4y ago
  Or even meet and not turn on your webcam, which is the norm in all engineer meetings I attend.
quantified 4y ago
Maybe if work was actually meta-fied, there'd be some reason to try it. Like the only way a bug report could be filed or a ticket closed was through some VR metaphor. I have a feeling they need the creativity of the engineers to figure out why they'd bother dogfooding it.

cloudking 4y ago

“Everyone in this organization should make it their mission to fall in love with Horizon Worlds. You can’t do that without using it.” This is brutal exec-speak that is typical in big tech projects. VPs & execs have a tough time understanding what users actually want, because they rarely talk to users.

smsm42 4y ago
Director of Product Management uses phrases like "you must fall in love with ..." and then wonders why this product doesn't fly... It's not like "we need to think how to build something people would love", it's "we got this thing, love it now, quickly!". Surely mandating its use would fix it. Or the beatings will continue until the morale improves!

bryan0 4y ago

Is the original memo posted anywhere? This article with the accompanying Zuck-in-the-meta screenshot is so ridiculous it seems like it can’t be real…