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I'm biased (since I work at Slack) but, as a casual user, Workplace seems like an un-loved afterthought. I don't think Meta is well-configured to make consumer

by muglug 4y ago

I'm biased (since I work at Slack) but, as a casual user, Workplace seems like an un-loved afterthought. I don't think Meta is well-configured to make consumer-facing products that "surprise and delight", and Workplace's slightly janky interface is a clear symptom.

1letterunixname 4y ago
And I have to use Workplace everyday. :D There's jank that can be fixed. The problem with Slack is it creates an instant, continuous distraction noise barrage worse than email groups. We at least have a cultural norm of not DMing individuals (unless it's a SEV) and seeking info in group posts or maybe group chat.
- muglug 4y ago
  We generally have that cultural norm too — I'm as likely to DM someone as I am to sidle up to them in the office. I never feel like using Slack is stopping me from writing code, but when I'm waiting for a build or what-have-you I can look at channel updates asynchronously.
- piva00 4y ago
  The problem with Workplace is that it looks much like Facebook, the UI/UX is not conducive to reading long-form posts, it's also a feed of posts organised in hard-to-find groups, there's no focus to guide me through a journey to actually enjoy using the product. Interaction with posts is an afterthought, threaded discussions do not exist, it's just a "dump" of information that seems to work for whatever use-case Meta had internally but was never translated to other B2B needs. On the other hand, Slack is a simple communication tool where I can asynchronously coordinate with whatever team I need to get in touch with, it's exactly what I had asked for years at companies I worked for in decades prior to Slack: a well made IRC-like interface. It just works, with all its flaws and performance issues, it's still valuable. Workplace on the other hand is not valuable at all, it could disappear from the company stack of tools and I would never bat an eye. And I work for a global company, much smaller in size than Meta but definitely one that you either heard about or use our products.
  - radicality 4y ago
    I’ve been at FB for many years and ~1 year ago moved somewhere where we use a mix of Slack/Google docs/confluence. Perhaps it’s just because I got used to it, but I do miss Workplace a lot - mostly for allowing me to easily stay on top of what’s interesting to me. * Workplace made it really easy to be on top of what’s happening in the company, and in what it thinks you’ll be interested in. The algorithmic feed was super helpful. * I was able to follow along with what’s happening overall in the company and all the interesting to me info just with a few minutes at beginning of each day scrolling my Workplace feed. Now, with Slack / gdocs / emails, I would need to read all updates in hundreds of different Slack channels and figure out myself what’s relevant. * Google Docs - super hard to find anything, or even know if it exists since everyone applies restrictive sharing options. With Workplace, I would write a post in the relevant group - easily searchable by everyone (and discoverable by being ranked on Workplace).
    - adamsb6 4y ago
      Same, Workplace is sorely missed. Slack is good at synchronous communication, it’s a substitute for Workplace Chat. Where I’m at now there is nothing similar to Workplace, which is great at asynchronous communication. On Slack content scrolls up the page and loses its engagement quickly. Also if someone does make a post that gets super high engagement in a channel I don’t regularly check, nothing will surface that post to me.
- LtWorf 4y ago
  > The problem with Slack is it creates an instant, continuous distraction noise barrage worse than email groups. That's why I wrote localslackirc. To make having to be on slack bearable.
loeg 4y ago
Workplace works reasonably well in my experience. It's basically Facebook. What do you find janky about it? My biggest complaints are around some of the weird defaults for video streams. (My biggest gripe with Slack is how painful it makes replying to specific comments in the original channel. Neither Workplace chat nor Discord have this problem.)

by muglug 4y ago

1letterunixname 4y ago

And I have to use Workplace everyday. :D There's jank that can be fixed. The problem with Slack is it creates an instant, continuous distraction noise barrage worse than email groups. We at least have a cultural norm of not DMing individuals (unless it's a SEV) and seeking info in group posts or maybe group chat.

muglug 4y ago
We generally have that cultural norm too — I'm as likely to DM someone as I am to sidle up to them in the office. I never feel like using Slack is stopping me from writing code, but when I'm waiting for a build or what-have-you I can look at channel updates asynchronously.
piva00 4y ago
The problem with Workplace is that it looks much like Facebook, the UI/UX is not conducive to reading long-form posts, it's also a feed of posts organised in hard-to-find groups, there's no focus to guide me through a journey to actually enjoy using the product. Interaction with posts is an afterthought, threaded discussions do not exist, it's just a "dump" of information that seems to work for whatever use-case Meta had internally but was never translated to other B2B needs. On the other hand, Slack is a simple communication tool where I can asynchronously coordinate with whatever team I need to get in touch with, it's exactly what I had asked for years at companies I worked for in decades prior to Slack: a well made IRC-like interface. It just works, with all its flaws and performance issues, it's still valuable. Workplace on the other hand is not valuable at all, it could disappear from the company stack of tools and I would never bat an eye. And I work for a global company, much smaller in size than Meta but definitely one that you either heard about or use our products.
- radicality 4y ago
  I’ve been at FB for many years and ~1 year ago moved somewhere where we use a mix of Slack/Google docs/confluence. Perhaps it’s just because I got used to it, but I do miss Workplace a lot - mostly for allowing me to easily stay on top of what’s interesting to me. * Workplace made it really easy to be on top of what’s happening in the company, and in what it thinks you’ll be interested in. The algorithmic feed was super helpful. * I was able to follow along with what’s happening overall in the company and all the interesting to me info just with a few minutes at beginning of each day scrolling my Workplace feed. Now, with Slack / gdocs / emails, I would need to read all updates in hundreds of different Slack channels and figure out myself what’s relevant. * Google Docs - super hard to find anything, or even know if it exists since everyone applies restrictive sharing options. With Workplace, I would write a post in the relevant group - easily searchable by everyone (and discoverable by being ranked on Workplace).
  - adamsb6 4y ago
    Same, Workplace is sorely missed. Slack is good at synchronous communication, it’s a substitute for Workplace Chat. Where I’m at now there is nothing similar to Workplace, which is great at asynchronous communication. On Slack content scrolls up the page and loses its engagement quickly. Also if someone does make a post that gets super high engagement in a channel I don’t regularly check, nothing will surface that post to me.
LtWorf 4y ago
> The problem with Slack is it creates an instant, continuous distraction noise barrage worse than email groups. That's why I wrote localslackirc. To make having to be on slack bearable.

loeg 4y ago

Workplace works reasonably well in my experience. It's basically Facebook. What do you find janky about it? My biggest complaints are around some of the weird defaults for video streams. (My biggest gripe with Slack is how painful it makes replying to specific comments in the original channel. Neither Workplace chat nor Discord have this problem.)