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Another member of the Swrm team here. Thank you for your detailed feedback! Re: 1) Although we are aware of dribbble, Swrm addresses a fundamentally different
by jxg 14y ago
Another member of the Swrm team here. Thank you for your detailed feedback!
Re: 1) Although we are aware of dribbble, Swrm addresses a fundamentally different issue: Getting an honest, helpful critique of one's work.
While dribbble may be a great platform for showcasing finished design work, it has a natural tendency to promote only works which it considers "best of the best". This is reflected in its feedback system, where comments are most often overly positive. Swrm is built on the realization that good design work is generally the result of a lengthy, iterative process rather than a flash of genius at the hands of an especially "talented" designer. By focusing on the process, we want to enable anyone to continuously improve their work.
Re: 2) Making designers and critiquers "come together" is one of the top items we're working on, especially to encourage critiquers to provide constructive feedback.
I'm not sure whether you considered "lurking" to be one of the "two separate behaviors", but besides encouraging active participation I think this is just a general property of people on the web.
I agree on your remaining points – Thanks again for taking the time.
- JoelMarsh 14y agoFantastic. For #1... maybe the real feedback is that I didn't understand that. But fair enough. I don't disagree with your goal. :) For #2... you're right, and my point was that there is nothing for those lurkers (or "pre-contributors") to do. The community is very singular in its focus, and that focus is on the minority. A "browse" page or a footer full of browsable suggestions would be worth a lot.
- azilnik 14y agoHi Joel, this is some excellent feedback! Thanks for checking out swrm.io. We hope to take your suggestions everyone elses into account for our future updates. Is there anything else worthwhile exploring, other than your suggestions so far?
- JoelMarsh 14y agoAnything else I noticed seems insignificant compared to those ones. One note though, in response to a comment above... be careful not to "force" people to be honest; they might leave instead. Motivate them to be honest by rewarding honesty and making it clear how they are rewarded. Feedback loops are your friend. ;)
- azilnik 14y agoAbsolutely. There's a huge psychological and group mentality thing with this project the team and I are working through right now. There's a huge risk in it spiraling towards being too negative or also too superficial. We're trying to keep a balance with meaningful, constructive feedback, similar to this site to be honest.