Shuttle | Design Lessons
I’m going to ramble on a bit more about Shuttle, simply because it’s been a pretty big part of my life the last year and loads of things I’ve wanted to talk about on this blog have been waiting for this moment in time. Everytime I would think about something cool to talk about relating this project I always had to keep on the mental shelf until after I got to this stage.
People expected the second coming for some reason. The simple thinking behind joining forces with the likes of Michael, Joen, Chris, Bryan and Joshuas was that by joining forces with these exceptionally talented people, at the top of their game, we would get something that would far exceed anything I could have come up with on my own. Make no mistake about it, without everyone’s contribution we wouldn’t have the mockups you see before you. They would be INFINITELY different and IMHO much weaker.
The problem however with this situation is that INSTANTLY people’s expectations were raised. Some people were expecting the second coming and didn’t get it. To be fair though we never promised you the second coming. We promised we’d do our best to make the WordPress admin beautiful and usable to people of all levels of experience with the programme. Some might forget that we’re not catering just to the power users; we’re catering to the every users. That’s a tough thing to do correctly, and that’s part of why it took as long as it did… but only a small part.
Of course then there are those that feel that the admin didn’t really need to change at all. I obviously disagree with this assessment COMPLETELY, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone down this road in the first place. However this is a VERY important comment to take note of. You see change is feared by a great deal of people. In fact that’s probably (amongst many other reasons) by Matt will be implementing the design incrementally. WordPress got to it’s current popularity based on the fact that the software does what it does, well. Add to that list the community behind it; and finally the simplicity of the UI design.
The Shuttle team obviously saw room for improvement as we belive it’s not the prettiest to look at. Some might then argue and say:
Well hang on, it does the job right?
That there is a programmer’s mentality, not a designer’s. So right from the very start (I remember clearly) Joen tried to push the idea that the overall structure that the interface currently has is not incorrect fundamentally and therefore we shouldn’t be looking to change that just for the sake of it. Michael then kept hammering the ideas (through his comps) that if it’s not needed STRIP IT OUT, keep it simple, keep it clean, keep it clear. On the flip side we had Matt telling us some seriously weird things you guys do when using WordPress so we had to factor a bit of that weirdness in there as well. However don’t try and deviate from what has been established as a core unless there’s a serious reason. Those reasons would then get hammered back and forth, between Denmark, England and the US on a regular basis.
For those that are thinking that this is just a design exercise and won’t get included fast enough, I think you’ll find that if you’re running WordPress 2.0 the integration of Shuttle has already begun! What you think Matt woke up one morning and decided to add the colour blue from the previous grey? Or that those drop-down-draggable menus in the write section appeared on their own? All things that came about from the Shuttle project. Admittedly they’re not as we mocked them up at the time, however we hadn’t progressed to the level we are now at the time those areas were being implemented in the code. I now officially feel like Morpheus in the Matrix after Neo gets his ass whupped in Kung Fu.
Many lessons were learnt during this design process however we’ll keep it at this for now.
I think you guys made only one single mistake.
Shuttle looks great. Period. No discussion about that. However, you guys have ‘released’ something people can only look at and not use. This is where the disappointment comes from. People have been waiting for 1.5 years and after this long wait they read ‘Shuttle Released’ on your blog or in their RSS feed.
So they rush to this site to download it and give it a whirl, only to find out that there’s actually nothing to try at all. There’s just screenshots.
Don’t get me wrong here. I’m NOT AT ALL trying to put you guys down or even suggest that you didn’t do an awesome job. You did. It looks 100% great in my book. As good as it could possibly get.
You just shouldn’t have ‘released’ it IMHO. If you would have waited for Matt to get his act together and integrate it while posting some teaser screenies in the meanwhile, the hype would have built up and everybody would have been chanting and cheering at the Shuttle team at the minute WP 2.1 came out. It’s all a matter of expectations. When people read the word ‘release’ they expect to be able to experience the real deal, not screenshots.
This is, in my very humble opinion, where you guys went wrong. Other than that: excellent work. I can’t wait to use it!
↓ Quote | 16/5/2006
Maybe, however from my pov I definitely needed some serious closure. Imagine working on something for 1.5 years (which is an eternity on the net) and your involvment is done. The integration could take months to implement over several releases. What’s left for us? Nothing to be honest.
The design was released to the world. I still stand by those words. I’ve said before that it was going to be integrated into the main install, however until a month ago we didn’t have the completely firm commitment from Matt about how he was planning on doing the job. Now we do. Job done.
I guess the only way people could have thought it was going to be something they can play around with is if they were planning on downloading a beta of the latest nightly wp install, but then again those people would have noticed changes in the first place.
I guess assumption is the route of all the problems, although I guess there’s disappointment in that they can’t play with it now. The thing is now at least now everyone knows what to expect. Cards are on the table.
↓ Quote | 16/5/2006
I remember the very first time you mentioned shuttle. And I did a little jig. Now that I’ve seen the screenshots, I’m doing another little jig.
About six months after your first announcement, I knew that there was no effing way shuttle would be a plugin. It’s a nice idea–but I knew better. I could tell, even in the early stages, that Shuttle wasn’t just a makeover, it would be a surgery.
When WP 2.0 came out, I thought to myself, “finally, some fruit.” But I knew it wasn’t finished. And with that many WP superstars involved, when Shuttle finally did finish, I knew that I would have to wait some more because well, it isn’t up to you when the design takes place. All you have is a firm affirmation that it will take place.
I would relax, Khaled. You did good. I know I don’t completely understand, but I’m guessing it’s something like writing a novel no one buys (which I have experienced). So I guess, in some small way, I feel your pain.
Give it time. Eventually people will come around and find themselves wondering how they lived without the design changes. I can’t wait.
There will always be nay-sayers. It’s not your problem. You stick to what you believe in and screw everyone else.
↓ Quote | 16/5/2006
Well it does look spectacular. And I really cant wait. The current backend isn’t exactly the best. Another thing i woudn’t mind when the new backend is inegrated is integrated syntax highlighting for the theme editor. Like GeSHi [http://qbnz.com/highlighter/]. And I think ill be happy for a little while as I code my WP themes. But those mockups looks totally gorgeous, looks like something I would come up with. :P Good job guys.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Perhaps ‘ready to launch’ rather than ‘launched’ would have been more appropriate? I, for one, am looking forward to seeing some of these changes implemented in future versions of WP, although I’ve got no gripes with the current design. It displays brilliantly on both Mac and Windows, which is quite difficult to achieve.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Khaled, I’d just like to point out that it’s been great working with you on this project, and if my meaning of you wasn’t high enough before, it certainly is now.
Considering all the iffs and oofs of this project, you’ve handled it really well, and I’ve learned quite a lot from working with you and the other guys.
I may take some heat for this (reminds me, I gotta write that blog entry as to why we (I) wanted to not style form widgets), but I have little left to those who were disappointed that “nothing was launched”. Quite simply, this was a closed design project, and now it’s done and open. People are free to criticize it all they want, and we’ll even answer their questions. Compare it to the new Windows: when screenshots started rolling in, no-one said “hey, nothing was launched!”.
As for the actual Shuttle, I can 100% support the end result visually and usability wise (which is more than I can say about several of the mockups).
Compared to Wordpress 1.2, compared to WP 2.0, heck even TextPattern and a slew of other admin interfaces, Shuttle not only stands up to them, but improves a lot. The cardinal rules of good navigation are strictly enforced, i.e. “where am I”, “where have I been”, and “what remains to be seen”.
Sure Shuttle doesn’t feature that many drop shadows and “web 2.0 vertical green gradients”, but the end result, I’m sure, will actually be useful.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
No one is actually paying for anything so I don’t think anyone should be complaining. We’re all benefiting from the open source nature of Wordpress and Shuttle.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Obviously, no matter what, someone will always find some way to complain. Thing is, you guys have done this simply for the good of the Wordpress community. Certainly, the only reward you’re all going to recieve from this is a job well done. And at least in my own opinion, that’s what it is - a fantastic looking job.
Thanks guys, looking forward to using it!
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
I wish I could find the link … I once read an article about blogs, talking about the curious phenomenon of how some blog authors would regularly lavish extreme praise on others. The author described it as coming across so strongly and so embarrassingly that you could be “forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into a room where one guy was giving the other guy a blowjob”.
Tone lowering (but precise) descriptions aside, my point is that the problem of over-expectation isn’t caused by the simple fact that you brought together talented people. It’s caused by the fact that you spent a year gushing about them every time you mentioned the project.
Look at what you wrote above: Was it necessary to describe them as “exceptionally talented” and then barely a comma later state that they are “at the top of their game”? Using such pleonasms dramatically builds the emphasis of what you are saying to such a point where it seems hardly surprising to me that “people expected the second coming”.
You’re quite a stubborn/self-certain guy (which I mean in a neutral rather than critical manner), so I don’t imagine you give a shit what I say (not least because I have discredited myself here previously). But if I was in your position and looking to stop this kind of thing happening again in the future, this is where I would start looking to do things differently.
(For the record, my position on Shuttle is that I agree that what’s there at the moment can definitely be improved and I’m cautiously looking forward to the results of your work.)
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
I guess basically most people agree. It’s all about the choice of words in the buzz that was created around Shuttle. Not Shuttle itself which looks mighty fine.
@Joen the difference is: Microsoft doesn’t claim they launched a new version of Windows when they release screenshots. This is why nobody complains that ‘nothing was launched’. Microsoft releases screenshots and that’s what people will expect. No more, no less.
Once again stating the obvious here :)
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Marco said:
While I see what you’re saying, I don’t entirely agree. I do not agree that the hype you refer to was created by Khaled, rather by other people chattering about “a new backend system for the most popular blogging software”.
Example, let’s say I have this great new idea for a project I’m doing… I write a blogpost about it in which I use the same wording you refer to being used “to create the buzz around shuttle”. Will it be picked up by the general public? Probably not, because that project is not a redesign of the most popular blogging software around.
You’ll think this is an attack on you personally, I assure you it’s not. I respect your opinion, and I even understand why people might be disappointed. I’m merely pointing out that (at least in my case), hype has never driven Shuttle, and neither of us have ever thought strategically about “unveiling shuttle” or “marketing” it to the public. Remember, this is not the launching of the new MacBook, this is just showing a the fruits of a year and a half of free spare-time labour on an open-source project. It has always been.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Joen said:
Thanks Joen, I’ve got another post about how I think work like this should be done in the future, but for me it was just the sense of collaboration between everyone on the team that made the whole experience worth while.
I’m still waiting on that particular post to be honest :).
SpiderMonkey said:
I think that’s a bit of base to be honest. If it was 3 guys who had never done anything for the WP community there would be no anticipation period. Expectation were high due to the people involved.
I don’t need to wax lyrically about what the guys have done in the past, because I feel that their work and their contribution to the WP community at large seriously speaks for itself. Hell, in Michael’s case his contribution extends to bloggers in general as his kubrick theme is used on every single platform.
SpiderMonkey also said:
Please don’t make it as if you know me, you don’t. Me not giving a shit what you say (yes I don’t) has nothing to do with my being stubborn or headstrong (in many cases I am, but not always and definitely not for everything). It has everything to do with how you left the message.
I honestly don’t mind not agreeing with me and how I handled things. I’ve got the utmost respect for Marco and his opinions, I might not completely agree with them but I respect them.
The difference is in the way he’s written his comments, how he’s left them (there are other reasons of course but if I didn’t know Marco from 9rules then he’d be in the same category as you, someone random giving me critism about how I handled things). Your response just came across like a bit offensive (even though you tried although very half heartedly to keep it neutral).
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
I’m slightly confused by this sentence, because “I don’t need …” suggests that you felt I was saying you didn’t say enough about them. My point was that you said far too much about how you had brought together the Blogging Justice League to take on WP’s interface.
I don’t intend to dig up previous shit but: Give respect, get respect. You disrespected me by debasing my ‘name’ (”SpankMonkey” … it’s almost grown on me), so I don’t find any motivation to include any respect in my comments. That said, good work like Shuttle is building up some respect for you, hence me not being a total dick in my comments this time around.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
I can totally see where you’re coming from.
Also, as the ‘lead’ (or spokesperson) you’ll always get flack for the Buzz, whether you actually have anything to do with it or not. You know which part of the flack to ignore :)
And in some cultures that’s called ‘being cordial’.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Thanks James it’s the good comments that make it worthwhile, the constructive critism to be taken into consideration and the rest of the garbage that aid no man or beast to ignored (unfortunately it’s not as easy sometimes, but I’m slowly learning to ignore the noise :) ).
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
I wonder why Steve Smith isn’t collaborating with the Shuttle Project. He seems to be a kind of pioneer in “redesigning” the WordPress Admin-Panel.
↓ Quote | 18/5/2006
Thank you for the hard work! It’s been a tantalizing 1.5 years, dropping by every now and then to glean the latest bit of news… at one point I was afraid this project had gone the route of vaporware! But honestly since I had done nothing to contribute, there was no right for me to complain. So good job guys for pulling through. I hope the flack coming your way does not dissuade you from further projects. We need more proactive folks to balance out the rest of us slackers. Thanks again!
↓ Quote | 19/5/2006