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Second Brain Reloaded Test Release

It's been a while since the last update on secondbrain.com. But today, I'm happy to announce that we've released a test version of Second Brain Reloaded. We’ve rewritten everything and redesigned quite a lot of features:

    * Share your public content stream on your personal profile page
    * Get a personal url to share with other people (reloaded.secondbrain.com/nickname)
    * Automatic synchronization of services
    * Create smart collections that update automatically based on your tags
    * Create custom collections directly from your library
    * See rich previews of content inside your library
    * Comment and rate other people's collections
    * Add public collections as favorites
    * Subscribe to collection via RSS

Go to reloaded.secondbrain.com to try it out. If you were registered on the preview release (www.secondbrain.com) you can use the same nickname and password.

This is just a Test Release and Second Brain is not ready to be used for anything important yet. When we go from Test to Public Beta, we may have to delete things in the database, so don't invest too much in this version, at least not until we tell you it's ready.

We hope that you will spend some time on the test release let us know see how it works for you. If you find something that doesn't work, or something you don't like, please tell us. We will try to fix everything you report so that we can make a nice public release. We're also very curious about any features you would want us to make for you in the near future.

We still have a few more things in store for you that we want to introduce in the public beta release. It is scheduled for next week.

Enjoy and please find some bugs for us:)

Thanks,
Lars (Founder/CEO) and the Second Brain Team

PS:
The old Second Brain Preview release will be discontinued as soon as the Reloaded release is ready. If you have a lot of files uploaded that you'd like to keep, you should download them before October 1st. In the new version, you will be able to use Omnidrive to store up to 1 GB for free.

If you cannot remember your old nickname and password, just go to http://reloaded.secondbrain.com/ForgotPassword and follow the procedure. You can also register a new account if you like.

Second Brain Work Weekend

Last weekend was all work. We'd scheduled a work weekend 6 weeks in advance, b/c we know we will alway need some extra time right before a deadline. We'd saved a bit too many features to finish everything in the weekend, but in the end we were able to deploy a test version to the prod server. In a few hours, I hope to have the Test Release of Second Brain Reloaded live. I will transfer all users from the old Preview release and send an email to registered Test Pilots.

There are no short-cuts to innovation

Guy Kawasaki summarized the highlights of a new manifesto on innovation: Mind of the Innovator: Taming the Traps of Traditional Thinking by Matthew May.

Basically, the main point is that there are no easy short-cuts to true innovation. Of course, there should be a flash of inspiration, but most of it is just focused and methodical hard work. This is what separates idea and execution - after the initial idea is well defined starts the engineering of the idea.

However, it is not a linear process. The initial idea defines the over-arching vision, mission and problem/solution. This stays quite stable over time. On the engineering level there is a constant dialog between solution specification, development and testing through several iterations. We've been through a few already in Second Brain.

Looking at myself - I usually don't have problems with ideas - I get them from time to time and I visualize them as images, almost like paintings. Though very few of the ideas have any significance, and even fewer are acted upon, some of them stick and I try to deconstruct them into something that can be communicated meaningfully.

This is where things starts getting complicated for me. I tend to fall in the first of the traps mentioned in the manifesto:

Shortcutting. Leaping to solutions in an instinctive way or intuitive way—i.e. the “blink” method of problem-solving—seldom leads to an elegant solution because deeper, hidden causes don’t get addressed. Watch CSI and House: first they collect the evidence, then diagnose, and then solve. It’s never the guy or the disease you initially suspect. (Source)

Translating the idea visualized as a painting into its individual components is the first challenge.  I'm usually able to describe the main features and the context of the idea - what's going on here and there - but getting to the level on which a specification to an engineer can be made is difficult.

Developers need to know how the components are supposed to work together. I can tell how they are related, like this one talks to this one - also we have something over here that does something - and then, magically, stuff just happens. But the thing I find the most difficult has to do with the linear processes in the system over time - to explain the direction of interaction and the order of inputs and outputs. For example, the use case of creating collections in Second Brain from a library of content.

I think the reason I find this challenging is that my mind tend to gravitate to a higher level of abstraction when I work on the details. I look for perfection in the details, but I'm not so good at detailing things, and therefore I don't get much satisfaction from this part of the process. And  this brings me to the second trap  if innovation that I tend to fall in:

Complicating. Why do we overthink, complicate, and add cost? And why do we ALL do it so intuitively, naturally, and (here’s the killer) consistently? Answer: we’re hardwired that way. Our brains are designed to drive hoarding, storing, accumulating, and collecting-type behavior. We are by nature “do more/add on” types. Don’t believe it? Watch the customers at Costco or Sam’s Club buy thirty-six rolls of toilet paper. (Source)

I do this all the time because I think too much on the big idea when I should be concentrated on working out the details of the solution.

I am really impressed by engineers, and I try to learn from them. The past three months I've learned quite a lot from our technical manager, Maciek, and we've been pretty successful in not falling into these two traps.

First we agreed that I would write user stories instead of use cases as the product specification. This was so much easier for me, as I didn't have to worry about the nitty gritty of the "user does this and system does this" type of interaction.

Second, we decided to draft the interaction/functional design of Second Brain on pen and paper instead of the usual Visio designs. Previously I would spend too much time in perfecting the layout in Visio, when I should instead worry about the solving the most important pain points of the users. I suck at drawing, my recent designs are proof of this, but he is able to read what he needs from them and then just probe for the details.

This works really well for us. It has changed the dynamics of the team to the better, and, as you will see in Second Brain Reloaded, made us able to create a much better product.

Wrapping up this post, I see that it got too long. I should have been able to get my point across in just about a third of this post. Yet another example of me overcomplicating things instead of focusing on the details. On the other hand, at least I didn't take any short-cuts.

Reloading for the fall release

We made the preview release a few weeks back. And it turned out quite OK. There were a few more features that I wanted included, but it was not possible during the time that we had available. The purpose of the release was to show the world what we are working on and use it to promote Second Brain during the summer.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are going to rebuild the whole service from scratch. This is a necessary step in order to get the features we want and scale over time. To prepare for this, we've done a lot of work on the strategic and product specification level - and we've ended up with a much more focused product strategy and development plan. For example, we are not going to deliver any mind-mapping functionality - there are other services who do this very well - and we don't think this is a feature most people look for in Second Brain. We're also going to work hard on expanding the social features and do a facebook application.

We've also made a few changes on the team. Previously there were anything from five to ten people involved every day. Some were part time workers, some had part time assignments, and we were working both in ASP.NET as well as in Adobe Flex. For the Reloaded release, we have put together a smaller and more focused team lead by Maciek, our development manager. We've also decided to build the service without any Flex features, at least on the short term. So we have a smaller team which is only working in one development framework. This reduces complexity and risk. And with our SCRUM development process pretty well implemented, we have an excellent opportunity to build a great service for the Public Release which is scheduled for September.

If any of you have any suggestions about what features you want to see in Second Brain, please let us know by using the comments feature on this post.

Testing the embed collection functionality

The embed collection functionality is released, and I'd like to test it with this great collection from busstories on Web2.0.

Now we should just get the zoom feature in as well, and I would fit better to our blog. But this is a great way to free your content and distribute collections anywhere on the web.

Test Pilots' Update #01

It is one week after the Private Beta Launch, and after some serious bug fighting, we finally find the time to greet you, our dear Test Pilots with our Update #01.

Successful Private Beta Launch
The spanking new offices of Making Waves was filled to the rim with Wavemakers and invited guests for the Second Brain Breakfast Launch last Thursday. The development team had been working 16 hour days the past week to get the basic functionality in place. We were quite well prepared - had rehearsed the demo about five times -  but you never know if it will work at show time. So the ambiance in the room was packed with over-clocked anticipation. I was able to the slides without getting into much theory, and after 5 minutes, we went straight into the live demo. Hubert, the interaction designer, operated the computer while I explained everything. And fortunately, everything went just perfect. No exceptions, bugs or distractions of any sort. It was just sheer delight to do the demo - and see all the nodding heads in the audience following the clicks on the screen. So we celebrated for about 15 minutes - then we went straight back to the computers for more bug fighting. Later that day, digi.no published an article about us.

Test Pilot Polo Shirts Coming Soon
We think Test Pilots are special - you help us with bug reports and your enthusiasm - so we want to give something to show off your special status. The first Test Pilots will get a uniquely numbered Test Pilot Polo upon request. The shirts are individually numbered from 100 to 300, and we have them in all sizes (even a woman's fit). Next week we'll add a link in Second Brain where you can request the Polo by e-mail. Pls note that you will not be sent the shirt automatically - you will have to request it (and we need your address and your preferred size;)).

Bug Fix Status
In short - we have a lot of bugs left on our list. We have a few functionality quirks left to tackle, and several improvements on the front-end/user-experience level to work on. But the system should basically work now. We are also going to make the log in secure early next week. You will for sure find new bugs in the system, and we trust that you will not be too annoyed and take the time to report it to us - that's part of the life of a Test Pilot;)

New Functionality in the Pipeline
As soon as all the bugs are eliminated (LOL), we have lots of exiting new functionality we want to introduce to you the next few weeks. I'll list them briefly:

• More services: Picasa was added today. We will work on getting a music service, feed services and blog into the MyServices á la carte the next two weeks.
• Social connections: Add other public collections and people as your personal favorites. This way you can link to another person's collection from your library/collection. Make a richer public profile page where you can present your public collections, favorite services, collections and people. Maybe even integrate a blog in there...
• Mind-mapping: The Collection Editor will get a big upgrade with mind-mapping functionality. This way you can relate your notes, comments and content into a real mind-map. If you like mind-mapping you will soon find the familiar visual presentation system inside the Collection Editor.
• Publish/embed in web-page: We want give you the opportunity to use your collections on other web-sites. This means that you will be able to embed a collection into another web-page - much like they are shared today in Explore Collections. This is analogous to how YouTube does it with video, but it will be the first time you can mix and match content from all your internet services into one collection and share it via another web-page.
• Global search: Today, you can only search by tags. We will upgrade the search so that you can free-text search in all the content inside your library, including the title and description. The tags will be used to help you refine your search. Think about the possibility to search all your internet content from one place. It should save you lots of time in finding stuff distributed across all the internet services that you use.
• Other stuff: Logical URLs, send to friend, invite people, new graphic design, and much more...

We plan to continue on a fast pace and release schedule with bi-weekly upgrades. The next big milestone for us will be the America release. We are going to San Francisco/Silicon Valley in the end of May to present Second Brain to investors and incorporate Second Brain in the US. Our goal is to have all the functionality in place by then.

Maybe we're dreaming - for sure it will be lots of hard work - but if you help us find the bugs, and continue sharing your suggestions for improvements - I'm sure we can do it.

I will go back to bug fighting now. You'll hear from us as soon as we do a major update. I promise not to write so much either next time...:)

Enjoy a happy eastern and keep on reporting the bugs!

All the best from Lars and the Second Brain Development Team

Private Beta Launch Breakfast

Thursday the 22. of March will be a big day for the Second Brain Team. We have been working on this for almost a year now, and finally we're going to do the first public presentation of our baby. At at 08:00 am we are going to launch the Private Beta at a breakfast event in Oslo.

We are sending out invitations to people that we know around the Making Waves network that we think may be interested in this type of service. We want to solicit their feedback and establish the first user community.

If you are on Oslo, Norway on this day, and you'd like to take part in this event, please just e-mail us and we'll put you on the list. The schedule is as follows:

Where: Making Waves' offices at Christian Krohgs gate 60
When: Breakfast is served at 08:00. The demo starts at 08:30, and we'll wrap it up around 09:00/09:30. 

We'd love to see you there:)

Ready, Set Go/No Go

So we are approaching the time when we are going into Private Beta release mode. Actually, on this Friday, the 26th of January - we should have our first Private Beta deployed on the server. Our state of readiness is a matter of definition and expectations, but a working version of the application is a must. Most of our development is on track, but the last few days are always critical.

So I started thinking about the criteria for a Beta release. Was is a Private Beta, what is a Public Beta, and what are the minimum requirements for such releases?

I found this great post at Techcrunch called Don't Blow your Beta that summarizes most of this. It is written by Michael Arrington, who probably see more Betas than most VCs.

He gives advise on:

• First impressions - This is very important. You only really get one chance with the crowd.
• Rolling Feature Release - Do this if you have to release early.
• Incomplete Features - Don't launch features that don't work.
• The Browser Issue - Remember FF and Safari if you are targeting early adopters. IE is for the mainstream market.
• Landing Pages - Explain what you do and your vision, maybe a demo.
• Bloggers and Blogging - Be an active blogger, but be very polite to anyone discussing your service.
• Obvious Trust Issues - Don't ask for more personal information than you really need.

In summary, you have a lot of freedom in the Private Beta phase, but as soon as you go public - beta or not - you need to treat your users as real customers, with real expectations.
 

Stolen laptop

When Bartlomiej, our very dedicated Flash Developer, arrived at his flat on Saturday evening, he prepared some coffee for his evening shift and sat down at his desk, only to find that the balcony door was open and the window broken. Next, he noticed there was no computer at his desk - it was stolen, somebody had broken into his apartment.

About five days of normal + overtime work was lost. And this close to the release date, this is very precious time. Today, he is reporting the lost items with the police. We just have to hope he is able to restore some of his lost files and make it for Friday. But most importantly, nobody were hurt, and nothing really irreplaceable was stolen (but time).

The ALPHA Presentation

It's been a long time since I posted anything, but it is not because it has been quiet around here. I will try to do summarize the past two months in a few separate posts.

The last post I did was on finishing the ALPHA for our September deadline. It was a hectic time, and we worked very hard. The goal was to present it to the management of Making Waves the next day (who provide the seed money for the Second Brain project). It didn't go exactly as planned:

I was of course a little unprepared for the presentation since I hadn’t really tried using the system - it was only finished the night before. So it was difficult for me to give a systematic overview of the it and how it works for a user. Coming straight from the morning flight from Poland, I only had 45 min in the office to prepare a demo before the meeting was scheduled.

A second problem was that it was very buggy – with lots of bugs that I hadn’t expected. So when I tried to explain how the user would use the system, and what it would do, it didn’t – I felt kind of stupid.

A third problem was that I had to run the demo on a 1024 resolution due to some problem with the projector and my computer. It didn’t work well on that resolution. There were CSS issues on every page. Some of the content was presented in a totally incomprehensible lay-out. The Management asked me if this was a functionality for the more advanced users;)…

But The Management has seen this kind of things happen before. They can appreciate how it is to work with software development.

A few lessons learned from the ALPHA release:

• Do not finish system scope the day before a presentation meeting – there will be bugs, of course!
• Start testing early – the developers need feedback – it’s part of development.
• Have someone take responsibility for the front end development. It doesn’t take care of itself.
• Plan the presentation ahead, and rehearse how to use the system in advance
• If you don’t think you can finish in time for a presentation – ask to postpone the presentation. It is better to be late than to give a bad presentation.