As a fellow creative, the amount of care and consideration that's displayed here is not at all surprising. The product really speaks for its self.
This type of journey that a product takes is so often lost forever.
I wish more people documented their creative journeys. At the time, small anecdotes may not be that interesting, but the sum can offer incredible insight into how something came into fruition.
It's valuable both as a display of how much unseen work goes into great products, and as a way to help others learn from your mistakes.
I love this idea. I've been involved in so many projects and I know very well the ephermal feeling he describes. I wish I had a book like this for every lengthy project I've been a part of--it would just feel so much more gratifying than something that turns into a blurb on a resume and then eventually falls off.
Every project manager should make one of these for their teams, and themselves. For every project.
Some of my best bosses have done this in different ways and it's super inspiring. I know it's a ridiculous amount of work in and of itself but it's something that becomes absolutely priceless to those who were involved.
For those who are managing software teams, check out http://code.google.com/p/gource/ It does a stunning job visualizing your codebase being built based on git changelogs. Record it with fraps, add some background music and you have a music video you can watch of each major release. :)
When a lot of effort and energy has been put into polishing a product it clearly shows. The last 10% of the polish makes up 90% of the differences between a great product and an average one.
Great to see a great team of engineers/designers focusing not on "what" the product does but on "how" it does them. Kudos to the Flipboard team.
Imagine you're looking to hire a top tier developer, or perhaps a "product person." After a strong interview, he or she is walking through the door, pauses, turns back, and says, "oh, one more thing." And hands you something like this.
This article really inspired me, as well as got me thinking about past projects I wish I would have documented in a similar way.
Imagine surprising your team with copies of something similar after they have killed themselves building an amazing product. I can't imagine a better reward (other than users who love using your product).
I know it's not made for anyone outside of the company, but why not? Trade secrets? It would be an interesting read to other people too, and they might also have the experiences of reading "The Umbrella" on software craftsmanship...
As a fellow creative, the amount of care and consideration that's displayed here is not at all surprising. The product really speaks for its self.
This type of journey that a product takes is so often lost forever.
I wish more people documented their creative journeys. At the time, small anecdotes may not be that interesting, but the sum can offer incredible insight into how something came into fruition.
It's valuable both as a display of how much unseen work goes into great products, and as a way to help others learn from your mistakes.
I'm as guilty of this as anyone else.
http://www.folklore.org is a great example of how enthralling these stories can be.