Episode 40, recorded Thursday 24th February 2011, discussing the design and information development methodology at work inside IBM/Lotus with IBM’s Director of User Experience and Information Development, Nokia’s decision to partner with Microsoft, the new XPages forum and more…

Guests

Chris PaulChis Paul (twitter | linkedin) is Director, User Experience and Information Development, Collaboration Solutions at IBM.
Mat NewmanMat Newman (blog | twitter | company) is the Director of Educaiton for ISW (an IBM Premier business partner in Australia, and this years winner of the IBM South-East Asis Business Partner of the Year award), Mat is a Lotusphere speaker of repute and renown and owner of the coolest yellow suit around!

Topics

UX Design at IBM 

  • What does Chris’ role as ‘Director, User Experience and Information Development, Collaboration Solutions’entail?
    • Do you manage a team?
    • Who is part of that team?
  • User Experience AND Information Development.
    • Why the two roles combined?  Are the intersections between their work?
  • Will IBM continue to offer offline documentation?
  • Do you manage design for web-based, client and mobile?  Does that bring challenges?
  • What are the goals and main focus areas in 2011?
    • ‘This year, our focus is on: user adoption, consistency and integration.’
  • We keep on hearing about OneUI.  Can you talk to what OneUI is?
  • Whilst the UI is similar cross the products, the process of customising the UI is very different (thinking of Quickr, Connections, Sametime, iNotes etc.).  Are there any plans to make this easier and more standardised? (Stuart)
    • Where do you see the future interface of the traditional desktop client given the OneUi approach for the browser based clients
    • We’ve seen a huge growth in mobile ‘Smart”devices based on simplified design, which has come at a functionality cost (Apple iOS sans Tasks) how hard do you find the trade off between usability and functionality
  • Has anyone looked at what features are turned on by default?
  • What other vendors do you look at and envy?
  • I would love for you and your people to come out to an Exchange to Notes migration and listen to the users 😉
  • Mac is a big topic today.
  • Does developing for the Mac lead to different design decisions to Windows-development?
  • How do you combine that with OneUI standards
  • As IBM adopts Social Business, users will look for design clues from consumer social sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  These sites evolve fast with almost weekly changes.  Can IBM keep up?  Indeed, should it try to?
  • With the drive for continued improvement do you see the continuation of the point.point release of new features and functionality that we’ve seen in the last year or so?

Other News: 

  • LotusLive Notes support for Blackberry and Android announced this week
    • Additional charge feature ($10/user/month)
    • 300-user limit for Blackberry
    • Traveler expanded with Android support
  • Nokia and Windows Phone 7
    • What’s the impact?
  • QuickrD 8.5 Administration book from Packt released
  • Cisco killed their Radio Star email
    • Complaining of “commodity”for email
    • Is this the future of Office too?
  • New XPages Forum on LDD/Notes.net
    • Built on XPages no less!
    • Good idea?
    • It even has “pinned”topics!

Competition

Announcing the winner of the ‘Mastering XPages’eBook:
Andrew Welch,
University of Tasmania,
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Tips

DarrenQuote from Upton Sinclair: It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. – via Ben Poole
StuartListen to ‘Get Social Do Business’- new podcast from Lisa Duke
ChrisSurround yourself with talented people and amazing stuff happens!
MatWildfire, plus View/Parent Preview in Notes client

Episode 39, recorded Thursday 17th February 2011, discussing the massively successful ‘Mastering XPages’ book, Domino Designer on the Mac, Watson and more…

Hosts

Stuart McIntyre (blog | twitter | company) & Darren Duke (blog | twitter | company)

Guests

Tony McGuckin (linkedin) is a software engineer in the IBM Ireland software lab. He began his career with IBM in 2006 working in software product development on the Lotus Component Designer runtime before morphing into the XPages core runtime team. When not directly contributing to the core runtime, Tony is busy with software research and development for the next generation of application development tooling for both Domino server and XPiNC. He also spends time engaging directly with IBM customers as an XPages consultant, and being involved with the IBM OneUI web applications and iWidgets adoption workgroup. Tony lives in Northern Ireland where its always warm and sunny.

Martin Donnelly (linkedin) is a software architect and tech lead for the XPages runtime team in IBM Ireland and has worked on all three XPages releases from Notes/Domino 8.5 through 8.5.2, Prior to this, Martin also worked on XFaces for Lotus Component Designer and on JSF tooling for Rational Application Developer. In the 1990s while living and working in Massachusetts, he was a lead developer on Domino Designer. Now, once again based in Ireland, Martin lives in Cork with his wife, three daughters, and two greyhounds. When pressed, he confesses to playing soccer on a weekly basis, and salmon fishing during the summer when the opportunity presents itself.

Mark Wallace (linkedIn) is a software architect working in the IBM Ireland software lab. In the past, he worked on the XSP runtime, which was developed for Lotus Component Designer and subsequently evolved into the XPages runtime. He has a keen interest in programming models and improving developer productivity. Mark has worked in Lotus and IBM for more than 15 years on various products and is currently working on Sametime Unified Telephony. Mark lives in Dublin with his wife and two children and spends as much time as possible in the Ireland’s sunny south east enjoying fishing and kayaking with his family.

Topics

Mastering XPages Book

  • How did the book come about?
  • When did you start work?
  • It’s quite a tome! 750 pages! How long did it take you to write?
  • Who is the book aimed at?
  • How did you split out the workload?  By chapter, by topic?
  • Who was responsible for the overall flow and organisation of the content?
  • The book was launched just prior to Lotusphere – great timing!
    • At LS11 it out sold any book at any IBM event in the last 6 years!
    • How have sales gone so far?
    • Pleased with the reaction?
    • Did that “fixed date”cause extra work?
  • What were the greatest challenges to writing the book?
    • How did you overcome them?
    • Would you write another one, given the experience?
  • Did you have to make any changes when 8.5.2 shipped?
  • Why write a book?
    • Has it raised your profile in IBM?
  • Discounts, discounts, get yer discounts here
    • Good through February!!!
    • Get 35% off the book in the US
    • Get 40% off the ebook version
    • See Ellice’s blog for details, codes and links

DDE on Mac

  • Why the sudden storm of discussion?
  • Would it be that hard to do?
  • Ed says the decision is a business justification one and that “cost != opportunity cost”. Is this one that must be justified by net new revenue, or is it (like social business) not possible to justify ROI, but needs to be done as the cost of not doing it is so great?
  • Is full DDE necessary, or would a designer just for XPages be enough?
  • Should we be looking beyond Domino Designer to other development tools (RAD7, Portlet Factory etc) being Mac-based?

Watson on Jeopardy

  • Wow!
  • A good advert for IBM?  Good PR?
  • What does this tech mean for us?  Can we see a day where call centres are replaced by Watson-type technology?
  • Built on the Power7 platform

IBM Execs beginning to get social!

  • Alistair Rennie now on Twitter
  • Does IBM pushing Social Business mean that IBM/Lotus must be seen to be leading the way in being more social itself?
  • Does Social need to mean external, or is internal enough?

UKLUG Call for Abstracts open

Tips

DarrenFree bar code labels for tape libraries, just buy the correct Avery label, http://tapelabels.librelogiciel.com/

Oh, and we have an e-book version of the “Mastering XPages”book to give away. Send an email before 12PM EST next Wednesday to ideas@thisweekinlotus.com to enter.

StuartBuy Mastering XPages!
TonyIf you’ve not already downloaded the new TeamRoom OpenNTF 8.5.2 template from OpenNTF.org then you should do so now!

It is quite literally a developers goldmine for examples and best practices on how to use many of the new controls found in the XPages Extension Library!  And don’t be shy on giving feedback!

Bear in mind it’s currently geared at 8.5.2, requires the Extension Library of course, and works best in Firefox 3.6, and MSIE 7 & 8.  In the coming weeks we’ll be updating it with more cross browser, XPiNC, and performance enhancements!

http://www.openntf.org/internal/home.nsf/project.xsp?action=openDocument&name=TeamRoom%20OpenNTF%208.5.2

MarkTake some time to go through the samples in chapter 4 “Anatomy of an XPage”, these will provide you with valuable lessons on the structure of an XPages and the fundamentals of the XSP language. Happy Reading!
Martin1) XPages book has tips throughout – chapter 9 is a good one (about sorting in views)
2) Always thank the people that help – in the acknowledgements section!

Episode 38, recorded Thursday 10th February 2011, looking back on Lotusphere 2011, possible Lotus re-branding, whether Social Business is well understood, the popularity of Lotus-focused books and more…

Hosts

Stuart McIntyre (blog | twitter | company) & Darren Duke (blog | twitter | company)

Topics

Looking back at Lotusphere 2011 

‘Social Business’- ‘Get Social. Do Business’as a theme 

  • Did attendees/customers/press get this?  Is there a sense that IBM is leading the field (and the conversation) now?
  • What does this mean for traditional Lotus partners? Will this lead to a new tier of business partners that can lead the Social Business message?

Looking forward: 

  • Did you get a sense for what’s coming in the ‘Next’versions of the product?  Is this Project Vulcan being realised?
  • Will Activity Streams become ubiquitous?
  • Is the future all web based? Will there be a place for desktop apps still? How about native mobile apps?
  • What will LotusLive Symphony bring us?  Is it a big threat to Google Apps?  Was pricing discussed?
    • LotusLive Symphony first look
    • Will this be IBM moving into a Fremium model?
    • Will it be available on-premise?

Success of XPages book – Mastering XPages 

  • Ed Brill – ‘Well, they sold out at Lotusphere.  First time ever, from what I heard.  More than any other IBM Press book at an IBM conference.  None of this surprises me, because learning XPages is the single most-important activity you can undertake if you want to be on top of the game in building Domino applications.’
  • Still a real appetite for Lotus books and hard copy publications – Lotus Redbooks?

Social Business Jam 

  • Have you partaken?

Domino Express Changes 

  • All limitations besides customer size to be removed in 8.5.3

Tips

DarrenVMware ESXi is free! Free, free, free…..and will work on ‘some’SATA controllers
JonExcuse me iPhone app – best anti-social app out there
MitchStuart and Rob Wunderlich’s SHOW202 Connections Installation presentation, and watch for Darren’s Kimonos videos.
StuartBoxcar notifications app for iPad/iPhone – a mobile activity stream (via Luis Benitez)

Episode 37, recorded Wednesday 2nd February 2011, live at Lotusphere 2011.  Darren and Start are joined by Mary Beth Raven, Kat Mandelstein, Paul Mooney, Bruce Elgort, Mitch Cohen and an audience of Lotusphere attendees for a discussion of topics surrounding the event…

Hosts

Stuart McIntyre (blog | twitter | company) & Darren Duke (blog | twitter | company)

Guests

Mary Beth Raven Ph.D (blog | twitter) is IBM Senior Technical Staff Member in the Lotus User Experience Design team

Paul Mooney (blog | twitter | company) is Senior Technical Architect from Bluewave Technology with 15 years experience supporting Lotus messaging products?

Kathy Mandelstein (twitter) is currently oversees worldwide marketing programs, web and events in IBM Software Group for the Lotus portfolio of collaboration tools designed to empower people to be more effective, responsive and innovative within the context of the work they do. It includes email, calendar, instant messaging, electronic forms, web conferencing, portals, team spaces, business dashboards, document management, and enterprise social software. Previously Kathy led the IBM Rational marketing team focused on the business value of effective software delivery.

Bruce Elgort (blog | twitter | company) is the president of Elguji Software, the creators of the hugely popular IdeaJam collaboration site for the Lotus Community. His other megahits include co-founding the Lotus Notes open source community OpenNTF.org and hosting the Taking Notes Podcast with the famed Julian Robichaux.

Mat Newman (blog | twitter | company) is a consultant for ISW (a business partner in Australia), Lotusphere speaker and owner of the coolest yellow suit around!

Topics

Lotusphere 2011 – what else?

A special ‘thank you’ to all those that helped organise this, ran the PA and got us the recording.  Thanks too to all the folks that attended and made it such a fun event!  All being well, we’ll be back live at Lotusphere 2012!