Author: iandick

Better Experiments/Pilots

Scoping a pilot or experiment is often ignored and before you know it you have a production solution masquerading as a pilot. This article from John Cutler helps.

  1. Set aside ~90 minutes.
  2. Pick a problem or observation. 
  3. Read and discuss the dimensions described below. For each dimension, brainstorm example experiments representing the “extremes”. These don’t need to be real. Have fun.
  4. Optionally (as demonstrated with L+ and R+), chat about how the extremes could be considered positive.
  5. Return to the problem or observation. Ask individuals to brainstorm 1-3 candidate experiments to address that problem or observation. 
  6. Ask team members to individually describe each candidate experiment using the ranges below.
  7. As a group, discuss each experiment, and where each team member placed each experiment.
  8. Finally, ask team members to dot vote on the best-fit experiment (for the given context). Discuss ranking. Ideally, pick an experiment to try.

Local | Global

How containable (or localized) is the experiment?

L+: Localized impact, fewer dependencies, less visibility/oversight/meddling.

R+: Broader impact, more support, more visibility.

Flexible | Rigid

Will it be possible to pivot the experiment on the fly?

L+: May be easier to sustain. More adaptable to changing environments and new information.

R+:May be easier to understand, teach, support, and promote.

Short Duration | Long Duration

How long must the experiment last to provide meaningful information?

L+: Less disruptive. Easier to pitch. Faster feedback.

R+: More time to “simmer” and pick up steam. Commitment.

Invitation | Imposition

Will the participants be invited to take part in the experiment, or will the experiment be imposed?

L+: More intrinsic motivation. More vested in outcome. “Advocates for life!”

R+: Speed. Less need to “sell” change. 

Small Shift | Large Shift

Will the experiment represent a small change from how things currently work, or will it feel foreign and new? Perhaps different participants will experience different degrees of change.

L+: Easier. Less disruptive. More potential to “pick up momentum”.

R+: “Get it over with”. Less chance of getting stuck in local maximum.

Self-powering | Requires “fuel” & external support

Can the experiment sustain itself without outside support and resources, or will it require external support?

L+: Independent. Easier. Can be sustained indefinitely.

R+: Involves and “vests” broader group in the effort. 

Value in 2nd/3rd order effects | Risk in 2nd/3rd order effects

Second and third order effects are common when running an experiment. Is the experiment expected to “throw off” potentially valuable 2nd/3rd order effects? 

L+: Discover valuable things!

R+: Risk may be necessary to explore new areas of uncertainty.

Fewer dependencies, lower blast radius | 
More dependencies, higher blast radius

How independent/dependent is the experiment on other things (people, projects, systems, processes, etc.) in the org?

L+: Independent. More degrees of freedom. Less constrained.

R+: Potentially more impactful. Potentially more involvement and support.

Shorter feedback loops | Longer feedback loops

How easily and quickly can we get feedback?

L+: Can respond more quickly. Can pivot experiment more quickly.

R+: May be less noisy. May provide “deeper” or more cohesive information.

Low threat to formal structures/incentives | Challenges formal structures/incentives

Does the experiment represent a threat to formal power/incentive structures?

L+: Can fly under radar. Consider “safe” and non-threatening.

R+: May be less likely to test (and change) formal power/incentive structures.

From The Beautiful Mess – Better Experiments

WWDC 2021

Tomorrow see’s the start of the Apple year – WWDC. I always look forward to the event as it sets out the direction for all of Apple’s platforms and hints at future hardware. We are 9 months into the transition to Apple silicon so lots of hardware rumours, iOS is mature so what will be new this year and will we see anything hardware related with AR/VR?

What I expect to see:

  • New MacBook Pro’s with faster Apple chips.
  • iPadOS will surely see some improvements. The new IPad’s have so much power and the platform is let down by the software. Question is what? Hopefully a widget system that matches iOS as last year it was strangely hampered compared to the new powerful widgets you could use on the iPhone. Productivity improvements? Windowing? Better external display support? Some more borrowing/sharing features between MacOS? Not sure but if there’s not a focus on iPadOS that will be a major disappointment.
  • iOS – improved customisation after last years widget hit. So widgets improved, more flexibility across the whole of iOS as well. Expect to see improvements to Messages and FaceTime as well as they’ve been used so heavily through the pandemic.
  • watchOS – improved customisation perhaps? More around complications rather than full custom watch faces. That feels like a dream that will never land. Also expect to see more on health although that may need new hardware later in the year.
  • macOS – the first WWDC with Apple Silicon in the wild so what improvements will we see here? I’m hoping Control Centre will see further work including letting third parties use it. Maybe Shortcuts will make an appearance to further blur iOS and macOS?
  • Music – still think there’s more to come around audio. Apple made their lossless announcement but listen back options are limited. So surely there’s a part 2?

What I want to see:

  • New Mac Mini and the larger iMac. I’m plotting to upgrade to Apple Silicon this year from Intel so I’d like to see my options rather than plump for a device and then have regrets. However with iMac’s only recently being released I can’t see the bigger one launching.
  • Apple Monitor – one that isn’t > £5k
  • Let me customise Apple One and pick the services in the low to middle tier
  • iCloud – backup my Mac and also increase the storage limits without increasing cost – feels very tight when Apple is the richest company in the world
  • Apple Card in the UK
  • Apple address developer discontent and drop App Store charges…and throws them a bone around payment services
  • homeOS – lots of rumours around this and it’s something Apple could really do with improving. But what’s it for? HomePod’s? Apple TV? New devices?
  • A glimpse at the AR/VR hardware

24 hours from now we’ll have all the answers. Can’t wait.

Covid Jag

I’ve been jagged. On Friday I drove out to Milngavie and got my first dose of the Covid vaccine. No waiting, slick process and didn’t even feel the needle. I got the Pfizer vaccine although I’d have no problem getting any version. Science is getting us out of this covid mess and I couldn’t wait to get my jag. Big thanks to the NHS staff and all the helpers – what a difference they are making.

So far the only side effect is I’ve been slightly more tired than normal but I’ve not needed to head to bed or anything. I also had a slight sore head on the afternoon of the jag but a walk and some fresh air soon cleared that…and I get sore heads at the best of time so I’ve no idea if it’s related.

Role on May 21st when my body will have built up more immunity and mid August when I’ll have had the second jag and be as immune as I can be without actually getting covid.

The biggest question though…jag or jab? I’m in the jag camp.

Six Thinking Hats

Six Thinking Hats was written by Dr. Edward de Bono. “Six Thinking Hats” and the associated idea parallel thinking provide a means for groups to plan thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way, and in doing so to think together more effectively.

Although this can be used in groups to aid thinking assigning each person a role has felt restrictive for me. Better example – group assumes all roles at the same time so you move through the different hats together. Also find it useful if going through thinking on my own and avoids falling into favouring your own idea and focussing on yellow and blue hats while missing the others.

Done

202o was quite the year. Let’s be honest – it sucked. Even at the start of March I didn’t expect to spend more than three quarters of the year working from home but there you go. Also surprising considering how many looked at home working (in my current job/industry at least) as a duvet day or being not as productive…..I’ve never been busier or achieved as much as I’ve done in the last 9 months. And with no whiteboard!

Not that I’m complaining. I consider myself really lucky that I can work effectively from home and carry out my role remotely while reducing covid risk as much as possible. What that did mean was a bit of investment in the home office.

My updated home office – ultra wide FTW

I really need to get a blog post done on the new gaming PC 😎

Despite the pandemic I did focus on 2 things this year that were on the to-do list for 2020. Finally got the bathroom upgraded in January and I’m putting a lot more effort on paying off the mortgage. Other things like photography took a total back seat. Travel restrictions didn’t help in March and April but I lost all my photo mojo. Hopefully next year I’ll get back on the photography saddle.

Also lost the blog bug and with that the weekly updates went into hibernation as so much news was dominated by the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and politics. Found myself needing to switch off more from social media as it was all pretty relentlessly bleak. What I did fall back on was gaming and TV. New consoles helped and also games like Flight Simulator which is really just a world simulator and a pretty fantastic game. As for TV, I enjoyed in amongst everything else:

Industry is 2020’s version of This Life and the soundtrack for it and Normal People are well worth a listen. Surprise hit (for me anyway) of the year was Ted Lasso. Looked to be a pretty average but it really hit the spot with some feel good comedy which worked well in this miserable 2020.

Thanks to covid I’ve also enjoyed the years best meme played out live on Twitter – Room Rater.

So onwards to 2021. A couple of theme’s/goals but no resolutions and a hope that the year sucks less than 2020 despite the mess the UK is in thanks to Covid, Brexit and an incompetent Westminster government.

Xbox Series X

It’s new console’s season. First up is Microsoft’s Xbox Series X launched on Nov 10th. I got mine the day after (thanks Amazon!) and so the following are my impressions after a few weeks. So in no particular order:

Xbox Series X
  • The console was really easy to setup. Plugged it in and used the iOS app to setup and transfer settings from the One X. Within a few minutes I was logged in and downloading games.
  • Front end is fast but exactly the same as the dash released in October for the One X. Takes away some of the new when it looks and feels the same.
  • I had games on an external hard drive ready to transfer so copied a couple over to test the console. Sea of Thieves was much much quicker to load. It was also much smoother – 60fps and in 4K. 
  • Foran Horizon 4 was a bit more complex as it needed an 80GB update – new textures clearly leads to a download of the whole game? Like Thieves the game loaded more quickly and throughout the game you saw the speed of the Series X SSD. The game now runs at 60fps at 4K and looks really good. Sharp and much better textures…but when you are racing around the countryside some of the improvements are hard to pick out.
  • Downloaded Dirt 5 as I wanted to play an actual new game. Certainly a great looker and some nice touches in single player but…pop up in surprising places and the multiplayer is really weak. Hopefully updates will rescue this from mediocracy. 
  • The Series X is whisper quiet – really impressive. Under load you can hear it slightly but compared to other consoles it’s nothing. However it’s a great room heater…this will be interesting in the summer.
  • The internal SSD really does deliver on 2 fronts – quick loading of games and quick resume. The loading isn’t really a surprise if you’ve upgraded your Mac or PC from HDD to SDD but the quick resume is surprisingly good. Across old and new games it only takes a few seconds to resume a game, no loading menus – straight back to where you left off.
  • I really like the design of the Series X. I have it standing next to the TV rather than underneath on it’s side. Yes it’s big…until you stand a PS5 next to it which makes it look svelte.
  • I also loved the packaging from Microsoft. Easy open stickers, a premium box and it added to the new console experience. However I’ll never see that box again until I replace/sell it.
  • The controller has seen little change. A share/capture button and a slight sculpting here and there. It was always preferred over the DualShock but I use an Elite now so nothing really lost….but Microsoft played safe with the controller and it’s now behind the Sony counterpart.
  • I’ve had no lock-ups or crashes but I did get a strange load once where it booted in 640×480. It said my TV didn’t support anything higher too…which was weird as I’m using a new LG CX Oled which supports all the new consoles features. No matter what I did I couldn’t get it to work…until I switched it to a different HDMI port and all was well. Swapped back and again all was well so I’ll put it down to a weird HDMI handshaking issue.
  • Back to the dash – again it feels like Microsoft have played safe compared to PS5. There’s nothing much new in the dash, just a tweak to how games and apps are listed. PS5 has a concept of shortcuts which is an interesting way of getting to game content more quickly.
  • Much has been made of the power of the Series X but some of the initial third party games have seen stutter and frame drops. Rumours of tooling getting to dev’s late and a rush to meet console release but I’ve seen none of it as the TV I have has VRR – Variable Refresh Rate – which masks/hides the issues. I wonder how many dev’s are going to assume that users have VRR as standard going forward?
  • In low power mode (console’s off but will do updates and downloads) the fan is always on. You can’t hear it until you put your ear to the console but put your hand over the top of the console and you’ll feel a constant cool flow of air. Wonder if the noise will increase over time due to dust/wear?
  • New first party games are an issue. Halo being put back to Fall 2021 has meant there is little new from Microsoft on the Series X. However Game Pass is such good value for money that there is plenty to play on the console including Destiny 2 which has just been updated for the Series X.
  • Old games really do fly though – Halo 5 is silky smooth and I’m loving diving back into multiplayer.

Overall I’m really happy with the Series X. Hardware, power and design are all top notch and easily beat the old console. However stock seems to be an issue and as there’s no must play Series X game I’d say wait for stock levels to get better and don’t pay over the odds for it. When you do pick one up though you’ll be rewarded with a cracking console, a Game Pass stocked with games and a pretty full looking first party games list coming out over the next 2 years. However those first party games really need to deliver and show there’s more outside of Forza, Halo and Gears of War.