Comments on: Sneak peak at new Jive video

By: Jmartens

Jmartens — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:18:09 +0000

Cool, but are you relying too much on metaphor? If my Operations Program Manager watches it….does it really tell her what Clearspace is/does unless she all ready has some sort of understanding?

The new site rocks and the product pages couldn’t be better. Though the video is super cool, not sure if it is even needed.

By: Michael Sigler

Michael Sigler — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:37:41 +0000

Really awesome feedback. It’s our first foray into video like this (afaik) and it’s been a really interesting experience. 3D is such a long process and you have to judge on wireframes and assumptions. That jail thing was supposed to be a building. Whoops.

I’m glad Sam started this conversation. It’s certainly helped me feel better about it, especially when its in the context of our site and someone has stumbled upon us when searching for “collaboration”.

Looking forward to our next video gauntlet!

By: Stewart Mader

Stewart Mader — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:36:22 +0000

Sam,
Very cool! I do agree with Dennis McDonald about the music getting perhaps less crazy as the connections are made. You might also color the outside groups each slightly differently so show that they represent distinct groups in the real world.

@slmader

By: Mark Hinkle

Mark Hinkle — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:38:42 +0000

I guess I don’t understand how the video will be framed. The video conveys a networked concept but I think you need people in the video to show Jive is the platform for “people” to collaborate–not networks. I think you need some text or something to clarify the concepts of connecting people and to explain what Jive’s all about even some screenshots to bridge the concept to a tangible product.

By: Alec McNayr

Alec McNayr — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:08:04 +0000

Cool video. Great animation and a solid message of connecting dots (people, data, etc.) as the core differentiator of your product.

I wonder about two things, though.

1) The “jail/free” metaphor breaks down at the end. Why does the jail get bigger? Of course, this is a firewall depicting internal vs. external “dots.” I get this, because I (barely) understand corporate network structures. Which leads me to my next point…

2) Who is the target market for this? Is it IT folks that will push your software to the marketing side of their organization? Or is it marketing folks that will understand the need for this type of social interaction and push it to their IT coworkers? I think this vid is especially IT friendly, it’s a home run if that’s your target market.

Great job and great blog. Thanks for your work!

By: Carter Lusher

Carter Lusher — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:43:33 +0000

Hi Sam, Overall I really liked the approach. Illustrates collaboration without hitting you over the head. I also like the music and the lack of voiceover and explainatory text. I have similar nits to other folks along with some other ideas:

a) Cage/jail — Maybe only using lines at the corners to show the building without the feeling of being caged.

b) Control point for external collaborators — It seems that the external folks have to connect via a single control point instead to multiple folks within the company. Is that what you want to convey?

c) External collaborators feel individuals not other companies — Yes there are groups of external collaborators but they are on the street not in building. You might have other buildings become “Jive”d and connecting.

d) External collaborators are stuck at ground level worshiping the growing building — like b, it feels like a control issue.

By: » Silicon Florist’s links arrangement - Silicon Florist

» Silicon Florist’s links arrangement - Silicon Florist — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:59:51 +0000

[…] Sneak peak at new Jive video Portland-based Jive Software has got some stuff simmering on the stove and cooking in the oven. But they’re going to give you a little taste of what’s in store. Sam Lawrence writes “I’ve seen the thing so many times now I may have convinced myself it makes sense so let me know what you think it means before you get the context of the rest of our new site. Love to hear your ideas.” […]

By: Eric Butler

Eric Butler — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:26:32 +0000

Hi Sam, cool concept…some thoughts:
* The crazy music makes me think that once I start expanding my network, things get super busy, super crazy, and I’ll likely need to turn down the volume soon.
* Agreed that the jail feel needs some tweaking.
* I’d replace the city metaphor with something that feels more global so it doesn’t feel like a city.
* A nit…the rendering of the view going up the building early on is confusing.
* When you pull back to show the external communities, I’d show them as already existing, thriving, purple communities.
* I’d add more connecting points between the green and the purple communities.

By: sam

sam — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:27:08 +0000

You people rock. I love all this feedback. I hated the jail part, too but we didn’t have time to re-render it. We’ll fix that as well as some other tweaks based on all this feedback.

Thanks a ton for all your creative energy.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:05:31 +0000

Music is great, but would be even better if your purple nodes are expanded even more. The focus seems to be on the green nodes within the corporate building.