Metaphorically…
…so I am painting a room in our house, right, and am being organised about it [I have painted a bit, so know my way around the ‘no more gaps’] and a metaphor struck me, bear with me, it may be either instructive or end up meaningless dribble…
The right tools for the job
It makes perfect sense in retrospect – some jobs are a breeze and others are a trial from go to whoa. All to often it is because of the tools involved – both the implements you use to perform the task, and the personnel that are involved [not branding people tools, but you need to stay with me on this]. I used to have a hand drill, drilling holes was always pained and I always did a half-assed job. I bought an impact drill and suddenly drilly-type jobs were easy. I bought a “sash cutter” brush – a chisel pointed jobbie that makes cutting one colour paint neatly beside another easy and, hey presto, I have lovely edges to my cornices.
My point? Assemble the right tools for the task and the task is easier. This might mean installing the right software, sharpening a pencil instead of reaching for photoshop, bringing together a team that know stuff you do not or simply taking a water bottle with you so you can have a drink when you are thirsty. It is not rocket science, when someone points it out to you, until then, you wrestle, curse and retrospectively look back and think to yourself that you could have done that better.
Surface preparation
There is an old adage: Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance – although an alliterative masterpiece, it turns out to be true. Returning to the painting metaphor: bogging, sanding and ensuring that the surfaces are in the best condition before you apply paint means the job is done better. In the real world, this suggests that finding out all you can about the thing you are trying to do pays in the long run. Skimming and only dealing with things on a surface level is a recipe for disaster. In a technical project dealing only at a surface level means that it takes nearly nothing for you to plunge out of your depth, flailing like a noob.
Understanding the nature of the platform and how one best works it is actually fairly important if you want to make real and sustained progress. This often necessitates play, screw-ups and research – all too often those in charge do not credit this as even part of the process, and that is a mistake. Acquiring new skills takes time, effort and a genuine desire to take on these skills – all else is window dressing. Again, this is not rocket surgery, well, it is not after you have had it pointed out to you by someone who knows what they are doing.
Technique
Most crafts [all skills that manifest in activity I am clumping together into the “craft” bucket, hope that is ok] have established conventions, ways of working and often associated ways of thinking. All too often the ways of working make sense and have arisen out of experience, working out the most effective way of arriving at a set goal. Experts know the techniques, novices wrestle until they discover them. When painting, for example, I have found out there are best ways of brush work [well, ways that let me control the application of paint with control and accuracy] that involve drawing the brush towards me rather than away – now it may well be that others work in different ways but I have found what works for me. I know how to load a roller so it does not drip, and how much of the wall I can cover before needing to re-load.
Development platforms all predicate ways of working but fine technique, producing digital products efficiently and effectively takes technique – sometimes that technique is common, sometimes it is platform specific – learning which is which is interesting but necessary.
The “Top Coat”
The quality of the final [or top] coat of paint is not so much about the quality of the final brushwork, but more about the quality of what is underneath. Sure, the fine detailing matters, but so does what has come before – quality from ground-up. No amount of re-touching will fix poorly filled crenulations, finesse is however important. The finishing touches can make or break the job – care and attention to detail are paramount, this involves standards.
When working in a virtual world, metaverse stuff is only important if the microcosms you create are detailed, believable and contextually relevant. Ensuring textures align, seams are tidy and object alignment matters. It is no surprise that imperfections stand out like the proverbial sore thumb. For an digital platform to be successful, it must allow the user to finesse, to fuss over the detail once the metatask is complete, there should be a rich collection of tools that can be precise and used with precision, accurate and used with accuracy. Now, in rocket science, the devil is in the detail [remember the Challenger disaster – so much undone by such trivial imperfection].
The Cleanup
Knowing when you are done is only part of the issue. Cleaning up the mess left in your wake as you move towards your goal state is one aspect, sitting back and admiring your handiwork the other. When sitting back on your laurels, good job well done … how do you know it was a good job, and more importantly, how do you know it is well done? If the walls look nice when the curtains go back up, when the electrical fixtures are screwed back on and the furniture re-positioned, if the room works as a room, it has been worth it, right?
When developing something for an audience, how do you determine it was successful. In the theatre, a round of applause is not always a measure [they could just be being polite, right, only to find yourself savaged by the critics in the morning newspapers]. How do we judge the success of our … thing…?
This is not a trivial question and, if anything, probably the crux of this post. Money runs out, politicians [or other public figures] trot out exemplars, papers are written, energy is expended, immigrants come and go – what will be the mark of success here?
I do not know, sorry. I have not got a clue. Really. But I am interested enough to find out. Are you?
Very well done. After no more gapping a tongue and groove house, I understand no more gaps. We could keep going with this metaphor. Computer education ideas not withstanding….
Love your work Wonko!
I love where you are going with this metaphor. Did it come to you while painting or “in world”?
With such reflective preparation, your project deserves to be hugely successful.
Oddly, one of the things I do is see parallels with what I am doing and what I am thinking about all the time. Thinking through a large build is a lot like prepping and performing a room makeover, or assembling rehearsing and performing a stage show. Sometimes I just blarg on and on, most times it is to clarify in my own head something.