I've guessed since its launch that the Lively we saw in July might look fairly different from the Lively we see by the end of the year. According to User Experience Designer Mark Young in a Q&A with Terra Nova's Bonnie Ruberg, there's a whole host of tweaks underway. Significantly, Google is looking at different chat options to support private 1-on-1 discussions as discussions in larger groups--partly because of demand.
"Its a challenge to create a simple GUI for large group discussions but we are hearing some demand for it from organizations and businesses," Young told Terra Nova. "It will take a significant amount of R&D to make it easy to participate in a seminar with 100 people chatting."
Part of the problem is that the chat system works by popping speech bubbles above avatars' heads, making for a crowded scene. There's even more demand for voice, which would present one solution, and Young notes that since Google Talk is the basis for chat to begin with, voice has a built-in foundation.
All of that could make it easier for business or enterprise users to look at Lively as a solution, though there's certainly more that needs to be done to make that appealing.
Certainly not the least important is the fact that it sounds like Young is looking at UI refinements to the content creation system that need to be made "before its ready for public consumption." He notes that the user policies are actually the larger challenge for content, but if that means Google is expanding user-created content options, individuals could create the tools they need for their own use cases.
Of course, these changes are only a few of many that Young discusses. With Apps integration built-in from the get go and expanding, that sort of use makes sense to me, but do you see a different future for Lively?
Publisher's Note: Niniane Wang, Engineering Manager, Lively Engineering Lead, Google, Inc. will keynote Virtual Worlds London this 20-21 October 2008. Niniane oversaw the creation of Lively and currently helms its development.
Comments