The Workplace Blog

It was John Chambers turn to take up the Web 2.0 mantra when he spoke at Network + Interop recently. He used Web 2.0 and collaboration interchangeably to emphasize how he viewed this reality. Chambers emphasized that web 2.0 is introducing a new era of productivity - one that can increase the productivity of organizations by upto 5%!

In discussing Cisco products, Chambers emphasized that video is the killer application among the collaboration tools - much more than other tools such as IP telephony and electronic whiteboards. He also highlighted the Cisco Unified Communications solutions which leverage web 2.0 philosophies. And when talking about web 2.0 he specifically drew attention to social networking as changing decision making processes within organizations. Now that’s something interesting.

Chambers emphasized that social networks are changing businesses making them less hierarchical and more network oriented. I wonder if he had recently read a chapter or two from Consequences of Information, as that book devotes a few sections to the changing nature of organizations and how they are moving from being bounded and hierarchical systems to network oriented ones.

For more on the presentation read Dan Farber’s take as he was there listening.

And yes, in case you haven’t noticed Microsoft bought Avenue A | Razorfish’s parent company, aQuantive for $6 billion a few days ago. Now, while I can’t comment on the acquisition being an employee myself, I certainly can post some links to other opinions that maybe of interest.

The New York Times captures the highlights of the acquisition. Adweek has a nice interview with Brian McAndrews, the CEO of aQuantive. Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet highlights Microsoft’s view on the purchase by quoting Steve Berkowitz. And finally, check out Microsoft Watch’s perspective if you want another take.

Something that we often ignore when developing user experience solutions is what is termed as the “phenomena of emergence” in information systems circles. In a nutshell, the phenomena of emergence implies that the new piece of software or service created will develop new uses once it is in the hands of the users themselves. These uses maybe completely different from what the designers and developers had inscribed for the users. The users of the solution may take it in a new direction.

The critical question is how do you create a software solution that allows for the phenomena of emergence? And the answer maybe a little simpler than you thought. When designing, rather than focusing the solution on interoperability with existing information standards and infrastructures, focus on providing as much flexibility into the solution itself. Flexibility so that the users can mold the solution to their own needs, environments and usage patterns. This does not meet customization and lots of dollars for consultants - it simply means designing the solution so that it can change and evolve too.