GameGum, Version 5?
By proph3t Dec 19, 2006 · 0 Comments
Considering it only took two days, it's almost tough to believe this could be version five. As a reference, version four took nearly 8 months from start to finish. So, how can one go from a eight month development cycle to a two day development cycle and still come out with vastly improved products both times? Here are a few reasons.
Inspiration
One of the largest reasons for the quick release was inspiration. I keep a bookmark folder of sites I really enjoy aesthetically when browsing around, and recently browsed through them. They sparked a few really interesting ideas for me, and development started there.
Planning? Forget It.
Version 5 has been entirely unplanned, both design and development, from start to finish. Rather, I kept a mental image of what I wanted along with some of the elements I liked from other designs, opened Photoshop and Context, and began programming.
Feature Lists, Bug Lists.. They All Waste Time
Version four began with a feature list and a bug list, both about 2 word document pages long. This was by far the biggest reason for the long development cycle, as I felt the need to complete everything before even thinking of launching, especially the bugs. Version five began with inspiration, skipped planning and list making, and went straight to manipulating the code.
Release in Cycles
Alright, so I drank from the Getting Real kool-aid. Yesterday was the design release, today was the development release along with the design fixes. Tomorrow will probably come with some more bugfixing. Seeing the new design live gave me inspiration to implement the new features, which also led me to refine the design further. Releasing in cycles is in itself a wonderful vicious cycle.
Slim the Features
This is the first release that actually lessens the amount of features. No more "dark" skin, no more game stats clump, a reduced portal page with categories shown upfront, no more "tell a friend" and a hugely optimized and minimal design all lead to an easier to navigate site and much faster loading times. Not to mention the new rolling "featured" games that bring content to the front and center faster and more visibly than ever, with less clutter.
Thats It
I feel enlightened. Though I've read a few chapters of Getting Real, and have been reading the 37signals blog for a long time now, I had never really put their concepts to work. Now that I think about it, all of the advice is so obvious and simple, I don't think I'll be able to not "get real". Feedback is helpful though! Leave a word or two here and I'll definitely respond and act on your opinions and bug reports.
