Transitions & Dynamics: A Step in Some Direction

Whenever you get a new project it’s pretty obvious you need some time to break it in. In this “Rush Hour” world of fast cars and frequent flyers, we are challenged with new tasks in an instant and must try to make headway in an instant as well. Over the past week, Edward and I were both in the same frame of mind regarding our project and the need to organize tasks and layout in order to be able to work on the project smoothly. Dividing the task would allow Ed and I to work with the same efficiency as before and also allow Jarrett and Paul do the same. Unfortunately there does seem to be a gap in concept and action and communication can fall to the villainous grip of lag time.

Our plan was to try to figure out how to divide the work and with an email we found we were less than concrete on the way we could divide work. Naturally talking about a project in real time usually produces more aggressive stances to which one can build structures, so Ed had the brilliant idea to use Scriblink which allowed us a whiteboard and communication method to work out a plan. In a matter of minutes we took the general idea drawn up by Ed below:



We then gave input and fixes which resulted in this structure:



We noted the issue with the spacing and the desire to streamline some of the organization. So I suggested thinning out the ranking area to make it easier for one to glance at and allowing open area for other places. We also added in a large center area which allowed for the creation of Virtual Posters for events or the like, that could be changed into a system were event posters could just be placed in a folder somewhere and they could get pulled for display.

We had decided from there to divide the work into units, where Ed and I would handle the ticker (which Ed originally found some code to try to implement for it) and the chart area (since we have past experience with the work) while Paul and Jarret handled the other sections. We had decided whoever could figure out the code to make the transitioning work could let could all of us know to make the next section easier. And with the plans ready we split off for the weekend.

Now Ed’s figuring out the ticker and I provide input now and again as I’ve been trying to figure out a clean way to put in tables, but as of this post I haven’t heard from Jarret or Paul. Communication is a rather finicky thing sometimes and I find that we will need to keep together to make sure we do not complicate our work with multiple people solving the same problem. For now we charge forward and since we want these charts to display information almost at random I am adapting WattDepot’s Visualization system to work without selecting data and still giving different charts. Communication is key and while we work out new things we have to make sure everyone is in on the plan, I am a bit concerned but will be taking a greater effort to keep everyone together.