DECEMBER 2015
What We've Done, and What We're Doing
Fadela
This month saw the release of the long-overdue demo and open source launch of version 0.2.0 following months of preparation, a landmark release for this organization.
The demo, in short, is a conversation. Scripted, certainly, but not in the sense that we've fixed the system's responses. Rather, they're generated in real time based on successive exchanges between the user and the system. If you can imagine the difficulty of getting an individual to respond in just the way you want them to over the course of a conversation, you can begin to fathom the difficulty of preparing a demo of this nature.
Debugging continues, as the demo preparation exposed a variety of previously undetected bugs, some quite critical. We've introduced regression testing to help alleviate this issue; test driven development and top-notch quality assurance will be an important part of our development process.
Responses are also far more more fluid, having given the software more autonomy over responses to imperative statements. In other words, the system can respond however it likes, based on what it deems appropriate from previously observed exchanges, as well as other factors such as sentiment state.
Semaforo
Kanban polishing continues, particularly with respect to server side processing. Frontend refactoring and functionality verification has been our main area of focus. A rudimentary proof of concept is now functional and has been rolled into production. While it does its job quite well, we're still more comfortable with more manual forms of todo list management since it's the way we've done things for quite a while. Nevertheless, we are not an organization that gets stuck in its ways. With this in mind, we intend to make a full migration to the new system. Furthermore, a second and more polished second iteration is in the planning stages. We've also optimized the design of the server side “Semaforo” script.
We're currently brainstorming strategies for bringing more operational intelligence and analysis to Semaforo.
DMM
Interface refinement continues with the introduction of LESSCSS. We've also made use of Ajax to provide a more seamless interface and new features, and this has naturally introduced new bugs to be fixed.
NYC
We're laying out infrastructure for more element processing of historical stock market data. We've also hammered out a quick algorithm to group Fortune 500 businesses based on an assortment of criteria, which we hope will aid in our analysis of different sectors and other criteria.
Administrative
We've set up a YouTube channel which we hope to provide demos and other material.
Furthermore, we've made it a point to brainstorm a new project idea once every week or so. We may never commit to them, but at least fresh ideas are always on the table. We do, after all, welcome and are driven by ideas and constructive criticism that move the organization forward with respect to the quality of our operations, our services, and our greater mission of empowerment through automation.
We recently coordinated with a local graphic designer to produce a more polished logo. He brought a brilliant eye for logos, and bouncing ideas off of each other, we were able to hammer out an exceptional design. We hope to unveil this new logo in the first quarter of 2016.
Challenges and Solutions
Time management in conjunction with other demanding obligations (both with respect to time and energy) has been one of our greatest challenges. In addition to this, we've had some difficulty identifying pressing tasks, particularly when there are no apparent issues in need of resolution.
At the same time, our less-than-critical to-do list appears to be growing faster than we can handle it. But this will almost certainly always be the case, and it's really a matter of wisely picking tasks that yield the most value with respect to improving organizational efficiency and insight, and with respect to the products and services we aim to deliver. And doing so in a rapid manner, but not so much where it compromises our quality or morale. Taking this into consideration, we've established new criteria for which tasks are the most pressing and which are optional at the given moment. It's all a matter of putting this knowledge to work.
Sometimes it just takes time and hard work to solve problems like those within Fadela with respect to the demo preparation, and that's what we've been doing. But we're not about working any harder than is reasonable, and hope to discover ways to optimize our development processes as we do so.
Bottom line: With respect to what's on our plate, it's all a matter of getting down to business and doing what we can, when we can.