Fusion

A Unified Application for Communication and Knowledge Sharing

April 26, 2000

Brad Neuberg
bneuberg@randomwalk.com

Rahul Joshi
rj144@columbia.edu

Monique Girard
mds54@columbia.edu

Goal

Create a tool that unifies:

Email

Newsgroups

Source-control/versioning systems

Knowledge Bases

Distributed File-Sharing (FTP, Napster, etc.)

Instant Messaging

Problems With Email

Originally was used only for point-to-point communications

Group communication was ‘layered over’ using listserves.

Problems With Email

Causes problems:

Inefficient to send large files to groups since everyone gets a copy

Difficult to track annotations since there is no source-control; everyone in group change’s “local” copy

Difficult to unsubscribe from groups

Hard for ordinary people to create groups

Flat namespace mixes every group’s emails together

Problems With Email

Other problems:

Can’t reliably send large files

No way to know if recipient is currently online

Email has very little structured knowledge; makes searching difficult

Has lack of integration with knowledge portals

Non-threaded

Problems With Newsgroups

Difficult to setup

Difficult to administer

Even with its strengths, email groups are used over newsgroups

Email is easier to work with

Problems With Knowledge Bases

Rarely used

Fall out of sync with email groups and source-control systems

Most knowledge is generated through email and is not placed into knowledge base

Problems With Distributed File-Sharing

Examples:

FTP, Windows Networking, Napster

Hard to set up FTP server

Windows Networking is easy, but:

Only works with other Windows machines

Only works in local LAN

Napster is easy to set-up, but only shares MP3s

Problems With Instant Messaging

Not used in corporate settings yet

Difficult to get messages to someone when they’re not online

Can’t import “groups” of people based on a discussion group

Difficult to create archives of files usable by others

The Big Problem

Existing tools are hodge-podge of solutions that developed over time

Divisions between tools based more on historical reasons than rational decisions

Every tool has its own interface

Tools have difficulty “sharing” with each other

Field Study

Goal:

Collect data on how people are currently using email, newgroups, source-control systems, knowledge bases, distributed file-sharing systems, and instant messaging

Target Group

Random Walk Computing

Development and integration organization delivering Java and CORBA technology for the financial services market

Founded in 1995 in New York City

~60 people

One office

Work Groups

Work is partitioned into groups, with each group assigned to a major project

Groups consist of:

two or three developers

project manager

client liason

meta-manager

Two developers and one-project manager were interviewed

Examples of Questions Asked

What tools do you use for communication and knowledge sharing?

What are your primary and secondary tools for communication and knowledge sharing?

What characteristics of your primary tool makes it useful? What gives it its problems?

Major Results

Email, email, email, email!

Everyone chose email as their primary communication tool

How Was Email Used?

Question and Answer resource

Broadcast questions to the list

Personal questions

Bug reports and change requests from clients

Archival and searching for contact numbers, change requests, and questions and answers

Past emails used as “Personal Knowledgebase”

Problems People Had With Email

Difficult to sort and categorize

Non-threaded discussion groups

Can’t handle large file attachments

Not quick enough for some cases

When sending out a document to a group, revisions come back from each person non-integrated

Other Results

People relied on the source-control system for sharing files

The knowledge on the mailing lists fell out of sync with the knowledge base

Fusion Requirements

Based on findings, what requirements must Fusion have?

Email must be central interface

A mechanism to ask questions and to get answers is needed

Deeper integration between messaging and knowledge portal needed

Fusion Requirements

Messages should be threaded

Have mechanisms to handle large files

Be able to send out link to file that is actually in knowledge portal

Know when someone is online and available

Messages should be automatically sortable based on content and groups

Fusion

Fusion solves these problems

Fusion used to present this

The side-bar is very important

Provides “remote-control” to control a user’s contacts, files, messages, and conference halls


	A Unified Application for Communication and Knowledge Sharing


	Create a tool that unifies:
		Email
		Newsgroups
		Source-control/versioning systems
		Knowledge Bases
		Distributed File-Sharing (FTP, Napster, etc.)
		Instant Messaging


	Originally was used only for point-to-point communications
	Group communication was ‘layered over’ using listserves.


	Causes problems:
		Inefficient to send large files to groups since everyone gets a copy
		Difficult to track annotations since there is no source-control; everyone in group change’s “local” copy
		Difficult to unsubscribe from groups
		Hard for ordinary people to create groups
		Flat namespace mixes every group’s emails together


	Other problems:
		Can’t reliably send large files
		No way to know if recipient is currently online
		Email has very little structured knowledge; makes searching difficult
		Has lack of integration with knowledge portals
		Non-threaded


	Difficult to setup
	Difficult to administer
	Even with its strengths, email groups are used over newsgroups
		Email is easier to work with


	Rarely used
	Fall out of sync with email groups and source-control systems
		Most knowledge is generated through email and is not placed into knowledge base


	Examples:
		FTP, Windows Networking, Napster
	Hard to set up FTP server
	Windows Networking is easy, but:
		Only works with other Windows machines
		Only works in local LAN
	Napster is easy to set-up, but only shares MP3s


	Not used in corporate settings yet
	Difficult to get messages to someone when they’re not online
	Can’t import “groups” of people based on a discussion group
	Difficult to create archives of files usable by others


	Existing tools are hodge-podge of solutions that developed over time
	Divisions between tools based more on historical reasons than rational decisions
	Every tool has its own interface
	Tools have difficulty “sharing” with each other


	Goal:
		Collect data on how people are currently using email, newgroups, source-control systems, knowledge bases, distributed file-sharing systems, and instant messaging


	Random Walk Computing
		Development and integration organization delivering Java and CORBA technology for the financial services market
		Founded in 1995 in New York City
		~60 people
		One office


	Work is partitioned into groups, with each group assigned to a major project
	Groups consist of:
		two or three developers
		project manager
		client liason
		meta-manager
	Two developers and one-project manager were interviewed


	What tools do you use for communication and knowledge sharing?
	What are your primary and secondary tools for communication and knowledge sharing?
	What characteristics of your primary tool makes it useful? What gives it its problems?


	Email, email, email, email!
	Everyone chose email as their primary communication tool


	Question and Answer resource
		Broadcast questions to the list
	Personal questions
	Bug reports and change requests from clients
	Archival and searching for contact numbers, change requests, and questions and answers
	Past emails used as “Personal Knowledgebase”


	Difficult to sort and categorize
	Non-threaded discussion groups
	Can’t handle large file attachments
	Not quick enough for some cases
	When sending out a document to a group, revisions come back from each person non-integrated


	People relied on the source-control system for sharing files
	The knowledge on the mailing lists fell out of sync with the knowledge base


	Based on findings, what requirements must Fusion have?
	Email must be central interface
	A mechanism to ask questions and to get answers is needed
	Deeper integration between messaging and knowledge portal needed


	Messages should be threaded
	Have mechanisms to handle large files
	Be able to send out link to file that is actually in knowledge portal
	Know when someone is online and available
	Messages should be automatically sortable based on content and groups


	Fusion solves these problems
	Fusion used to present this
	The side-bar is very important
	Provides “remote-control” to control a user’s contacts, files, messages, and conference halls