No, I Can't

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Well, based on the emails I've received at least a few people are reading my blog. Unfortunately all of the emails have one theme...No, I can't get you on the beta testing list! <g> If and when we decide to solicit beta testers the place you will likely know about is on the official web site. Until then, sit tight, please.

 

Speaking of sitting, that's what I did a lot of this week. The team spent several days reviewing design documents for various aspects of the game. This is a normal part of software development, especially at Microsoft. The idea is that you express the many different ways a user would expect to experience a program as a way to discover how to build it. You consider their background, needs and experience level and try to encapsulate solving a problem they have. (And by "problem" I don't mean something bad--their problem might be "I want to drive a train and have fun doing it!") Doing this as a group--even with a fairly large group--enables people to ask question and make suggestions so that everyone comes to an understanding about what we ought to try to build. This is also an iterative process that narrows the focus as you go along. It was good to have many different perspectives, too. Team members can look at the same problem from different points of view and help contribute to a very complete picture of the experience. Cool stuff.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 31, 2007
    Hi Mike. Could you describe in a future blog how MS incorporates, at this very early stage in development, feedback from the community? Do you have a "top-ten" or 'Top-fifty" list that the MS market research folks have provided to you, or a summary from visits your team made to 3rd-party designer companies, or....? I'm just interested in learning how broad the input is, direct or indirect, to the decision making process at this point, and how that influences your decisions on what becomes effectively the framework on which the entire project is built.
  • Thanks
  • Anonymous
    January 31, 2007
    So do you guys plan on doing a 'survey' among prospective buyers like you did for FSX again ? That might also help in defining what users expect ! ;-) Thanks for the updates! Francois