Re: Anyone using Wiki for collaboration?

[Megan Golding <mgolding -at- secureworks -dot- com>]

On Tue, 2002-04-16 at 09:03, Edwin Wurster wrote:
> 
> Long time ago I tried Wiki. Didn't like it.
> 

I get that response from several people around here. I wonder why this
is. My idea? Wiki is a real departure from traditional
writing/editing/publishing models that I think a lot of people are
intimidated by it.

As a matter of fact, I fell prey to this intimidation yesterday. In the
first full day of Wiki operation at my company, I was surprised by my
reaction when I saw a co-worker (and huge Wiki fan) editing pages,
adding pages, and generally jumping in with both feet. Great!, right?
No, not my reaction.

My first reaction to said co-worker was, "Hey, that's not where this
information goes. You should have said it this way. You should have
linked from _here_."

With Wiki, the information grows organically. People add information
_here_, discuss projects _there_. Over time, the Wiki takes on this
logical structure that makes sense to regular users. Its really
weird...but it seems to work.

> Just now I tried Twiki.
> 
> Do you think a "typical" collaborator will have trouble with this tool?
> I think there is a significant learning curve.

Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve. The role I've taken on has been
Wiki Evangelist. I am stopping by people's offices and showing them how
it can work, giving a little info on how to use the Wiki, and having a
conversation about its usefulness.

I'm lucky because I work at a small company where this one-on-one
evangelism is pretty effective. Because Wiki is such a different way of
doing things, this is pretty much the best way I can think of to get
people interested in doing things the WikiWay.

For those who aren't inclined to learning the interface for making
contributions, I am unsure exactly what'll happen with them. To be
honest, though, the main audience for _using_ our Wiki is technical.
They'll take to the Wiki like ducks to water.

I have heard criticsm of TWiki as having a complex user interface. I
think my users can work well with the UI. However, if the complexity of
the interface is a concern, the original Wiki, written by Ward
Cunningham and found at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki is perhaps a better
choice.

Thanks, Ed, for all of your comments. The complexity of TWiki's
interface may intimidate some users...this is a real issue. I will have
to work on approaching my users individually and winning them over,
showing the interface, and acting as self-appointed Wiki Evangelist.

Meg

-- 

Megan Golding (mgolding -at- secureworks -dot- net)
SecureWorks, Inc.

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.
	-- Timothy Leary


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