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Posts: 1,589 | Thanked: 720 times | Joined on Aug 2009 @ Arlington (DFW), Texas
#432
Originally Posted by mrojas View Post
When a user/customer comes around asking for a missing feature you do not:
  • Act in a condescending manner towards his request.
  • Tell him that if he wants it, do it himself. This is the open source way, but if you don't manage the way you say this, the user will feel offended.
  • Diminish the importance of his request in any way.
  • Exit by the tangent (what does MMS has do in this thread at all?)
  • Exchange looks with your peers in evident confusion on what is needed to be done and who should do it.
  • Not be aware of the facts related to the issue before posting about them (btw, thanks for the brief sjgadsby).

What you should do, is:
  • Explain in the simplest way the reason why the feature is not present. Knowledge is power. If the customer can reason with you, he will be in your side.
  • Explain when this feature will be available.
  • If there is no ETA for the feature, then POLITELY explain the reason, again in a simple manner.
  • Then suggest what he can do to make it happen, and that he will be supported in his efforts. Explain that one of the good things of Maemo is precisely that he can make it happen. Empower the user.
  • For the previous to happen, there must be channels and procedures clearly defined and in place.

Let me remark something. This are your users. They are using the stuff you developed. If you don't care about them, they will go away.

Having said that, I would like to volunteer to manage the Portrait Mode Project. However, before jumping on board, I want to have some things very clear:
  • Is Nokia going to make Portrait Mode happen for the desktop and general interface of the device in Maemo 5? Yes or No? If there is no assurance of this, I will assume No. I say desktop and general interface, because apps can already be made to support portrait, and besides, focusing only on apps is like building a house starting by the roof.
  • Is Nokia going to support Portrait Mode if the community makes it happen? By support I mean, in the best case scenario, take over the project once the community completes it and integrate it into default, future builds of Maemo, or in the worst case, avoid to break it with their software updates.
  • What kind of support can the people working on this have from Nokia?

That is all for now.
Hallelujah!! Thanks mrojas! I'm good at writing and investigating, but what you just did makes me have so much respect for you. If you're ever in Dallas Fort Worth, let me know, I'll buy you a beer and a steak. (I just need to borrow some cash first.... )

You must have experience in doing this, and I think many people take for granted their developing and project management skills. We always need leaders to organize our efforts, and I'm glad you've stepped forward. I've been a terror lately trying to get my point across, but I'm ready to put that behind me and help you anyway I can.

As you know, we've just launched a Maemo user/developer/news site and forums to supplement our Symbian community, and you have the entire use and support of our community in any way to help you get this organized and completed. We have a few developers and plenty of bug testing users dedicated and nearly religious about mobiles.

Please don't hesitate to contact me or Teo for any assistance we can provide. If you know what type of people's help or expertise could be useful, I can post a topic or even an article calling the community to join in OUR efforts.

Chris McFann
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