Posts

, , , , , , , , ,

Remote Work: Asynchronous Collaboration

Introduction

Embracing asynchronous work can be a game-changer for distributed teams, enabling increased productivity and efficiency. What truly brings this concept to life are real-world examples. In this article, I’ll briefly describe one of our Smart Box Games projects to demonstrate the power of asynchronous collaboration using the simplest of tools, email.

Background

Our most popular game, Farkle Dice for Android, enjoys a global player base. Over the past two years, Google has progressively limited Android device backward compatibility for apps that use Google AdMob and other SDKs. Initially, they used the carrot approach and encouraged updates for better device performance, but then switched to the stick to enforce compliance by threatening app removal from the Google Play store.

Our team is spread across the globe: our Art Director, Jim, resides in Tokyo, our lead Android Engineer, John, is in Bozeman, Montana, and I serve as the Product Manager and QAE and I live in Bellingham, Washington. We embrace asynchronous work due to our experience and confidence in this approach.

Tools We Utilized on the Project for Asynchronous Collaboration:

  1. Email
  2. Google Docs and Sheets
  3. Bitbucket
  4. Firebase for app testing distribution
  5. Google Play Console

Our Project Goals

Our journey began with a high-level email outlining the basic requirements:

1. Update the code linking in the newest SDKs

2. Convert all HTTP links to HTTPS across all app languages

3. Allow players to opt out of Google Play login (we use Google Play for high-score sharing)

4. Modernize launcher icon

5. Integrate Firebase Crash Analytics

6. Address all issues found during testing

Progression of the Project

John took the lead by updating all relevant SDKs and then addressing all errors and warnings until he successfully built the project. He also updated the copyright information, URLs, and menus. 

During this process, John discovered Google had made significant design changes in how Google Play integrates with app, which he communicated via email, seeking input from the team. We installed the latest build from John and collectively examined the design changes to better understand the user experience. After exchanging a few emails with images we arrived at a design that John swiftly implemented.

As the day ended for John and me, it began for Jim in Japan. He researched how to create full-size launcher icons and by the time we started our day, provided us with educational YouTube links to get us up to speed. Jim then handed off new art to John. After a few iterations, the new launcher icon was integrated into Farkle Dice, and wow, it looks great.

The majority of testing was regression, validation and verification. Testing occurred on each build, with any issues found sent to John, with images and steps to repeat.

Once all issues were addressed the final chapter was distribution and user communication. Wearing both my Project Manager and Quality Assurance hats I wanted to limit risk and decided to do a gradual rollout release, starting at 10% and ramping up daily to 100%. Release notes were added to Google Play and a push notification is scheduled for next week.

Key Takeaways for Successful Asynchronous Work

Clear Communication: Effective asynchronous communication hinges on accurate descriptions with images and links to videos. I avoid abbreviations or acronyms. For example I always wrote “Firebase” and never “FB”, because in my brain “FB” = Facebook. 

Visual Aids: Enhance issue reporting by incorporating screenshots with prominent annotations (I’m a fan of using large red arrows), making it easier and faster for team members to understand and address problems.

Organization: Keep conversations focused by retiring resolved email threads and initiating new ones for fresh topics.

Encourage all team members to collaboratively edit documents for clarity within Google Docs. (I am thinking of switching to Notion or Confluence to take advantage of their comprehensive editing tools).

Time Zone Advantage: Leverage time zone differences to your advantage, if possible, by scheduling overlapping working hours for quick responses. For instance, 4:00 PM Pacific Time is 8:00 AM in Tokyo.

Trust Your Team: There were times I was tempted to send John a Slack message on an issue I found because it felt urgent. In reality, it was important but not urgent. Not dm’ing John and sending him an email instead prevented interruptions to his coding flow and allowed him to manage his time to its fullest efficiency. 

Conclusion

Our project progressed quickly without the need for any meetings. The entire software development life cycle was efficiently navigated through asynchronous collaboration. Now, we’re ready to replicate this success with our remaining five apps, with Farkle Halloween and Farkle Solo already underway. 

We have used asynchronous tools in the past and we are always reviewing new and interesting solutions but no matter the tool it is people who make great software. 

I encourage all teams, especially dispersed ones to embrace asynchronous processes to unlock your team’s full potential.

/by
, , , ,

Farkle Dice for iPhone and Android Rolls Past 500,000 Downloads

Our game Farkle has had tremendous success in 2011. I put out this press release today.

Bellingham, WA – May 25, 2011 — Smart Box Design today announced the chart-topping highly entertaining game Farkle Dice for iOS and Android has been downloaded more than 500,000 making it one of the most successful dice games available.

Farkle offers players an opportunity to challenge friends or compete against a variety of “intelligent” computer opponents with a wide range of personalities—from cautious to daring—that will determine the level of risk each opponent is willing to take when deciding just how far to push their luck.

Farkle is an enormously popular game throughout the world. Players roll a set of six dice for points and can continue rolling the dice as long as their roll continues to yield points. Any non-scoring roll is called a Farkle and the player forfeits their turn and any points accumulated during that turn. Like most games of chance and skill, Farkle’s attraction stems from players hoping to beat the odds and roll a high scoring combination.

Smart Box Design is known for the attention it places on both the playability and design of its games, and Farkle is no exception. There are very few dice games available for Apple iOS and Android with the quality and attention to detail that went into creating Farkle Dice. The game, which can be customized to accommodate regional rules, is extremely easy for users to pick up and begin playing upon installation. It is beautifully designed with the rich hues of a felt and wooden game-playing surface surrounded by a western theme.

Many games feature computerized opponents that are programmed with varying degrees of difficulty (smart, smarter, and smartest). Farkle, rather, comes with a collection of computerized opponents that are programmed to employ different strategies and take various degrees of risk when deciding whether to continue rolling for points—just like different people that Farkle players will encounter as they play the real dice game.

“We are delighted to bring one of the all-time classic dice games to the Apple iOS and Android Markets,” said Todd Sherman, Smart Box Design’s president. “Our version of Farkle provides mobile device users with a great game that can be picked up when they only have a few minutes to spare, but user beware—once the game is started, it can be very difficult to put down!”

Farkle Dice is available either as a free ad supported app or without ads for 99 cents.

Farkle Dice has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Download Farkle Dice

Farkle Dice for iPhone / iPod touch
Farkle Dice – Free for iPhone / iPod touch
Farkle Dice for Android Phones and Tablets

About Smart Box Design

Smart Box Design, based in Bellingham, Washington, was formed in 2003 by game industry veterans who share a common vision of creating exciting, high-quality, strategy and thinking games for mobile users. Smart Box Design licenses, develops, and publishes games for iOS and Android devices. The company has previously released Farkle Dice, Triples, and WordPop!, a best selling strategy, puzzle, word creation game and continued the series with Word Monaco Solitaire and Word Watch.

/by