Wave to your clients

The word of the moment seems to be Google’s Wave. I got my invite a while ago and have been playing about with it investigating what it is and how I could use it in my life. I think I had the same initial thoughts as a lot of ‘information overload’. I couldn’t place where I’d use it and the main use by most seemed to be for a form of IM. The way it was being used actually reminded me of old guest books and shout boxes more than anything really revolutionary. Then I started thinking about how as a freelancer I could use this tool and it dawned on me how useful it could actually be.

So what is Google Wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.
- From Google Wave’s about page

Not just noise but a chance to interact

As I’ve said my first impressions weren’t great, it all seemed a lot of noise without much direction. Google on it’s site explains when to use Wave and highlights group projects, photo sharing, meeting notes, brainstorming and interactive games. There are 3 parts of that which have finally dropped into how I think Wave will fit into my life as a freelancer: group projects, meeting notes and brainstorming. Whilst using it I thought ‘what if clients were using this’.

The problem with clients solved with Wave

One of the key issues with any project I work with a client on is collaboration. In the past I’ve tried a range of tools and currently have a good working process but I can see how Wave could add to this and replace some things I already use. I’ve found in many of these tools the ‘real time’ idea generation side lacking. The 3 key points that have caused hitches with any process have been: accessibility, cost and integration. How does Wave solve these?

Accessibility

The learning curve of wave certainly initially is relatively high however that seems to be more due to a general ‘now what do we do with it’ more than anything else. It’s also a once learnt can apply just like any system in truth however the versatility that I will cover later is what will be the key to any training being only needed once. Unlike a lot of other systems too it’s not down my possession of the service once has a Wave invite will in fact become in control of Wave and able to use for their own business themselves. This is something I really like by introducing clients to Wave they can themselves discover and find out how they can use it aside from with me. I love the idea of not only it benefiting our relationship but their own with others. Another side of accessibility is one that all services I use with my clients have to fall into and that is an ability to get online. Wave certainly fits this although I will note that currently it seems to fail a bit in firefox, Chrome seems the browser of choice for it to work on with Internet Explorer having to have a ‘work around’, however it’s still in beta and I’m finding a large proportion of the clients I’d use this for already using Chrome.

Cost

I am not against paying for a monthly charge for a system in fact I have several subscriptions that I pay for services that bolster my business. However, the chance to reduce one is definitely a draw. Cost though is not simply a subscription charge. If the client or myself has to actually spend time to use the service aside from the normal working flow then that is a cost of time. Wave whilst I’ve already identified needs some training to use has a rather minimal cost. Also the longevity of the product or at least potential longevity is a key. Whilst it’s all well and good using a service that seems perfect at the time I’ve been caught before in the trap of it being discontinued due to the company folding or the services development costs being unable to be kept up with and the project falling into a pit of bugs as ignored. Wave I am fairly convinced isn’t going to (although at this point I can’t really comment) by a ‘flash in a pan’ service and my hope is just like other Google services it sees work done on it and constantly evolves rather than stagnates.

Integration

With regards to this area it is a multifaceted issue. Aside from how will it fit into my process I have to think 2 things: ‘how common is this service’ and how likely are clients to use it. I know of a lot of clients using Google Docs and GMail so the stretch to use Google Mail really isn’t a large leap. By this simply being a Google service likelihood of users actually using is increased as they for the majority already use Google services to some extent. Familiarity is key when introducing something into a working process where you can’t say who will be using the system in the future. The Wave interface itself is familar to any that use Google’s services in it’s most basic sense. By it’s very nature of being a Google service it removes the fragmentation that comes from using yet another service. Like it or not there is also a client trust around anything to do with Google (many may debate this point but that is for another time).

How I plan to use Google Wave

Currently I can see it being used during design and conception processes. I can see it potentially being used as a design sign off tool which would actually be a really good method of use I think. I could show a client a design, get their comments on adjustments, submit it again and all in one wave. The same can be said for project specifications I can see how an application can be mapped out and discussed all in one wave. These currently are the 2 primary reasons I can see from my work point of view that wave can be used. I am think onto how I can integrate my already wide use of Google Docs to link in with Wave. I also however have plans for some future projects like a collaborative blog which I can see Wave fitting well into. I am sure there can be many other applications but these currently are the main ones I can see it being used for.

Time will tell proof of the conceptual pudding

A lot of this is use for Google Wave is theory until I can get clients onto the system through hopefully Google doing what they did with GMail and invites being able to be sent out from those with accounts. I then need to sell this to a few test clients initially and see a real world working for Wave. I have already started using for internal things just need all members of Logical Binary to be using it to get the full view of what truly is possible. It really is a case of time will tell but I can certainly see how it can be used and that’s something that truly excites me. I look forward to seeing what is also developed to compliment Wave by the already strong development community, often it’s from there the true sparks come.