The Beacon Pattern:
- This is a “Get out of the business” pattern
- Identify an oft-occurring and annoying task
- Automate and document it to the point of being able to hand it
off to someone far less technical
Example:
- System admins were being put in charge of scheduling rooms in
the building
- They wrote a PHP web application to help them automate the
task
- They refined the app, documented how to use it, and handed it
off to a secretary
- They have to maintain the app, but it’s far less work.
The Community Pattern:
- Prior to launch of a new service, create user documentation for
it.
- Point a few early adopters at the documentation and see if they
can use the service with minimal support
- Use feedback to improve documentation, and the service
- Upon launch, create a mailing list, forum, IRC channel, or
Jabber chat room and ask early …