The folks at 37Signals look at things differently. Most of the time it works, too. Their products approach activities like project management from a totally different angle. They favor fewer features and super-simple usability over appeasing the slack-jawed masses. Their book Getting Real, has become the user manual for a new way of thinking about software design. These principles are pervasive through all of their work.
I came across an example of this when reading their blog today. As with any blog or forum, it draws its fair share of detractors, commonly referred to as “trolls”. Most sites employ moderators who remove inappropriate comments or develop community tools to encourage self policing. 37Signals approach is different. They take the “trolls’” comments and label them as such (with a Troll/Dunce Hat in tow) and then place them front and center in the comments. It is simple and it works.
It works, because the majority of trolls on their site are software developers just like them and their audience is comprised of software developers. If someone is trying to incite something by sharing an opinion, 37Signals believes you have the right to do so, but you have the own it, dunce cap and all. In the worst case, the troll faces the derision of his peers, in the best, it sparks a lively debate that may just yield a better product. At the end of the day, though, it invites discussion and says to the trolls, “if you have something to say, you had better be prepared to defend it”.
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