Taking messaging forward, with Mozilla values

David AscherMozilla Messaginghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/2238715683/

Messaging was the killer app of the internet

UUCP

SMTP

POP

NNTP

IMAP

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hi-phi/36854889/

Those were awesome & hopeful times

can talk to “anyone”

“free”

standards-based

a refuge from commercialism

http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/3123696152/

flawedeconomics

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all that was inventedbefore the web

flawed protocolsfrozen in time

lousy monetization

naive about hard problems not consumer-ready

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonpan/232127422/

Web kept evolving, email didn’t

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current trends in messaging

global & centralized

ambient ads

consumer psychology

internet scale problems

tackled in-house

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What’s wrong withcommercial centralized systems?

Non-universalityhttp://www.flickr.com/photosravescuritiba/789517948/

Central control without regulation

Centralized control over innovation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dittaeva/2894367031/

Company’s incentives are not always the same as the user’s

war is peace

freedom is slavery

ignorance is strength

sharing is privacy

What should we do about it?

David’s opinions ahead!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uhop/104505376

My goal: to maximize our impact in shaping the future of messaging on the net.

What values drive me?

The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.

Individuals must have the ability to shape their own experiences

on the Internet.

The effectiveness of the Internet as a public resource depends upon

interoperability (protocols, data formats, content), innovation and decentralized participation worldwide.

Free and open source software promotes the development of the

Internet as a public resource.

Commercial involvement in the development of the Internet brings many benefits;

a balance between commercial goals and public benefit is critical.

What shouldn’t we do about it?

tell people they shouldn’t do what they love

believe that technology drives behavior

What should we do about it?

pick winnable fights worth winning

understand what users value, and how they behave

design for tomorrow’s users & problemshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3074859774/

be where most reachable users are:desktop, web, mobile

bake mozilla values in everything we do

What does that look like?

1. In the desktop email space

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Experiences controlled by users, not brands

Why bother with a desktop based communications client (e.g. Thunderbird?)

OS integration

High-CPU specialized tasks

Experimentation

Life at the edge of the net

Many accounts,one life.

Focus on strategic markets:

where our values matter, our culture works, and where the future is shaped

Understand the users you want to reach

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2715583000/

Market researchCompetitive analysisMetrics & analyticsSurveys

65%of Thunderbird downloaders expect a free email account.

30%use webmail or facebook

Leverage Firefox (duh)

Leverage the web

Prototype

Practical steps to tackleclutter & noise

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Prototype

Prot

otyp

e

“It’s my network”http://www.flickr.com/photos/psyberartist/3457170462/

Experiment with new interfaces for new users

Prototype

2. In the webmail & mobile space

Web & mobile experiences with built-in Mozilla values:

open source decentralized open for experimentation appealing to mainstream

Raindrop UI # 21

Prototype

Raindrop UI # 43

Prototype

Messaging Web APIs

Prot

otyp

e

to maximize our impact in shaping the future of messaging on the net,

promoting and embedding Mozilla values

reaching millions.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/2238715683/

Mission & values bind us.

Where do we want to go?

& how can we get there?

let’s talk!

Let’s talk!

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