THe shrughie does choose the response type. Each shrugh type will probably have a different set of response types, like this:

a Yes/No shrugh would have response types “yes” and “no”
a Fish for Answer (need better name) will have Verdict, Opinion, Kibitz
a Pros vs Cons shrugh would have “pro” and “con”

I think it is that simple (for now at least).

I totally agree with both b2 and you about results viewing. I am spending many available bpu cycles thinking about this one. VIsualization and navigation will be key. Scoring for pro/con is pretty easy (I think), yes/no is easy (I think), fish for answer needs some thought.

Could not get to the demo for some reason… connection interruptus.

So to be clear, the shrugh type is set by the shrugher, get that. The response type is set by the shrughee (responder). Can types be combined? A shrughee can kibitz about a yes/no shrugh?

I am looking forward to seeing how you handle the results viewing. As B2 states, with large volumes it could get tedious at best. To me some great innovation here would not only make the site valuable, it could solve what I think is one of the problems with social networking sites. Can you consider some sort of scoring algorythm, or navigated search technology to rank the responses?

RC

Not really any programmatic distinction between the response type. In fact, this is one of the reasons I like this simplification – all shrugh types are treated the same.

Yes, the idea would be the shrugher would post the shrugh, collect feedback and then later, come back and “close” the shrugh with the final decision/outcome. The outcome can be kept private too (so your scenario would be kept private ) I agree on the outcomes too, I think once a shrugh is closed, it appears as the original question and the outcome. You would be able to click the shrugh to get the details – the list of responses for instance.

Social in the sense that shrughers ask the Shrugh community (Shrugiverse as my friend Bob calls it) for their input/help to answer the shrugh. I could imagine little communities forming around certain categories of shrughs – like a community of shrughers asking philosophical questions vs those that are asking about dating advise. The demo does not really do a good job of showing that. It should be clearer on an upcoming software release when all the parts from creating a shrugh, to responding to closing are complete.

Is there a separate location for the ultimate decision by the shrugher? Granted, not all shrughers will want to post their decision (“Which is worse? Being a 40 year old virgin or losing my virginity to a “pro”?) I would think respondents might want to see the ultimate outcome to shrugs they responded to at a glance (i.e. without having to read through the entire shrugh).

I’m still not clear on the “social” and networking aspect of it. That may not be an area you’ve addressed yet, but I do think that will be key…

Enough procrastinating on my letter…