Help me design a feature for Zune Social

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Alan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:32:44 GMT

So long as we're talking about the social and audio pings and such, how about this idea... (now I haven't had occasion, as yet, to share a song wirelessly - but i'm sure the day's coming)... it would be great if you could cue up a song or two to be shared automatically(along with your zune card) with all other users you might happen to come into range with while you're out and about. Likewise, it would be great if you could set your own device to automatically accept those songs that have been set for automatic sharing. You might come home from a walk, or from sitting at a local coffee shop and then, when you check your Zune, you find you've picked up a bunch of songs (and zune cards) just through the random comings and goings of people - it would be like a music-sharing driftnet and I think it would be very cool to check your Zune Social Driftnet to see what sort of random music (or podcasts) you picked up in your travels and day-to-day life (it would almost be like you're sharing the thoughts and moods of people around you - even if you haven't even come into actual contact with those people) - if you like the music/podcasts you picked up, you might look up the zune card of the person you received it from and add them as a friend.

Of course, as I understand it, sharing songs currently involves an interruption to the music you're playing and so it would have to possible for songs to be shared in the background without interrupting your listening or requiring that you take any action to complete the transaction.

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Andrew — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:41:53 GMT

Well for the Zune social features, i think they should add a capability to connect to another zune and listen to exactly what they are listening to. Then it's like having a head phone splitter without the need of a splitter.

With that feature it is also needed to have a way to switch from the host of the music to the listener, so that if your friend says, "Check out this song" then you can instantly switch over and listen with him.

Maybe do that by when the listener is browsing through his own collection and when he goes to a song, there will be a play button, and there will be a "play with friends" button. Then when the listener clicks "Play with friends" the original host will be asked if he wants to listen, and the connection would be made. This would just make the whole Zune device social way more enjoyable and a lot easier to share all of your songs without having to wait for it to completely send, since streaming is a lot faster and more instant.

Just think about it, and keep up the good work!

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Pradster — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:10:22 GMT

In my humble opinion, a recommendation system would be great, If i like a song in my collection i should be able to either flag it as recommended in the Zune or in the software... My friends get notified and so does a community board.

This helps the social along as well as drive revenue, as an option to buy the recommendation from the zune store would be included.

what does everyone else have to say on this idea?

http://social.zune.net/member/Pradster13

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Alan — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:00:13 GMT

Had a comment for your trivia game post but couldn't post it because posting is limited to team members :(

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Xovenexus — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:50:08 GMT

Should the wireless ping feature ever go live, an idea I had would be to only alert you when zuners you haven't yet ever interacted with are newly in range. That way, people you see on a daily basis won't be driving you mad with bells and chimes, and the audio alerts will still be useful.

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

dkmccue — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:51:35 GMT

I like Jaxim's idea, but quite honestly it would annoy the heck out of me to have an audible alert while I am listening to my music or podcasts or videos. This would be especially true as there are at least 10 people on my floor at work with Zunes.

I wouldn't want to hear a whole bunch of pings, dings, bongs, or what-have-you sounds interrupting what I am listening to.

With that said, I would be more than willing to try out something like that on my Zune, as long as I have the ability to turn it off without turning off the wireless.

Just as a side note - Jessica, a Blogger account? Working for MS, wouldn't it be better to have a Live account or something? Just wondering! :-)

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Cesar Menendez — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:25:17 GMT

Jessica - if Jaxim is involved with the social feature you're developing, it's a guaranteed winner. :)

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Dan D — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:52:37 GMT

jaxim thats a good idea. i also hate the fact that when other zunes are around me there is noone to notice me. i will definitly look at this social quiz as well. cant wait to see how this social will evolve in the years to come!

re: Help me design a feature for Zune Social

Jaxim — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:54:12 GMT

Great to see you here Jessica. We miss you over at the Green Button. No one seems to have taken up your role over there since you left. :-(

I'm going to look into this Social Quiz project, but I think if you really want the social to really kick off in real life, you're going to have to make people want to keep their wireless on during the day. A simple way to do this is if people heard alerts when a fellow zuner gets in range. Another audio alert is sounded when a fellow zuner attempts to send (squirt) you something. Right now, if you are listening to your zune and you have your zune in your pocket, you'll have no clue that you passed 5 other zuners and one of them attempted to send you something.

If the Zune alerted you with audible alerts, then people would more likely participate in the Social in real life and not just thru the computer.