Background
Apps promise to give us superpowers. Browser plug-ins, add-ons, or extensions promise to make us more productive. Operating systems and software, in general, aim to solve our problems. By ourselves, we feel productive. When we join teams, our productivity plummets.
Center of work
Dropbox and Slack promised to "solve work" for everyone. Launched in 2007, Dropbox aimed to capture and manage company documents and become the company's layer of work. Six years later, Slack promised messaging would become the center of work for distributed teams around the world.
What's striking is both products failed to fulfill the core requirement of distributed teams - collaboration. Dropbox popularity is fading and Slack growth is slower than expected. The app to "rule work" is nowhere to be found.
Productivity apps
Work happens in the applications used to solve very specific problems. When collaborating, designers use Figma, writers use Google Docs, and remote workers use Slack and Discord.
Figma allows designers to receive feedback from others without leaving the app. Figma sees itself as the "collaborative interface design tool."
Google Docs allows writers to receive edit suggestions from others without leaving the app. Google Docs sees itself as the "online word processor that lets you create and format documents and work with other people."
Slack allows remote workers to chat with their co-workers, while Discord allows people to chat with their friends. Slack's slogan is "where work happens". Discord sees itself as "your place to talk".
Individual workflows
There is no right way to complete tasks. Individuals often use their own tools and methods to solve problems and they do not share their methods. Individuals follow their own workflows.
Team workflows
Traditional browser extensions, apps, and operating systems are tailored to make the individual more productive, but they fail to improve team productivity. Most tools focus on individual workflows. Most software does not account for dynamic team workflows.
Messaging and screen sharing
Most apps have no way to message peers and co-workers, no way to screen share. Most applications are missing built-in collaboration features.
Introducing CommandCenter: Your Place To Work
CommandCenter is a screen-sharing and messaging app that runs on modern operating systems of Mac, Windows, Linux. This app allows workers to message each other without switching apps or drastically altering their workflows. CommandCenter also allows workers to screen share and work collaboratively with other co-workers.
CommandCenter is a meta-layer of team communication enabling one-click screen sharing and messaging for modern teams. CommandCenter provides an easy way for teams to be connected since individuals can see who's online and who's available to join a working session.
CommandCenter is the next generation of work collaboration. It is your center of work, your virtual office, your place to work.
Features
CommandCenter consists of three major features.
Peer-to-peer communication (WebRTC/HTTP)
CommandCenter allows peers to connect directly to each other with no server management, also known as peer-to-peer (P2). P2P communication is the process of sending data from one peer to another without the necessity of servers. CommandCenter uses WebRTC to achieve peer-to-peer screen sharing. WebRTC (Web Real-Time Connection) is an open-source project with a JavaScript API allowing you to create peer-to-peer connections between browsers. CommandCenter uses WebRTC's Screen Capture API to establish a connection between peers.
Presence management (HTTP)
Presence management is the process of detecting which co-workers are online. CommandCenter uses Google Firebase to keep establish the presence or online availability.
Signaling (LIBP2P/WebRTC/HTTP)
Signaling is the process of coordinating communication. CommandCenter uses Google Cloud Firestore to handle signaling and pass messages back and forth between clients.
Benefits
Online Presence
CommandCenter allows you to see which of your co-workers or friends are online. Active users of CommandCenter have it on all the time, even when they are not working. It’s a passive way to have a presence with your co-workers or friends.
Remote Collaboration
CommandCenter adds collaboration to all apps. It allows co-workers to share apps and collaborate across them, chat directly with your co-workers, and screen share directly between devices, without having to upload them to any server first. When you and your co-workers and friends start working, CommandCenter makes it easy to join each other's screens with one click. Chat makes it possible to talk with your co-workers or friends across all work.
Improved productivity
CommandCenter allows workers to connect directly to other co-workers to complete tasks while sharing the same screen. Having two people work on the same screen allows teams to solve tasks faster, catch more errors and work more efficiently. As individuals share their workflows, knowledge transfer allows teams to find optimal workflows to accomplish tasks.
Sharing the work, or pair working, allows individuals to receive feedback without involving meetings, reviews, or follow-up phone calls. Working collaboratively allows individuals to reach new heights of performance.
Conclusion
Screen-sharing is the meta-layer of work. CommandCenter allows individuals to work side-by-side while forcing individuals to rethink their existing workflows. CommandCenter brings screen-sharing to the forefront of work, allowing teams to connect and accomplish tasks faster. Voice messaging or text messaging is used as a backup.
The center of work is a command center. When co-workers are online, screen-sharing offers the best of productivity and real-time collaboration. When co-workers are offline or do not wish to be disturbed, messaging allows teams to maintain communication. CommandCenter allows workers to pair quickly with their co-workers. Messaging is used as a backup that captures the edge cases of work.
As teams expand in size, they are faced with greater challenges. As individuals, we can only accomplish so much. As teams, we can accomplish so much more.
On the internet, we now have a new way to work - collaboratively. Thanks to CommandCenter, individuals can finally share their personal workflows while working effectively in teams. Modern companies use pair programming, pair writing, or pair designing to accomplish more.
The future of work is the center of work. The center of work lies between collaboration and productivity. The center of work happens in apps. The center of work happens in the command center.
Next Step
Interested to build the future of work? Contact me about CommandCenter.