Started: August 8, 2023. Last edited: August 15, 2023
Thomas Hallgren
Subject: Psinq Community Meeting Lexicon
History
Throughout our journey from Eden to Fractally, and now to Psinq, the language we use to describe our meeting processes has evolved. With Eden, we employed terms like "Election," "Voting," and "Rounds" to convey our processes. In Fractally, we adopted "Meetings," "Rank-ordering," and "Levels" to signify distinct aspects. As we transition to Psinq and prepare to introduce it to diverse audiences, the need for clear, consistent, and scalable meeting terminology has emerged.
Challenge
Psinq's methodology is an evolution from Fractally, and as we gear up to test Psinq in communities, it's crucial to establish vocabulary that accommodates a wide range of participants. Unlike previous apps, not all team members will be present at every Psinq community meeting, making precise terminology crucial for education, promotion, and user experience. We might even develop educational training for participants and community leaders to ensure seamless understanding.
Some guiding thoughts
A. Psinq introduces innovative democratic concepts.
B. Our terminology should prioritize clarity, conciseness, accuracy, and accessibility.
C. Adopt a User-Centric Approach: Following Apple's UI Guidelines, aim to design an app that doesn't require excessive instructions; complexity should not hinder user-friendliness.
D. Participants might be unfamiliar with others in their meetings.
E. New members may lack context about our processes.
F. Transitioning between phases should be friendly new and existing participants.
G. Meetings may occur as fast-paced to new users.
Case Study: Clubhouse's Terminology Challenge
Clubhouse, an audio-based social app, faced a terminology dilemma with "rooms." The term seemed straightforward to the creators but perplexed newcomers. "Rooms" connoted physical spaces rather than virtual audio-only places. Clubhouse had to educate users about the digital audio-only nature of these rooms - where large audiences might listen in without saying anything. It could be like and “intimate auditorium”. This example illustrates how terminology can lead to confusion in digital contexts.
Our terminology
In the following I’ll outline three of our core terms and how they evolved through our experiments from Eden until now at Psinq.
1. Elections, Meetings, Psinq-meetings
Psinq meetings align with Fractally's meetings. However, we need to consider whether "meetings" alone suffices. Zoom, a popular meeting app, calls their meetings "Zoom-meetings" to provide context. As Zoom-meetings gained in popularity, they were often simply referred to as a Zoom. Similarly, we might create the opportunity to truncate "Psinq-meeting" to "Psinq," benefiting from a concise term. The group of meetings might be referred to as a Psinq-up.
Humans often truncate terms by cutting off the last part. Personal experience on truncation: The Food Network was originally called "The TV Food Network." During the rebranding process, I discovered that people within the industry were referring to the network as simply "TV," which was a terrible shorthand for the brand. To solve this problem, I proposed dropping "The TV" from the name and created a new logo for them.
2. Voting, Rank-Ordering, Rank(ify)
Eden used "Voting," and Fractally employed rank-ordering. For Psinq, we retain rank-ordering with rewards and bracketed advancement. We're considering omitting the 2/3+ alignment requirement to reduce conflicts. While "vote" and "rank order and submit" are common, "Rankify" could offer an active, user-friendly alternative. Another option is to use "Psinq" as a verb for ordering members in meetings, enhancing engagement.
In voting systems, the phrases "cast your vote" or simply "vote" are commonly used. In the context of rank ordering, we use the phrase "rank order and submit," which accurately describes the process but can sound somewhat like a task rather than an engaging form of governance. To make this sounds more participatory, we might just use the term “rank”, or even the made up term "Rankify," which carries a more active and user-friendly connotation. (Note, Rankism referred to negatively in Wikipedia, citations to Peter Drucker 2001, in relation to it’s use in the workforce.)
3. Rounds, Levels, Phases
In Eden and Fractally, bracketed advancement was employed, referred to as "Rounds" and "Levels," respectively. For Psinq, "Phases" or "Psinq-phases" seems fitting, signifying a gradual sequence of events that aligns with our approach.
(Other alternatives: Stages, Tiers, Grades, Steps, Segments, Increments, Treads, Epochs, Cycles, Intervals)
Proposed Core Terminology
What I propose as our three core terms. Starting with these terms, maybe we can construct a coherent framework that encompasses meetings, the ranking process, and the different stages of advancement.
- Psinq-meeting: A meeting adhering to Psinq's principles. Exclusive to Psinq, this term integrates within the brand.
- The suffix "meeting" could adapt for a group of meetings: Conference, Gathering, Discussions, Session, Day, Encounter, based on community needs.
- In gatherings without ranking, terms like "conferences," "conventions," "assemblies," could be used.
- Rankify: A straightforward term for rank-ordering or prioritizing. Complements bracketed advancement, portraying participant evaluation and progress.
- An alternative is using "Psinq" as the action of ordering members within meetings.
- Phases: Defines stages within the bracketed advancement system, harmonizing with the brand.
These terms serve education, marketing, and app UX purposes. Education offers context and comprehensive understanding.
Simplified Usage Examples
- "Psinq meeting participants evaluate and rank contributions in phases."
- "Valued contributions are ranked during every phase of Psinq-meetings (or conferences)."
Further Terminology Exploration
To avoid complexity, various ideas can be presented in multiple ways:
- Daily Event Term: Meeting, Assembly, Conference, Sessions, Votes, etc.
- Meeting Levels: Round#, Level#, Stage#, Step#, Meeting#, Assembly#
- Primary Meeting Goals: Deliberate, vote, discuss, align, rank, level, consensus addition.
- Advancement: rank-up, psinq-up, move-up, advance, level up, win, awarded, honor, propel.
- Non-Advancement: complete, psinq, finish, stop, lock a rank, earn a rank, defeat.
- Rank Order Submission: vote, rank, submit (psinq order), assign level, order, contribute, consensus addition.
(Feel free to adjust the terms above)
Using Psinq in Language
Considering that meetings occur on the same day, the day becomes the defining factor:
- All meetings on Tuesday might be termed "Tuesday Psinq-up."
- The initial meetings can be termed "1st psinq" or 1st round.
- Subsequent meetings might be "2nd psinq," or 2nd round, known as "psinq-rounds."
- A group of six members could be an "psinq-group?"
- Participants in a group might "psinq" or “Rankify” and submit.
Alternatively, meetings without rank orders could use different terms, like "Meeting," "Open Meeting," "Conference," "Leadership Meeting," etc.
Example UX Phrases:
- "Join Tuesday Psinq."
- "Join 1st Psinq at 4 pm."
- "For advancing participants, 2nd Psinq-meeting at 5 pm."
- "3rd Psinq-meeting begins at 6 pm."
Brandon’s Thoughts
I like “Psinq Up.” I’m using it already for John and my daily dev meetings, and it rolls off the tongue nicely. It’s similar to “Meetup.”
Psinq Ups at regular intervals consisting of
Rounds in which
Deliberation Groups meet in
Psinq Meetings to
Rankify their peers
in order to Align
the Community
What are we doing for these communities? What do they get out of it?
- Governance, organization, ordering, natural alignment, adhering to core values, discovering shared purpose, community harmony, united purpose, discovering true north, leadership, distill, discovering culture, sourcing wisdom, uniting, hearing everyone, threshing, harvesting the intelligence of the community.
ChatGPT rewrite: Communities organize Psinq Ups on a routine basis, comprising of Rounds during which Deliberation Groups convene in Psinq Meetings to collectively Rankify fellow members. The aim is to strategically Align the Community as a whole.