Setting Standards for Evaluation
With almost two months experience as a Skype Journal Associate Editor, it has become apparent that a Skype Journal editor could become a test technician for every product with aspirations to work with Skype. However, time is a limitation and one needs to somehow define that gray border between evaluating a product and providing consulting on product management issues such as user interfaces, installation and configuration conflicts, Skype API integration and even Skype Certification. Rather than define a boundary here are the priorities I see in triaging our selection of products to evaluate:
- Is the product or service Skype Certified? If so, it has certainly passed one set of criteria that are becoming tighter as Skype develops experience with its partner program. Most of the items below are included in the Skype Certified criteria (SC) but I repeat them for emphasis.
- (SC) Does it include User Manuals, either in print or online? At least have them available for assisting the installation and operation. (Yes, I actually read them to assist with the objectivity of my assessment of a product when I run into issues.)
One overarching statement of Skype's philosophy towards Certification::
Overall, we apply the same criteria to the solutions we certify [as] to Skype itself. Our basic feeling is that [since] "Skype is free Internet telephony that just works", we expect the solutions we certify to behave in the same way. If a solution doesn't work in a straightforward way, throws unclear errors upon install, and or requires a lot of backtracking to get it to work, we won't pass it.
As we develop the Skype Journal Labs brand, this is the first of several guidelines that will be used to assist with setting priorities and providing some level of objectivity to our product reviews. Next:: key criteria in product evaluation.
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