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An Interesting Job Opeining AT Linden Lab


Perrie Juran
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I need to credit New World Notes for bringing this to my attention.

https://gamejobs.co/Senior-Product-Manager-at-Linden-Lab

What is most interesting in the job description is:

"Tasks include:

Overseeing, planning and execution of projects: production schedules, resourcing, and quality assurance against quantifiable goals. Immerse yourself in Second Life to attain a deep understanding of the feature set and use cases and learn the culture by getting to know the user community.

Promotion of the value of core experience of Second Life to other parts of Linden Lab, and help ensure Product leverages the ideas and resources of the larger organization.

Collaboration across teams to define and prioritize easy to use product features that enable a delightful user experience to drive revenue, adoption, and usage"

I've been in Second Life since fifteen years and if there has been one common gripe I have heard many times it is that Linden Lab doesn't do a very good job of listening to their users. Sometimes certain officers have left us feeling marginalized.

James also has some interesting comments in his Blog.

https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2022/12/sl-job-product-manager.html

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All i read is blah blah blah .. god i 'm so bored when companies write a bunch of nonsense for a job description

and once hired they want you to do other things, also all those useless meetings that nobody ever pays attention.

Ok i 'll settle for US$250,000/annually, where do i sign....  and i am as qualified as everyone who had this position before and sucked.

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I was a bit rushed when I started this, I certainly have more to say and will be saying  but is kind of past my bedtime.

But I will preface the following with this. I do want to see SL grow and do want to see LL prosper so SL continues.

New user retention has been a forever problem  for SL. But in my fifteen years here I don't know a single person (if it has happened) that LL has asked, "What has kept you here?"

When  I first started SL I had a computer that was barely capable of running SL. But that really did nor factor into my staying. What factored in was my initial experiences. There were some things that could have said to me it was a waste BUT there were other experiences that made me feel welcome and at home.

 

Edited by Perrie Juran
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I think this is kinda big, potentially. Have they ever tasked a manager solely with overseeing development of "the user experience" before? And insisted upon someone willing to embed themselves in the community in order to gauge what is needed, and what will work?

It's also important, surely, because it's more evidence that LL wants not merely to keep this platform alive, but to grow it. Companies holding on to a dying asset with a view to merely wringing every last drop of profit from it don't create positions like this. This isn't just a "holding action": it's an attempt to be forward thinking.

And finally . . . it'll be interesting to see if this means that LL intends to be more "hands-on" in terms of the continued evolution of SL over the next while. The tendency, as we all know, has been for the company to leave, for all intents and purposes, the actual experience of SL up to resident creators, community-builders, and so on. Does this signal a slight shift in that paradigm? And what are the ramifications of that?

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3 hours ago, animats said:

SL acquired CasperVend's SL operations. Now they need someone to run it. This looks like that job.

"Experience with online marketplaces that sell virtual goods a plus"

   I frequently buy stuff off the MP, maybe I should apply for the job!

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4 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I think this is kinda big, potentially. Have they ever tasked a manager solely with overseeing development of "the user experience" before? And insisted upon someone willing to embed themselves in the community in order to gauge what is needed, and what will work?

Silly me, that was what I thought all the Lindens were for. 🙊

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As an aside what I found interesting is the apparent drop of the S/L economy from $650 million to $500 million. That seems substantial. Maybe the reason that after 19 years they are finally starting to panic a little and looking to put some serious effort into new user retention?

Quote

Now in its 19th year of operation, Second Life has had one of its strongest years ever with a growing user base and booming economy including an annual GDP of $650 million USD with 345 million transactions of virtual goods, real estate, and services. https://www.lindenlab.com/releases/high-fidelity-invests-in-second-life

 

Quote

Founded in 1999, the company first launched Second Life , the groundbreaking virtual world enjoyed by millions around the globe, in 2003, which has since gone on to boast nearly two billion user creations and a vibrant $500 million (USD) economyhttps://gamejobs.co/Senior-Product-Manager-at-Linden-Lab

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10 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I think this is kinda big, potentially. Have they ever tasked a manager solely with overseeing development of "the user experience" before? And insisted upon someone willing to embed themselves in the community in order to gauge what is needed, and what will work?

It's also important, surely, because it's more evidence that LL wants not merely to keep this platform alive, but to grow it. Companies holding on to a dying asset with a view to merely wringing every last drop of profit from it don't create positions like this. This isn't just a "holding action": it's an attempt to be forward thinking.

And finally . . . it'll be interesting to see if this means that LL intends to be more "hands-on" in terms of the continued evolution of SL over the next while. The tendency, as we all know, has been for the company to leave, for all intents and purposes, the actual experience of SL up to resident creators, community-builders, and so on. Does this signal a slight shift in that paradigm? And what are the ramifications of that?

I agree wholeheartedly. We have seen other indications that LL management has taken a more active interest in increasing the number of users, like the how-to videos.

I am delighted to see these developments.

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22 hours ago, animats said:

"Experience with online marketplaces that sell virtual goods a plus"

Aside from "user experience", I'd like to have someone who will address the concerns of those who wish to make a passive income from SL.  

Since hearing about PBR, and with EEP and with the LOD recommendations upon installing a new viewer at 2 or even less with the SL viewer, this has taken the wind out of my sails to want to create in SL.  How are all these changes taking the wind out of my sails to want to create?

1)  PBR, will the items I make now work if PBR and ALM on at all times becomes what SL is?

2)  EEP, my items look different in all these lightings.  I have a lighting I use where the shading doesn't look washed out.  Other lightings, many of them, cancel a lot of my shading and my shading, to me, is what made the item look more like material rather than just streaks of gray to mimic some kind of shade.  I think the lighting is too bright and then often it's too dark.  Lighting does need more consistency for those who wish to make a passive income from SL. 

3) LOD at 2 or less.  My main items that I think are my best need a LOD of at least 3 and those took a long time to make, so wind is out of my sails now to even want to create.  LOD needs to have consistency. 

I hope someone will take what I am saying seriously and also not to have so many viewer changes unless needed like when we had the update for animesh for example.  However, when  we updated to the animesh, how the items looked did not change.   

Also, Philip Rosedale made SL so that we all can create.  Perhaps adding a free materials maker for PBR would be good, but still the cost of uploading jumps way up.  Most items I have from many "greats" in SL, only use diffuse and normal, so uploads are going to double in price.  That is expensive.  40 linden per upload for an item when many people want the low cost Friday and Saturday sale price doesn't work too well.   

Edited by EliseAnne85
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4 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

Most items I have from many "greats" in SL, only use diffuse and normal, so uploads are going to double in price.  That is expensive.  40 linden per upload for an item when many people want the low cost Friday and Saturday sale price doesn't work too well.

   L$40 is less than what a lot of product costs in upload fees anyway, as many have more than 1 face and use more than 1 texture - if it has a HUD that's another texture, if you put a pic on your vendor/in the folder, that's another texture. But those handful of uploads aren't particularly prohibitive even if you're selling the product for less than the total upload fee, if you sell more than one copy. That's kind of the whole thing with selling virtual stuff, you're just selling copies, so once you've got the product in place there are no further fees (except the MP cut if you're selling via there). Even if you spend L$100 in upload fees and sell the product for L$50, each sale beyond the second is pure profit. The 'greats' in SL usually sell a few more than 3 copies in any given weekend sale.

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11 minutes ago, Orwar said:

Even if you spend L$100 in upload fees and sell the product for L$50, each sale beyond the second is pure profit. 

Yes, I know.  That's what a passive income would be but the product needs shelf life, meaning it cannot become outdated too quickly.  I had just made the items that need a 3 LOD (well parts are fine at 2 but some just cannot be lower than 3 due to a specific reason I don't want to dig into here) so, in essence I made the items and then the shelf life was over before I could even sell if LOD goes to 2 and that's what most people are using now.  

If someone comes aboard to understand the user experience, I think they need to understand those who wish to make a passive income too, not just "the users", whatever that means even.  If a new person comes along to understand the residents, I think we need some kind of weekly/monthly (?) meeting where we can get together and talk and address issues for those who would like to make a passive income on SL and focuses not only on shelf life but consistency in the viewer, especially specifics like LOD and lighting....or?  

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Hmmm.....  If it's remote work --- I could apply and try to work on the MP/in world shop integration better as mentioned by someone on another thread.

Kimmi Linden does have a nice ring! Although I saw that before when I had a club --- I heard one of the performers say "Give Kimmi Linden to keep this venue open." lol

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Grumpity (VP of Product) --> someone (Director of Product) --> this person (Senior Product Manager).

I don't see any supervisory responsibilities listed in the job description.  So it appears that this person is an individual contributor who will be a Program Manager, working cross-functionally to define and deliver products.  They will have a broad range of responsibilities (see below).  Whoever applies for this job should inquire closely as to LL's supervisory structure - who sets the priorities for the employees who are actually building product?  Will the Senior Product Manager be working with other Product Managers to assure that employee priorities are consistent? Or will this person be the only Product Manager, required to work with departmental supervisors and/or the coders/creators themselves to ensure that employees have realistic workloads?  Will this Product Manager have the authority to make schedule and resource tradeoffs, or will s/he be reporting to someone(s) who will make those tradeoffs?

It looks like LL is willing to pay for a person who's had this sort of job before, but is not extremely senior in it:  "8+ years professional experience with 3+ years experience in a product managing role with teams within the internet or video game industries, creating top quality services or games".   A person capable of accomplishing everything in this job description would have to be more experienced than that, but would also cost more than they are probably willing to pay.  So, I bet they'd be content with a person with highly relevant experience who shows promise of being able to grow into the job.   Therefore, if you're interested and have delivered product successfully before, but you don't check all their boxes, apply anyway.  And, best luck to you!

______________________________________________________________________________

The job:

  • Clarify, simplify, prioritize, and deliver impactful projects and features by leveraging your product management, technical knowledge and business acumen.  You will manage the production of new features from concept through completion, as well as product updates and revisions
  • Overseeing, planning and execution of projects: production schedules, resourcing, and quality assurance against quantifiable goals. Immerse yourself in Second Life to attain a deep understanding of the feature set and use cases and learn the culture by getting to know the user community
  • Opportunities within the company, assist the Product Team in the creation and management of strategic plans and influence technical strategy in the context of broader organizational strategies and goals
  • Collaboration across teams to define and prioritize easy to use product features that enable a delightful user experience to drive revenue, adoption, and usage
  • Identification of key needs and define the product strategy with internal teams, helping to develop the product positioning, key benefits, and target customer
  • Promotion of the value of core experience of Second Life to other parts of Linden Lab, and help ensure Product leverages the ideas and resources of the larger organization.
  • Cultivate collaborative and productive working relationships with a diverse group of internal stakeholders and embrace healthy conflict rooted in mutual respect and trust
  • Invest in the growth and development of the team through active mentorship and knowledge sharing.
  • Focus on developing consumer facing frontend systems for Second Life Marketplace
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10 hours ago, Nick0678 said:

As long as they pay the:L$250000/annually they can name my avatar whatever they like... even Daddy Linden

   You'd take a job for $781 per year? 

   You wouldn't by chance know your way around a potato peeler and/or lawn mower? I might even consider offering a free room with its own little outside area - that empty chicken coop might as well be put to some use!

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2 hours ago, Orwar said:

   You'd take a job for $781 per year? 

   You wouldn't by chance know your way around a potato peeler and/or lawn mower? I might even consider offering a free room with its own little outside area - that empty chicken coop might as well be put to some use!

Cmon we both know you can't afford $781.

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On 12/18/2022 at 4:52 AM, Jennifer Boyle said:

I agree wholeheartedly. We have seen other indications that LL management has taken a more active interest in increasing the number of users, like the how-to videos.

I am delighted to see these developments.

Is more or less silencing these forums also part of that master plan?
Than they have that covered pretty well.
People are starting to exchange other possibilities of communication outside of this place and a lot of regulars are drifting away from these forums.
LL needs more social skills.

Edited by Sid Nagy
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8 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

The job:

  • Clarify, simplify, prioritize, and deliver impactful projects and features by leveraging your product management, technical knowledge and business acumen.  You will manage the production of new features from concept through completion, as well as product updates and revisions
  • Overseeing, planning and execution of projects: production schedules, resourcing, and quality assurance against quantifiable goals. Immerse yourself in Second Life to attain a deep understanding of the feature set and use cases and learn the culture by getting to know the user community
  • Opportunities within the company, assist the Product Team in the creation and management of strategic plans and influence technical strategy in the context of broader organizational strategies and goals
  • Collaboration across teams to define and prioritize easy to use product features that enable a delightful user experience to drive revenue, adoption, and usage
  • Identification of key needs and define the product strategy with internal teams, helping to develop the product positioning, key benefits, and target customer
  • Promotion of the value of core experience of Second Life to other parts of Linden Lab, and help ensure Product leverages the ideas and resources of the larger organization.
  • Cultivate collaborative and productive working relationships with a diverse group of internal stakeholders and embrace healthy conflict rooted in mutual respect and trust
  • Invest in the growth and development of the team through active mentorship and knowledge sharing.
  • Focus on developing consumer facing frontend systems for Second Life Marketplace

Nice use of buzzwords, I bet whoever wrote the job description had to include specific references to company "core values" and "core competencies", etc.

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Lots of emphasis on marketing, squished into all of the horrid HR-speak. However, one is slightly encouraged by the inclusion of "immerse yourself in SL...to attain deep understanding of the feature set and culture ..." which LL always seems to botch up royally, historically. As Sid was saying: Case in point, the GD subforum.

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9 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:

someone coming from Lovense would qualify for the job.

OK, I've got a couple of working condition requirements before accepting the position: Either full time work from home, or I want a private office with no windows and a lock on the door.

and soundproofing.

Edited by Lindal Kidd
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