GigJam was �rst demonstrated during Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 and gained traction. It showed that you can connect multiple systems on a 'Gig' and work with peers to collaborate on those Gigs.This looked (and indeed it is) simple without the hassle of building integration channels, using delegations (if supported by the system) or building custom delegation process and customizing a lot of security to make the delegation secure.

Ashish Trivedi

GigJam – First-Hand Experience

GigJam – First-Hand experience

GigJam Note: This first half of the review was done before the public preview was released on 7-June-2016 as per the blog https://blogs.office.com/2016/06/07/gigjam-preview-is-now-available-for-everyone/. The links and screenshots presented here are for reference purpose only. Ideas and views are my personal and they do not represent any of Microsoft or any other company views. This is to present what was included in invitation based preview and how the improvement has been made to public preview.

The beginning: GigJam was first demonstrated during Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 and gained traction. It showed that you can connect multiple systems on a 'Gig' and work with peers to collaborate on those Gigs. This looked (and indeed it is) simple without the hassle of building integration channels, using delegations (if supported by the system) or building custom delegation process and customizing a lot of security to make the delegation secure. Few references can be found dating around the time frame as http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-shows-off-new-gigjam-service-for-getting-work-done/

The start - GigJam team released first invitation based preview in early May-2016 and I got an invitation to participate in the preview program. I have been playing with it and tried few Gigs. The first part in this is based on the invitation based preview system functionality.

The running show -

Invitation Preview based GigJam functionality - After download from https://www.microsoft.com/gigjam/ and install process, first time you start the GigJam, you see the screen to login using Google or Microsoft Account –

After successful login, using Microsoft/Google credentials, you will be presented with a consent screen to accept application usage to your personal details like -

Once consent accepted, you will see the first screen as -

In the bottom right corner, + sign shows to add new data source on canvas as a card.

On left hand pane,

Invites shows you the invitation for Gigs (when you have not signed in the GigJam or currently working).

Gigs show the date & time / Gig Name, on which you were/are working.

Sources show the trusted and configured sources. Once you associate and sign in to a source from + sign from bottom right corner, they appear like under sources as:

Once the source connection is trusted and confirmed, it becomes unavailable to select again. If you want to connect the same source using multiple accounts, you cannot do that.

I would like to see more data connection options in the coming future in GigJam. There are few sources which could create confusion as well due to similarity in functions -

Asana data source shows tasks, while on the card, it shows the projects and tasks association.

Rename a Gig - Click near the date where the Gig name appears - it is editable area -

When you have to hide the information from others before inviting others on the Gig - Mark circle on the area and X the section which you don’t want to share (it all appear in black ink, no option to select ink colour at the moment)

When you want to link two or more source systems - First, add cards from both systems on the gig and mark a large enough circle, so that both cards can fall inside -

On doing so, a left bottom link button appears. On clicking that - you see the fields (selected by GigJam) on which you can potentially link the systems -

Select the Field from which source to which source you want to filter. In my demo case, I am filtering the emails based on my contacts from outlook (I can do same but in outlook client, I have to keep searching using different names or sort by sender). Once set, you can select a contact in left and it will refresh the emails in right email card. (If there is no matching data, it will appear with blank)

GigJam is about connecting systems and completing Gig.

This is not about syncing systems or integrating systems. Flow/PowerApps can be used for those purposes. I had issues with setting up Asana with Contact on email field. Asana showed only Workspace title / Task title. Connecting Wunderlist with Contact - (If you are using Wunderlist Pro, you can find tasks assigned to other team members also) I found difficulty using Wunderlist with contact on email -

There can be multiple connections based on the card you choose like contact and calendar.

When you choose to invite someone, open the card, circle it up and type the name in the bottom left space. Then select the person and click the arrow present on bottom right side.

This action will further ask you whether you want participant to work with me or see with me

Other person screen looks like below - after sharing

It works like co-authoring a document. It will have same gig name, the shared card and other details. On changing gig style to see with me from working with me (editable mail body becomes read only)

You can also see the permission and change participant’s permission using the icon located on the bottom right corner of the current card.

Expand the permissions by clicking the row of a participant.

When you remove it, the participant screen closes the shared card and it becomes blank.

Than after few seconds, the gig will not show any card on participant screen.

If I have multiple cards on the gig, only shared card is visible to the participant. While you are working with someone and suddenly change the gig, participant will see the screen as -

You can also leave notes on the card on which you are working

The footer of the card has quick links for administering participants and using conversation on the card with multiple parties.

There is no editing support for Office file from the cards and cards are of fixed size (small width).

Public preview based functionality improvement - After releasing on 7-June-2016, when I started the GigJam, it downloaded the updates.

Microsoft has introduced the login process much simpler to work for login. Initially, only Microsoft account (live id based) and Google account were allowed to log in. In the Public preview, Microsoft account is divided as Work/School account and Microsoft (Live id) accounts.

Asana now shows Assigned to field, but still, it does not seem to be matching the data on connected cards -

Wunderlist still has issues for me to connect with contacts. Now, individual files open in a bigger model but still does not support editing.

Just discovered that, on the top right corner (before the close X button), the circle can mark the current card easily. So if you are on desktop/laptop device without touch support, it can work easily for one card without running your mice. It still can't load PDF files and the file selection box does not show excel files yet. GigJam UI on iOS device stays the same with few features which help in using the app on mobile devices. Few of them are like, changing the order of card if there are more than one card on the gig. That's it for now and I will keep posting further reviews.

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