Would you like to build the next epic as bot first ?

[ivanminutillo]

We're dealing with long-standing unanswered questions about how to build a UI that need to manage a lot of different features: from logging works to check the personal account balance to exchange items among people or groups...
one of the first problems we're dealing with is:
Is it better to build a monolithic app that handles everything inside it or to build a bunch of connected apps (OAE alike) that interacts among them sharing the same or multiple backends?
If we decide to build a bunch of connected apps how to decide where to draw the line between an app and another?
How should this ecosystem of apps connect and log together?
Possible solution:
Do not draw the line. Do not draw anything at all :P
Why not build a Bot that represent something like @fosterlynn and @bhaugen call the Personator, with a syntax that cover needs (join/exit/create groups, logging work, CRUD processes, check balances, send transactions, exchange items, ...) and then let the user activate new features by extending the syntax, building them on an open protocol (scuttlebot, solid, ...) or on top whatever we decide to implement as architecture (see this issue)
A bot would work either on a website and obviously on messaging app, and it could have UI - when it is needed, I think the cool cats are calling this approach CUI - conversational user interface.
What do you think about it?

Here a nice post about CUI:
https://medium.com/the-mission/the-future-of-cui-isn-t-conversational-fa3d9458c2b5

[bhaugen]

Wow! Awesome! I can't possibly give it enough love!

Consider starting with something that could be a bot, but maybe also a framework for building bot families.

And also first deploying them as Telegram bots, so they will have instant users. I'm thinking of families of bots because each member of the family might fit into different channels.

[ivanminutillo]

I am not sure I understood correctly what you mean by families of bots related to different channels...
would we start making the current epic bot first?

[bhaugen]

I don't mean starting with families of bots. I do mean start with one bot, but make it work in Telegram. Maybe. If that makes sense to you. If you do, instant users!

[ivanminutillo]

yeah of course, I noticed this library to build bot in nodejs
https://github.com/howdyai/botkit
it is compatible both for telegram and for our actual webapp
or the microsoft botbuilder
https://github.com/Microsoft/BotBuilder