About 350 days ago, Steemit Inc. published a roadmap for 2017. With the dust now settled on 2017, it's time to appraise how well they did with the roadmap.
•Migrating all services to auto-scaling, self-healing infrastructure.
Target: Q1 2017
Done on schedule.
•Useful blockchain data microservices for both internal and external developers to accelerate application development.
Partially (?) done.
•“Batteries Included”: Highly available public service endpoints for third-party developer quickstart.
Done.
•An Ethos of Deliberate, Reasoned Design
Ongoing, but good progress.
•Steem Login and signing service for safe and easy third-party app integrations.
Target: Q3
SteemConnect 2.0, announced in partnership with the Busy team in Q3. I don't think it's feature complete yet, but definitely under development.
•Rebranding: new logo, colors, logotype to distinguish the social app from the blockchain.
Target: Q3
Done, reasonably on schedule.
•UI: Design language overhaul for all user-facing application UIs.
Target: Q4
Arguable. Some enhancements, but no sweeping overhaul. Might be delayed.
•Apps: We’re developing iOS and Android native mobile applications.
Target: Q4
Announced availability December at SteemFest. Not released on schedule, though I do believe they are done and waiting for a co-ordinated wave of releases.
•Feature: Free image hosting.
Target: Q2
Done, on schedule.
•Feature: Comment moderation for post authors.
•Feature: Community Namespaces and Moderation.
•Feature: Achievements and User Insignia.
Target: Q3/Q4
I'm going to assume these are part of Hivemind. The last update at SteemFest was an alpha version scheduled for "end of the year". It hasn't happened. After Hivemind alpha is released, it'd realistically be a further quarter or so till final implementation on Steemit.com. This one's looking like significantly delayed.
•Feature: New user tutorial.
Status: Q4
No updates, however, the FAQ and Welcome pages are passable now.
•Feature: Easy-to-understand status bar.
No updates, but the UI groundwork has been laid.
Distractions: Scalability issues, all of which have been fixed.
Verdict: Good progress on the Steemit.com front. Save for Hivemind, most of the stated goals were achieved, mostly on schedule.
steem.io: A Platform Dashboard / developer.steem.io: World-Class Developer Documentation
Target: Q2
Done, though slightly delayed.
Officially Supported Client Libraries
I'm not a developer, so I can't review this accurately. That said, I do see support for more libraries than at the same time last year. Not there fully yet, but I assume good progress.
Post Reward Sharing
Target: Q2
Done, on schedule.
Reducing Blockchain Account Creation Cost
Target: Q3
Pushed back, AppBase (next entry) takes first priority. Could have been done by Q3 otherwise.
Steem Blockchain Feature: Multi-Chain Parallelism
Target: Q4
Pretty much done, but not released. I assume AppBase has been combined with 0.20.x (blockchain account creation cost, previous entry).
Last update: 0.20.x preview was scheduled for "end of 2017", but is yet to be released. However, much of the development is complete, and this should ship in Q1.
Distractions: The Steem blockchain saw many more advances than promised in the roadmap. Scalability issues were fixed, a fairer reward distribution as introduced, and SMT became a top riority. I believe there's a parallel team working on SMT, so that hasn't affected the schedule too much, but there must have been an overhead impact.
Verdict: Although some features weren't released on time, other features not planned were shipped. Pretty much everything on the list has nearly completed development. Overall, good progress on the Steem front.
Physically Decentralized, Global Talent Pool
Plenty of new developers on GitHub, though I don't have insight on how global the talent pool really is. I would like to see more talented developers come on board, and a faster pace of development.
I hope to see Steemit Inc hire a brilliant Human Resources executive (if they haven't already), who can poach the best talent from outside the blockchain industry.
Asynchronous Communication and Coordination
I'm not privy to any such information, so I can't comment.
Scaling Up
On the development team, this was definitely achieved. On the community outreach and marketing front - mostly a failure. I can understand that they would delay a significant marketing effort till SMT and 0.20.x is ready, but these goals were not achieved. There was some excitement in the middle of the year with Mitchell on board, but none of that was seen through in the timeline specified.
Decentralizing Stake
This is, without doubt, the biggest failure in what has otherwise been a decent year for Steemit Inc. There was little to no effort at decentralizing Steemit Inc's stake. Some delegations went out to select individuals or projects, but this was done in an absolutely non-transparent, non-inclusive and yes, centralized, manner. Of course, I'm sure this could be justified, like many other misses on the list, by "we're not ready yet", but nevertheless, it has missed the roadmap target. A complete disappointment, and I would hope to see major strides made on this front in 2018.
Free Software
Absolutely done.
Overall, Steemit Inc. performed satisfactorily in the year 2017. They achieved most goals specified, lagged behind in some, while delivered in other areas not specified. Neither a triumph, nor a disappointment, but that's probably a great achievement for a blockchain-related company. Sets up for an exciting 2018. With mobile apps, SMT, Hivemind and Account creation (all deep into development) finally due in the first half of 2018, I hope to finally see a massive marketing push.
The biggest wins this year were plugging much of the scalability issues on both Steemit.com and Steem, a very popular reward distribution reform, and much improved communication. Steem is peerless - this is the most scalable blockchain in the world. Bonus - a well received fast-track of SMT. The biggest failures were the lack of stake decentralization efforts, lack of marketing and the much delayed Hivemind.
Finally, based on what I have seen this year, I have full confidence in Steemit Inc's ability to deliver high-quality software. Questions remain about the public relations and marketing departments.
