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So I do a lot of Software R&D work, a LOT. One issue I have consistently faced is getting honest, brutal feedback regarding software ideas and strategies. How to implement this or what to do with that.

Is there a site on SE that might fit these needs better, not where it's a coding issue, but more of a software planning issue? Would it suit better if the question was phrased in such a way as:

"Can anyone recommend a piece of software that does x in such a way that is extremely impressive/perfect for their needs and why?"

or should it just be an honest question of:

"I am trying to accomplish x, y and z with some software that I am building. Can anyone recommend an optimal way to implement such a method? If you know of any examples that perform a similar task than please recommend."

I believe both of these could ultimately be valuable to the site, personally. I know SE doesn't handle discussions well but with the voting system it will give the person asking a much better pool of public opinion as well.

To Clarify, I will make a good example question for scenario 2:

I am developing a system in Java that will allow the recording and playback of actions performed within the browser. This will have a plug in for Firefox only initially and then will store the master copy to a file. Once the master copy is stored, the user can launch the java project and create correlation files that will use the master copy and edit it. The ability to load and run will again, have to be done within the browser's plug in.

I am curious about the implementation of this. I am concerned that the switching between the user interface and the browser will cause the user to be unsatisfied with the end product. The software will have several other functions and will make life a lot easier for the people who will be using. Does anyone know if an example where someone has implemented such a feature that switches between multiple applications gracefully? Or is there any recommendations on how to implement such a function that will require multiple applications?

As an end user, would you prefer having the full functionality of the user interface or possibly an additional browser plug in that would act as a go between? Is there any software plug ins for Firefox that has done such functionality in a graceful manner?

No solid requirements other than the functionality explained above is performed in such a manner that it would stand out as extremely smooth and graceful. Only operating system I wouldn't have access to is OSX The program itself I am not concerned about, I just want to preview such functionality

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    Your second question seems more likely for programers.se (in case is whiteboarding).
    – Braiam
    Commented Feb 23, 2014 at 1:40

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I'd keep it honest, but keep in mind a few things - It seems to me that library recommendations are on topic here, but you're going to need to be careful with how you ask that question - keep the question detailed, organised and specific.You're probably going to need to talk about language, possibly platform (if its specific) and what sort of results you are expecting - in fact, there's already a question on it.

As for software planning, it seems to me what you're really looking for is a place to bounce off ideas, and chat might work perfectly for this. I can't recommend a room off hand (as a non coder), but with the right people in the room, it may work perfectly for your needs.

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  • Well, bounce off ideas seems like a bad terminology but yes, to some degree. I will go ahead and make an example question of what I am thinking about and edit my OP with it.
    – Paul Muir
    Commented Feb 23, 2014 at 17:34

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