by Scott on July 03, 2007
For people with an interest in the technical side of the project, here are notes on the configuration of our development, test, and production environments.
For those who couldn’t care less if PlaybookIQ is powered by mongrels or mice – don’t run away yet. Later this week, I will have the beginnings of actual product on the “production” server where anyone interested can follow along in real-time as updates are made throughout each development day. I would love ongoing feedback from the “live” site. Stay tuned because some real stuff is starting to happen.
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Posted in Sales team collaboration, Make a Web App, Making of a web app, Programming
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by Scott on June 21, 2007
Making of a Web App is Synap Software’s step-by-step look at designing and developing a web app. In this article I share why, despite best attempts by the anti-paperwork crowd, I like written use cases.
Use cases:
- Contribute directly to the final, deployed app.
- Expose risks to simplicity.
- Expose the level of development work required.
- Are the easiest way to iterate, collaborate and communicate.
Use Cases
Briefly put: a use case can be anything that documents how a person will accomplish a task with your application and how the application will respond. In this article I use the term to mean written use cases (as opposed to diagrams or sketches).
Click here for an example.
Some developers do not write use cases because doing so feels too much like writing documentation and documentation is not the purpose of building a system. So, in an effort to work only on things that directly contribute to building the app, people skip over the use case step and jump right to visual design or sketches (or even just start hacking out code). I have to say that back in my developer-only days, I was that way too. I saw anything but code as wasted time. Now, I don’t. Here are four reasons why I don’t skip the use case step.
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Posted in Making of a web app, Programming, Web Application Design, Make a Web App
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by Scott on May 31, 2007
I understand about indecision
But I don’t care if I get behind
People living in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind
- “Peace of Mind”, Boston
Avoid Indecision, Grant Peace of Mind
If you are a software designer, your goal should be to have every page have one purpose. This way you minimize user indecision, you find that the application is easier to explain, and by going through the excercise of this constraint you gain more confidence that your design achieves the primary purpose of the app.
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Posted in Synap Software: Design Decisions, Programming | 10 trackbacks
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by Scott on March 15, 2007
It’s all the little things. For example, while other people are buying extra laptop cord wraps and ties, MacBooks have one built right into the power supply. Simply flip in the outlet prongs, flip out the wrap feet, wrap the cord, and you have it nice and neat and ready to go. Just another little touch that, when all put together add up to a great experience with the product I use all day, every day.
Posted in Productivity, Programming | no trackbacks
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by Scott on January 09, 2007
LeadsOnRails.com automates lead management and lets you implement lead followup best practices to convert more leads and free your up more of your time.
This system was born from discussions with small business owners who often spend a fortune on lead acquisition only lose the lead information or fail to effectively followup on it due to poor communication among team members, poor advanced planning, or failure to create a lead management plan.
In LeadsOnRails each prospect is put on a track, which assigns steps to users and everyone can see leads progress through the pipeline. No one is left assuming someone else has taken action. As one of users put it – LeadsOnRails.com can serve as an organization’s best-practices manual.
LeadsOnRails is the first in a series of products aimed at making the dedicated expertise found in large, successful companies accessible to small and mid-size companies that do not have the need for a dedicated IT or marketing staff and do not have local IT staff to support desktops, databases, and networks.
Next up:
- New features including integrated email management and web site interfaces
- Improved help and get started pages (with video tutorials)
- Industry specific templates for leads and workflow
Posted in Programming, Productivity | no trackbacks
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