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• It's too complicated: educate the user or change the product?

  When testing a new product interface, we at Websystems have our ears out for comments that sound like "it's complicated" or "I can't figure out how to do this." For us, when these comments are made repeatedly about a feature... Posted Jul 14 2008, 12:15 PM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management

• Upgrade VS clean install

  The opinion one will form of a product will be different along the life of the product. Let's take the example of software. When you do the first installation, everything is fresh and it feels like the system work perfectly. Once you upgrade (to a... Posted Jul 04 2008, 11:23 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: business, product management

• Living in the present: it's easier to keep promises this way

  I was reading this excellent post about being taken seriously and it made me realize how important it was to product management. The first element of David's post is about telling people what you have done instead of what you will do. It seems like... Posted May 12 2008, 01:51 PM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management, sales

• AceProject 4.5 is out! Now what?

  It's finally online: you can use AceProject 4.5 online now! What's new? You can read the release notes here, but in a nutshell: New, cooler, shinier Gantt charts Dynamic templates Easier time sheets Better custom reports Skins AceProject 4.5 took... Posted Apr 25 2008, 10:35 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management, AceProject, product development

• Training: the best usability test

  Today I'm going to give a training session at an insurance company. I always enjoy giving training, because it shows me, in real time, how easy it is to learn to use AceProject. I like to see how new user navigate AceProject, where they click, how... Posted Apr 23 2008, 09:00 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management, training

• It's a tool, not a magician's hat

  Tools are only as good as those who wield them. What good it the project management software if no one is willing to use it? What does it take to convince a team to change its ways? Patience It takes a while to change a team's habits, and I have yet... Posted Apr 21 2008, 08:02 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management, software

• When the project is too big, break it down

  I remember that first term paper I had to write when I was in school. It seemed so long! How could I ever have 20 pages to say about any subject? I felt overwhelmed by the size of the task. I think the teacher saw the same look of discouragement on all... Posted Apr 18 2008, 08:00 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: product management

• Sometimes, you just have to listen to something you don't want to hear

  No one likes to fail. No one likes to admit that they went wrong. That's why sometimes we keep trudging on with a doomed project for a long time, before we finally accept that it has failed. We can see this more clearly with software and product development... Posted Apr 11 2008, 07:01 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: project management, product management

• It seemed like a good idea at the time

  It seems product development - like project management in my opinion - requires adjustment from the theory of it (or its planning) and its reality (how things actually happen. Case in point: Last year, before we closed for the holidays, we sent a nice... Posted Apr 02 2008, 10:13 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: project management, product management

• From users to fans

  You know when your user base is turning into fans when people start making tools to improve your product. They are so committed to your product, they are willing to improve it themselves. To the creator of the product, this is one of the most rewarding... Posted Mar 17 2008, 02:02 PM by Karine with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: product management, custom work, customer satisfaction

• Do you taste your own medicine?

  Our colleague Jason from 37signals had a very interesting blog post lately. His post was elegantly summarized in this sentence: "By building products we want to use, we’re also building products that millions of other small businesses want to use... Posted Mar 12 2008, 09:00 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: software development, product management

• Due dates and release-ready

  Presently, the team at Websystems is in the final stages of getting AceProject 4.5 ready to release. We are testing the new system as much as we can, so we can release as bug-free a system as we can. However, we also know there is a one-month period after... Posted Mar 10 2008, 08:16 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: software development, product management

• Customizing software

  Ever since AceProject has been on the project management software market, we have been receiving request for cutomization. Most organizations will shy away from custom work because they find it too complicated or too time-consuming. However, in the project... Posted Mar 07 2008, 09:00 AM by Karine with | with no comments Filed under: software development, customer service, product management, custom work