User experience is king and less is more
August 9, 2010, 11:58 am - By: Chad Halvorson
Our launch of WhenIWork.com was an exciting milestone for us. We’ve been developing web software for years for our clients, but this is the first app where we concepted, architected, designed, marketed, developed and used what we made.
There is a lot of web based staff scheduling software out there; —way more than I ever thought when we started development. The good news is that 99% of them are pretty much the same. They either use the same “calendar” model for scheduling or they have a host of features that are over complicated and confusing to users—not to mention the data entry required.
Two things trumped all others during our development of When I Work. User experience(UX) and features. We wanted to keep the app lean—only include features that are core to employee scheduling. The more we looked at competition, the more we scaled back. The features that we did included, we wanted to make sure the user experience was as natural as the traditional method of scheduling; —essentially eliminate the learning curve the best we could. Ideally, we wanted the scheduling software’s basic usability to be so intuitive and natural that supplemental features would be easily discovered through standard usage.
Within those two mandates we were driven by two key elements: easy and fast. If we’re going to make employee scheduling easier than the competition, we need to also make it faster than the traditional methods of scheduling.
There are a ton of things our scheduling app does NOT do—and that is what we think makes When I Work better. Our approach to staff scheduling is direct and focused.
Our app does not do forecasting, budgeting, payroll, automatic scheduling, multiple edit views, skills assessment, or any other bloated feature that strays from the task at hand—scheduling shifts for staff.
When I Work is lean and what it does, it does better. Assigning shifts, managing availability, monitoring time-off requests, visualizing the schedule, filling open shifts, covering departments and connecting employees to their schedule is done easily, quickly and most importantly, naturally with When I Work.
Before getting into a sales pitch, i better digress. My point here is to share a couple important considerations when building an app. User experience is king and less is more when it comes to features. I know our app is not the best app in the world, but I like to think we’re on a fast track to becoming the best app for employee scheduling.
WhoMadeThatWebsite.com & IWorkedOn.com
February 2, 2010, 6:40 pm - By: Chad Halvorson
2 months after we released: www.whomadethatwebsite.com
We get answered back with: http://www.iworkedon.com/
That's pretty cool! The more exposure for designers and devs the better. Now you can take credit for your work in two places. Good work "I Worked on" guys! Our two sites parallel nicely i reckon.
New Decade, New Stuff.
January 7, 2010, 10:09 am - By: Chad Halvorson
So what is the next ten years going to bring to interactive technology and gadgets. Here are a few of my thoughts on what's going to gain momentum over the next decade.
- Overall, broadcast and entertainment will evolve the most. Now that we've finally gotten passed the digital television hurdle in 09, we can finally start focusing on what we can do with this new protocol that took 5 years to get everyone transitioned too.
- All TVs will come stock with DLNA clients. This will probably happen inside 5 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance
- Television in general will start to transition to non-linear scheduling. Broadcast media will be made on-demand but it's availability will of course still be scheduled.
- Internet connectivity to your new gadget will be standard. This has already started to take place with devices such as the Kindle via the "Amazon Whispernet". Connectivity is going to become an after thought and expected with every new gadget and gizmo.
- Throw away single function gadgets. One function gadgets will be cheaper and already be connected out of the box. You'll be able to buy a cheap flip phone that uploads or streams directly to YouTube. Or get a mobile device just for posting Twitter updates, or Facebook updates. (I think there already is one out for Twitter, I just think they are going to get more trendy, cheaper and run rampant as more social media outlets emerge)
- Free internet. Access to the internet will finally be available for free via some (slow) wireless connectivity, probably the old television spectrum that we finally let go of in 09. If you want a decent speed, you'll still need to fork it over to Comcast or equivalent in your area.
- The Linux market share will go up. Probably not much, but with so many netbooks floating around now, and new simple devices yet to come, plus the tech savvy generation, Linux use is bound to increase.
- Home Media Servers. More homes are going to be equipped with large storage devices for managing terabytes of movies, home videos, photos, etc. If a household has two desktops, three laptops, a PS3, xBox, and a DLNA compatible TV, there is definitely going to be a need to central storage via a home network. This reminds me of Microsoft's book, "Mommy Why is There a Server in the House"
- Internet enabled cars. Like the Kindle, car makers are going to sell their products with internet connectivity standard. Sync music and video wirelessly from your PC to your car's media player, stream movies to the back seat for kids, get reviews on restaurants around your GPS location, traffic stats, weather, etc. I know you CAN do some of this now.
- Mobile devices are going to replace your keychain and wallet. Your mobile device will unlock your car, start your car, open your garage, arm your home security system, unlock your door, pay your bills, pay at vending machines, pay for groceries, pay for gas, etc. Payments in general will go wireless via your mobile device. For example: squareup.com
New Projects Added
October 28, 2009, 8:44 am - By: Chad Halvorson
We recently added a few new projects to our website. Our latest projects are showcased in the Websites & Microsites, Marketing & Sales and Education & Training sections. I know this isn't much of a blog entry but if you're interested in what's new around here... now you know.
Packaging: Final Cut Studio
August 5, 2009, 8:07 am - By: Diana Cimino
As if today's arrival of Final Cut 7 wasn't cool enough....
Today, Chad bestowed the new Final Cut Studio upon us. And much to my delight, Apple granted one of the biggest "wants" I've had for FCP since I started using the software, and it has nothing to do with the software itself.
I'm excited to say that Apple has drastically cut down on their packaging. Now, instead of a large, heavy, cumbersome box full of manuals; —you are greeted with a slim, sleek, lightweight little box. Sweet. It's not that I'm against reading manuals, it's just that as a production company, we may order 3-4 licenses of every upgrade. Having a billion sets of all those manuals is just plain overkill. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of paper being wasted. Plus, with the software shelf being well above my shortness, reaching for the new Final Cut Pro Studio will now be a much more pleasant experience. Thank you Apple.
Design Soup
April 29, 2009, 4:07 pm - By: Chad Halvorson
What kind are you making?
I'm pretty into analogies. Especially when trying to communicate technical situations, but recently I've been thinking about design and creative work. I think I've found my analogy—words to live by in my opinion.
Design is like cooking. As designers, we try to come up with new flavors by trying different ingredients. The best dishes are created by combining ingredients—with an end result in mind about how it should taste. Here are a couple of soup analogies that I think put things in a nice perspective.
- Sometimes the customer knows what kind of soup they want. The customer may taste the soup and send it back because its to spicy or bland for their taste. It's important to consider their tastes and adapt the dish to respect their pallet—in the end if they don't like it, that soup is going in the trash.
- Some customers don't know what they're in the mood for or they want the chef to create a dish that reflects the tastes and perspectives of the restaurant. That's why people choose the restaurants they do—because the food has a certain flavor they like.
- The servers and other people wandering around the kitchen should be less inclined to toss ingredients in or make judgment before the soup has had time to simmer. If the cook wants someone to taste the soup before serving, they will ask. The sous chef and chef de cuisine are working hard on preparing these dishes—let them finish the dish before tasting it.