Developing Software for Entrepreneurs

Tony, I know this is a late reply, but just FYI -...

2010-01-27T12:14:51.932-05:00

Tony,

I know this is a late reply, but just FYI - my 97 year old Grandma just signed up for a facebook account. You're NEVER too old :)

Cheers,
Lee

Lee, Thanks for the nod in our direction. My post...

2009-04-14T15:40:00.000-04:00

Lee,

Thanks for the nod in our direction. My post came from a point of frustration that everyone seems to think they are a genius but everyone else is a moron.

I have also made the point about web based interfaces being overly simplified because the folks in charge think that their members are so old that they will not be able to use the site. I have to quickly rebut with "The fastest growing sector of MySpace users are in the over-50 category." to show that if your menu is at least as simple at a MySpace page - you are probably ok.

If your memebrs are still unable to use the site, they are probably not using online banking anyway. That means you are spending a lot of time making a ham sandwich for a vegetarian. They just have no need for it.

Also a thanks to Larissa for sharing my thoughts with you ;)

Tony Mannor
Andermahr & Company
CuHype.com

Interesting article Lee, for a couple of reasons. ...

2009-04-01T13:42:00.000-04:00

Interesting article Lee, for a couple of reasons. When I read your opening paragraph, I thought you were headed in the direction of "Seymours", as in Selling to Vito, but as I read on, I realized you were commenting on the sophistication of the user population of a product. So, ... THANKS for writing this. The students who are using kajour are indeed sophisticated online users of social networking products and have nearly a whole year under their belts of loving the experience - they have even said so in numerous survey questions and the occasional, in-the-hallway conversation about the site. The balancing act that I know we're discovering, and implementing, is to make it easy enough to use, but with the sophistication of the end-user in mind. It's great working with today's students - they really get the online experience - and I call it that because to them, it's not technology. Thanks for sharing your experience with Knowledge Athletes, Lee - Dave

Hi Lee, great follow-up! I'm with you on always re...

2009-03-31T21:44:00.000-04:00

Hi Lee, great follow-up! I'm with you on always refining to interface to be simpler, but that's simple as in elegant and uncomplicated, not simple-minded. ;)

Thanks for a great post!

@lareynolds

I've been informed that Safari (which I don't use)...

2009-03-23T21:44:00.000-04:00

I've been informed that Safari (which I don't use) has a compatibility mode too. As usual, not something that Microsoft thought up. They are great at following the trends, not so good sometimes at leading them, which isn't all bad. In any case I didn't want to leave creds to Safari out - I just don't know enough about the browser.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you found the ...

2008-11-17T15:16:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you found the article useful.

I'd be very curious to hear what your team does or doesn't adopt, and what other things they're up to. This was one particular solution, but I think what matters most is how the environment supports behaviors you want more of, and discourages behaviors you want less of. Here, for example, we intentionally didn't have phones on our desks or email clients on the development machines.

Anyhow, feel free to drop me a line about this. My email address is my first name at scissor.com. Good luck with your efforts!

I'd like to hear about:

User experience evo...

2008-11-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

I'd like to hear about:

User experience evolution: the direction they'll want to take with products.

Skill and talent: create it or acquire it?

The finish line: how do you call something "done" in an agile world?

Just a quick note to point out that Dave is the CE...

2008-10-21T08:39:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to point out that Dave is the CEO of Knowledge Athletes, one of our entrepreneurial clients. His excellent product is poised to take the education market by storm. You can check out details at http://www.knowledgeatheletes.com.

Lee, like what you have to say about the importanc...

2008-10-21T07:52:00.000-04:00

Lee, like what you have to say about the importance of usability testing, and yes, we're fortunate that we have had some great pilot tests with substantial user feedback. One thing I would add to the conversation beyond the rapid prototyping, surveys, and psychological profiles of users that you mention is the formal usability testing that can be provided by "expert" groups that approach usability testing holistically. These groups can blend all the field data collected by the developer with a project approach and a group of users who have experience in use of applications that exist in the targeted market space in which the product is going to launch or extend the beta testing. One example we're considering is a local college that has developed the for-credit classrooms and/or for-fee testing labs that employ students to dig in and hammer on the product in very productively critical ways. The outcomes are suggestions for making the product more useful for the targeted audience of marketplace users.

And I have to agree that identifying usability testing as part of the user test plan, at the beginning of the project, can pay dividends and save development costs and attenuate surprises during an extended development cycle, not uncommon for software projects.