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WORK[etc] Web App Blog
The Simon Cowell-Inspired Interface Makeover - Preview Invites Available.
Jul
It is an amazing transformation (both Simon's and our own) and we're about to roll it out.
Register for your preview invite here.
Originally we wanted to run this beta launch like Googles Apps does so well - an extended period of review whereby users can simply flick between the old version and the new. But unfortunately some changes have required a database update meaning the Google approach isn't possible. Ergo once you are upgraded to the new interface, there is no going back.
This probably sounds scarier than it is. Mostly the new interface is a re-skin, a bit of cosmetic surgery and a new wardrobe. Ninety-nine percent of everything works the same as before - it just looks one hundred times better.
Oh - and as an added bonus we're throwing in a new feature; custom statuses for both projects and support cases (more on these below).
Full Screen Previews
Click each of the thumbnails below to view full-size preview.Sign up for the beta:
You can sign up for the beta right here, right now.
Custom Project Stages & Support Statuses
With this release also comes the launch of custom status for both projects and support cases. If you think about how sales leads progress through the custom stages you define in WORK[etc], the new Project and Support statuses work exactly the same.
For example, the company below has modified the Standard Support Case Status's to include "Urgent", "Super Super Urgent" and "Leave Until Last"
To explain this further, lets' use the example of building a really simple house that consists of floors, walls and a roof. A floor, wall and roof all require the same process. Material needs to be ordered, labourers' assign to build, painters need to paint the roof and someone needs to inspect the result:
- Floors:
- materials on site: 0 - 5% complete
- labourers building: 6% - 70% complete
- painters on site: 70% - 95% complete
- inspection: 95% - 99%
- completion: 100%
- Walls:
- materials on site: 0 - 5% complete
- labourers building: 6% - 70% complete
- painters on site: 70% - 95% complete
- inspection: 95% - 99%
- completion: 100%
- And so on...
With the Project Stage Groups, you assign the same group to each major sub project and then work through the same process. The benefits of this approach are:
- Standardization of process. Regardless of what business you're in, you can create groups re-usable project stages and apply them to new projects or sub projects as you need.
- Efficiencies. Setting up and managing new projects is significantly faster when using pre-defined project stages, rather than manually setting up each stage every time.
- Estimation Accuracy. This part will come a little later, but when using Project Stage Groups, we'll be able to use that data to show more accuration project progress data.
This little enhancement may at first seem inconsequential, but in reality is the critical first step on the way to building out the ultimate resource allocation and project planning tool. We need the standardization of information this brings in order to accurately present resource utilization across projects and the entire organization.
WORK @ WORK[etc]
We have two more positions we need to fill over the next few months.
Firstly, we have a customer support role for the East Coast of the USA (or similar time zone). Read about how we've decided to technical support different.
Secondly, we have an interesting role for a full time content person. The role revolves around understanding WORK[etc] from a customer perspective and writing engaging case studies, producing "best practices" videos for a particular industry and then pushing this content out through social media channels. Read more: Content Producer & Social Media
Product Releases
Big News
Coalface
- Oil makes everything go faster... right?
- Build a better product by getting your feet really dirty (& what is coming next)
- A Getting Things Done (GTD) approach for WORK[etc]
- Welcome to the SSD club, Amazon EC2 (and how SSD's powered a 714% Performance Increase)
- Four Questions that Bring Teams Together
- See all from Coalface
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Just signed on for some Beta love! Can't wait to test the new interface. Y'all are doing a bang-up job!
Looks brilliant - can't wait to see it in practice.
I LOVE the new interface, it's super cool.
Looks awesome, clean and crisp....... hope there are some nice colorful reporting tools for your webforms so we can use them as survey data...... thanks again for the invite to beta test.
The team at WORKetc have been working long and hard from what I see going out on this release. Love the new look and thank you for the invitation to the beta testing.
Thank you for all the hard work and effort in the new interface.
**villainously rubbing hands together in anticipation** mwaahahahahahaha
We love it all and cannot wait. Big improvement for us to be using every day.
Looks Great! Looking forward to the beta test.
As always...great work here.
With outlook-connecter and ew design Worketc is going to be THE killer app. Sign me up for betanow!
just signed 4 beta, what I LOVE...I feel like there are "people" on the the other end of this thing actually doing the work to make it better. There are glitches and some thing I do not agree with and even some things that frustrate the hell of me...but I can dismiss them. Unlike platforms like Salesforce, there seems to be a personality about this code that keeps me interested. Thanks for allowing me to run my business with character!
Looking good! Loving the customization!
I wish you would add on a feature that allows you to pick custom emails to a client, which you created your own HTML custom template for!
Very cool guys, very cool. I agree with Scott - its good to see real people involved
My team is all over this, good by salesforce ugliness!
I want it nowwww!!! :P
Has anyone been switched over as part of the beta?
So about the beta switch?
the Simon Cowell reference is just too funny :)
Like it!
* insert cricket sounds *
Please see updates here:
http://www.worketc.com/blog/Development/108
Beta accounts will progressively be switched over from Monday (ie 48hrs time)
Dan, please give the new interface to me now, please, please. You guys rock. I started using WorkETC a few months ago and all, but really all the interactions with you guys are awesome. You are a flexible, young, professional company with a global audience. Would love to know more about your company structure and how you started this company (history etc.).
As a self employed independant consultant in the Caribbean I really did not find an online system like yours before. I grow my business on your business now. And I bring in more projects, more customers and can do my finance better. I'm still learning.
And I'm pretty sure that this NEW interface will be a killer. It will help me because it looks more efficient, more classy, more to the point. Hire the designer!!!!!
www.calmera.worketc.com
Dan, I see the positions you currently have. I wonder : do you have a kind of "strategic customer group" which helps you with testing new functionality, new use cases etc and helps you with feedback on new features before they are implemented?
While I'm using the system during the last months I found some real nice feature ideas which could really help you make your service better. I don't know where to go with these. If there was a group, I would post it there and discuss.
These are more advance features like extracting data and crunching data for reports. For instance I want to have all my data in a spreadsheet so I could summarize them with Pivot tables myself. I can write you a business case why this is important when you run multiple projects.
So do you have a customer group which helps you?
Has anyone been switched over as part of the beta?
I signed up for beta testing but have not been switched over...? Could someone contact me and let me know why?
I also signed in for the beta with www.calmera.worketc.com and was not switched over. Also here. Could someone contact me and let me know why?
I also signed in for the UI change, but have not been switched over.
Any information on this?
@Runy - yes we have an informal group,and I reach out to people directly when we're working on something that they've expressed an interest in over on the feature suggestion forum. So I typically reach out to people who have offered some good quality detail around a feature or concept that i'm actively looking to review.
See everyone has great ideas, but the only ideas that are useful to WORK[etc] are those of universal benefit to many users and from people who have been able to describe their ideas in detail. And then people need to be prepared to accept their idea isn't suitable or practical or wait until it can be worked into the development cycle.
Before we had this process in place, we got to the point where we were dealing with so many ideas that we just didn't have breathing space to move forward with actual work.
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@Juuso, Runy, Evert:
the last 150 accounts that registered for the demo will be switched over in the next 12 hours. Sorry about this, but we expect maybe 50 accounts to sign up but ended up with 467 and someone always has to go last.
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If it gets to Wednesday (USA) and you're not in the beta and you definitely registered, then please let support know. Otherwise the full roll out to all accounts will be ~August 14th.
It would be good if you could make bespoke changes to match the individual needs of your clients. i'm not sure how you would do it but it would probably increase customer satisfaction, competitiveness and overall revenue for worketc.