I recently blogged about “Elegant Simplicity” and dumped a bunch of ideas related to simplicity in a stream-of-consciousness brainstorming format. I wanted to revisit some of the ideas that I listed, particularly the software design concept of “wizards”. I’ve built software for many years now and the first wizards I can remember came in the format of installation routines that paused to required user intervention. Like “Please insert next disk”. Yikes, now I’m feeling old because I remember floppy disks. Anyway, these early installation routines were not really what we think of when we think of wizards, but they were wizards nonetheless. Wizards are really just user interface elements that lead the user through a sequence of dialogues. It is typically helpful to use a wizard for any task consisting of many steps, which must be completed in a specific order.

In my experience, wizards are best suited to tasks that are unfamiliar to the user. Hence, wizards are used heavily during the implementation phase of the software lifecycle; when everything is unfamiliar to the user. The interview process in Quickbooks comes to mind as a good implementation wizard. Intuit hides much of the technical accounting decision making process behind relatively easy to understand questions presented to the user. TurboTax also uses extensive question & answer wizards to assist non-accountants with tax preparation. I can’t imagine using a tax preparation application without some type of wizard functionality. However, with these types of wizards the tasks are usually only done once. Most companies do not go through the company setup implementation wizard in Quickbooks more than once. Likewise, most tax preparation software is only used once before the annual April 15th deadline.

Microsoft also uses wizards so assist with setup and configuration of routine tasks. This is different than the use of wizards discussed above. I have set up many Windows servers, starting with NT through NT 4.0, then 2000 and now 2003. These platforms use wizards (much more effectively in the newer offerings) with differing levels of success. The best thing I like about the typical Microsoft approach to wizards is the ability to turn them off. Once I know how to accomplish a task, it is almost always faster to do it directly, rather than go through a wizard sequence. This is the easy vs. fast conundrum. Wizards make a multi-step task easier by sequentially walking the user through the specific steps. However, once a user knows how to accomplish the task without the wizard, it is faster to just do it directly, and therefore becomes easier than using a wizard. Brad Martineau, our Director of Product Management pointed this out in a recent conversation we were having about making our software more simple to use.

I’m excited to build wizards both to facilitate implementation and to accomplish multi-step tasks that users will perform many times. The later type of wizards will be built such that a user can turn them off. Wizards will definitely help users with our software.

Stay tuned for more postings related to making Infusion CRM elegantly simple and even more fun for our customers to use.

A while back Eric Martineau, our Director of Software Architecture forwarded me the following article saying that the new generation of Internet users will probably not look to email as their medium of choice for messaging: http://www.news.com/Kids-say-e-mail-is,-like,-soooo-dead/

This article made me think of another PC Magazine article from about a year ago regarding how the rest of the world interfaces with the Internet. In North America we use a PC to access our information, especially the internet. The rest of the world primarily accesses the Internet through their cell phone. This is especially true in Eastern Europe, Asia. This article that Eric forwarded basically says that teens even in North America are trending away from using a PC and using their cell phone for data access. I wonder how hand-helds, like the iPhone, Treo and BlackBerries with better computing power and graphic interfaces will impact this technology shift.

The articles points out that email will still be used for business and transactions. Given that our CRM is a business application, I’m curious what everyone thinks as to what, if any, impact this technology/messaging shift will have.

Another cool article.

China Heads Toward 500M Mobile Phone Subscribers: http://www.cio.com/article/113353/?source=nlt_cionewswatch

In time we will have an entire development initiative for mobile users. Design, graphics, development platforms, device specific features, et cetera. Most of the world, outside of the U.S. accesses the Internet through their handheld device, not through their PC. We are starting to make forays into this space, especially since a bunch of our software and systems engineers have acquired iPhones. Stay tuned!

The members of the Infusion Development Department are true geeks, me included. I say that as a compliment! We love gadgets and the latest technologies. Well, the latest “toy” that has my team enamored is the Apple iPhone. It really is a thing of beauty. The iPhone interface is genuinely enjoyable to use as you navigate the device. When was the last time you thought a user interface was “enjoyable”? Yeah, made ya think, huh? While using the iPhone the idea of “Elegant Simplicity” comes to mind; the nirvana of user experience that we are striving for with Infusion CRM (more on this topic in another blog posting). Anyway, the iPhone is a great device and I applaud Apple for their design and innovation. Heck, even our resident Linux disciple, Jeremy Gurr wants one! Jeremy and Ryan Peterson (Ryan is our true all-things-Apple devotee) have even made a systems monitoring and alerting web application dashboard that runs on the iPhone. Also, Eric Martineau, our Chief Software Architect is working on a framework to allow Infusion CRM to be accessed via the iPhone! Cool stuff for sure.

So, my guys ask me when I’m going to get an iPhone??? Answer: I probably won’t. WHAT? The iPhone is missing some key functionality in my opinion. Actually this is my beef with most of Apple’s products, that they are missing a few key things that keep them from pushing over the tipping point for me. This is especially true given the premium price Apple can demand for their gear.

Okay, as cool as the iPhone is, there are a few things it lacks that to me are no-brainers. For starters, the Bluetooth functionality is limited to a mono earpiece. That’s it. Why not allow Bluetooth stereo headsets? This is especially annoying when one considers that the iPhone headphone jack is completely jacked-up (no pun intended). But the biggest Bluetooth vacancy is the lack of keyboard support. With a little more RAM, the ability to load third party applications and Bluetooth keyboard support I envision the iPhone possibly becoming a viable productivity platform. (Remember that cool fold-up keyboard for the Palm Pilot? Imagine that type of keyboard with Bluetooth support and the perfect iPhone!) Then there is file and calendar synching that is not possible via iPhone Bluetooth. I don’t get it. You can’t even upload music files via Bluetooth…you have to be plugged in.

There are a few other little things that I wish were different. Like having a landscape oriented docking cradle. The ability to use T-Mobile SIM cards. The difficulty of adding third party applications without hacking the device. So, while I love the iPhone I’m waiting for version 2.0.

The Apple TV is in the same boat as the iPhone. I was very excited when I learned that Apple was building a “media center” device. I have been struggling with my D-Link DSM 520 media extender for a while and I wanted something with more “Elegant Simplicity”. To put it another way, my wife can’t get the DSM 520 to work so she can listen to our catalogue of mp3s on my home server. And believe me when I tell you it is the DSM 520 that has the problems, not my wife’s technical prowess. So I took a trip over to the local Apple store and checked out the Apple TV only to find out it doesn’t do 1080P. I was shocked, really. The full, true HD resolution of 1920×1080 progressive scan was not supported. Why make such a beautiful and simple media device, including HDMI support, that does not support 1080P resolutions? I know that iTunes does not typically encode content greater than 720P and true HD 1080P content would take too long to download, according to Apple’s defenders. But to put a HDMI port on a device touting that it will only work on a 16×9 aspect ratio screen, and then to not support 1080P resolutions ¬ gheesh! So, while I love the Apple TV I’m waiting for version 2.0.

The Mac Mini just recently upgraded the Intel processor from a Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo. This should have been the way it was built from the beginning. Also, where is the HDMI port on the Mac Mini? Now THAT would be a cool media extender, but it only had DVI support. I know, I know, I could get a DVI to HDMI converter, but why not just make it with HDMI support to start with?

The MacBook Pro needs more USB ports and gaming support is weak. You have to dual boot to a Widows environment to game-it-up. By the way, where is the docking station support?

Sort of on a different subject now, but still related to Apple is their ability to dodge the anti-trust bullets. On September 17th, 2007 Microsoft lost their appeal with the EU on their anti-trust case with Window and Media Player. Get the full story here. Does anyone else see the parallels with Microsoft and the Windows Media Player, and Apple and iTunes? I’m not sure how, but Apple seems to be off the radar.

Anyway, I do love Apple products. I really do. I’m just waiting for version 2.0 of a few of their offerings before I take a bite.

What does “Elegant Simplicity” really mean with respect to software design? I have been talking and thinking about making our software “simple” for a long time. One thing that I have figured out for sure is that it is HARD to make things SIMPLE! Consider the following stream-o-consciousness brainstorming exercise I did on the concept of “Elegant Simplicity”:

Usability
Consistent user experience
Clean look
Google easy
Wizards
Satisfying
Enjoyable
Interviews
Ease of use
Self help
Infusion look and feel
Implementation tools
Outlook integration/sync
Centralized
QuickBooks integration/sync
Import directly from anyone
Friendly
Fun
Export to anything
Lots of white space
Knowledge base
Basic mode/view
Advanced mode/view
Logical flow
Simple
It looks so easy - who would have known it is so feature rich

Some more thoughts:

Ease of Learning

I learned to use it quickly.
I easily remember how to use it.
It is easy to learn to use it.
I quickly became skillful with it.

Usefulness

It helps me be more effective.
It helps me be more productive.
It is useful.
It gives me more control over the activities in my life.
It makes the things I want to accomplish easier to get done.
It saves me time when I use it.
It meets my needs.
It does everything I would expect it to do.

Ease of Use

It is easy to use.
It is simple to use.
It is user friendly.
It requires the fewest steps possible to accomplish what I want to do with it.
It is flexible.
Using it is effortless.
I can use it without written instructions.
I don’t notice any inconsistencies as I use it.
Both occasional and regular users would like it.
I can recover from mistakes quickly and easily.
I can use it successfully every time.

Satisfaction

I am satisfied with it.
I would recommend it to a friend.
It is fun to use.
It works the way I want it to work.
It is wonderful.
I feel I need to have it.
It is pleasant to use.

The ideas and concepts above are intended to stir the creativity cauldron. It worked for me! I will be focusing on some of the ideas listed above is subsequent blog entries as I continue my quest to make Infusion CRM software elegantly simple and a joy for our customers to use.