We started using Basecamp for managing a second project at work. If you haven’t giving it a try, check it out! I also strongly recommend checking out Highrise – it’s an amazing tool for tracking contacts and setting follow-ups.
Posts Tagged: 37signals
27
Feb 08
Design Decisions
37signals is at it again, sharing their secrets on how they come up with highly functional websites. In this detailed post, they talk about how they improved a portion of Backpack. Say what you will about me, but I love this kind of stuff.
Before:
After:
29
Jan 08
Redux
There are already too many sites reposting stuff they posted a year ago. Flashbacks, yesteryear, and whatnot. I abhor the thought of posting just for the sake of posting, so I do so with some trepidation.
I’ve been thinking about a redux for some time and as I considered it more, I concluded that the reason wasn’t to simply fill a void*, but that it furthered the purpose for the whole site: I’ve found stuff on the internet that I think you’ll find interesting and useful. I posted about these things once, and more than a year later I still think they are every bit as relevant and important as when I first posted them. If you missed them then, perhaps you’ll enjoy them now. Thanks for taking the time!
* I think a lot of redux’s are to fill a void, and this isn’t my problem: I’ve got a backlog of posts that could fill half a year and the ideas keep flowing as I scan some 2500 articles a month.
REDUX POSTS FROM 2006
* Google News can send you email updates when any new information or recent news articles are posted to the internet on a topic of your choice. Click on “News Alerts” on the left side of the web site to set up the scheduled email. Useful for breaking news or keeping up on any topic you want to follow. (11/10/2006)
* Collaborative writeboards, online notes, a calendar, etc with Backpack. All in the fancy web 2.0 style with AJAX. My favorite feature: set a reminder on the site that will text message your cell phone at a preset time so you don’t forget about something. Originally posted on 12/15/2006, and mentioned again “to keep track of the links” on 11/14/07 and yet again on 12/11/07 as “a way to track your to-do’s and other random data that you want to get done.” I’m still using it every day.
* “[Work] below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle only five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery, and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.” [Pablo Picasso] (12/22/2006)
But tell me what you think! Do you already use Google News and Backpack? Is this old news? Did you look into them and decide they were no good? What do you use instead?
18
Jan 08
37signals Downtime Improves Customer Satisfication
37signals today had 2 hours of downtime across all of their products. I use two of these heavily: Basecamp and Highrise. It was a real inconvenience to not have my task list available, and I was kicking myself for not printing it off earlier.
But despite the inconvenience, and massive failure, I feel better about sending my hard earned cash their way. Why? Because they communicated fast and remarkably well.
First, within minutes of the sites going down, a notice was put up:
All systems are currently offline as we’re experiencing network outage from our provider. We’re working on it right now. No data has been lost, all our machines are still working, but they’re not accessible from the internet. Sorry for the inconvenience.
— 10:03am CST (16:03 GMT) on January 18, 2008
Notice how address my immediate concern: data loss, and then an apology. Updates were delivered every 30 minutes and included easy to understand details with more apologies. It was clear that even though it was out of their hands, they were doing everything in their power to get it fixed. One of their last messages, “This is not how Fridays are supposed to be.” was nice. It helps to remember that they are people too, and while I have high expectations from their service, I have some understanding too.
Of course there is a cost/benefit to every service and if they fail too often I’ll look elsewhere. But, 37signals has increased my confidence that they can and will get this sorted out. People just don’t react that fast if they haven’t done most of their homework already.
Some other items of note:
- They now have a status web site (apparently it works even during system outages, but I only just learned about it)
- Quickly after the system was restored, they put a nice Downtime Notice “What happened?” note at the top of each page (pict above) with a link to a post with all of the details
Thanks 37signals for an excellent response to a tough situation!
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