ForumsQuestionsTaking user feedback to decide the next feature set
Taking user feedback to decide the next feature set
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Siraj |
Given the constant tussle between the developers and active users in terms of what features should be developed first (the recent one on custom views), can the developers of ToodleDo think of adopting a site like uservoice.com or getsatisfaction.com to understand the features that are most needed by their customers.
Some free and open source alternatives are: http://www.google.com/moderator/ - this is used by Google to get customer feedback and it is cool http://www.ideatorrent.org/ - this is used by sourceforge on the OS projects. This would provide an objective list that can be really helpful both for the user community and for the developers. |
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Jake Toodledo Founder |
Thanks for the suggestion, but we prefer to keep our roadmap a secret.
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Salgud |
I don't think Siraj is asking you to make your roadmap public. He is suggesting you use the suggested method for polling users on what features they most desire, and having the results of that poll available to all. What TD does with that poll is up to them, and their plan is still confidential, as any reasonably astute user can understand.
At least that's my interpretation. |
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Captain_Obvious |
Here I have often seen page long post containing many feature request and toodledo would respond with.
Thanks for suggestion this is on our todo ... The question is ... What have you added on your todo, ? a copy/paste of the whole post ? As you can see here, this is a very small project but they have a comprehensive list of the feature requested. http://www.mypocketsoft.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=87 When we ask for something there, a condensed summary is made and added to that list. What this does is. We know what has been understood of our request. We know what has already been requested, (no double post) In other word, Show us the map, take the road you want. This message was edited Sep 28, 2010. |
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Jake Toodledo Founder |
99% of the suggestions that we get are duplicates of stuff that is already on our to-do list. When I encounter something new, I make my own summary of the idea and put it on the list. I am sorry, but I just do not have the time to maintain a roadmap, rank user request, or publicly detail which ideas are new, which ones are duplicates, which ones are being worked on, which ones are low priority, etc. Its all in my head and on our list, which is the most important place for it to be. For my own efficiency, I need to press the "Thanks for the suggestion" button and move on, otherwise I would never get any work done. Please understand that I spend 2-3 hours a day reading, responding and processing everything that is posted to Toodledo via these forums, support tickets and emails.
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Salgud |
Posted by Toodledo:
99% of the suggestions that we get are duplicates of stuff that is already on our to-do list. When I encounter something new, I make my own summary of the idea and put it on the list. I am sorry, but I just do not have the time to maintain a roadmap, rank user request, or publicly detail which ideas are new, which ones are duplicates, which ones are being worked on, which ones are low priority, etc. Its all in my head and on our list, which is the most important place for it to be. For my own efficiency, I need to press the "Thanks for the suggestion" button and move on, otherwise I would never get any work done. Please understand that I spend 2-3 hours a day reading, responding and processing everything that is posted to Toodledo via these forums, support tickets and emails. I support the suggestion because I thought, once set-up, it would simplify some of what you're already doing, save you some time. If that's not the case, then it's not a good idea. Having come from the CC forums, I very much appreciate the excellent, prompt support that you give here, and would not support anything that would increase the effort necessary to do so. Your efforts do not go unnoticed! |
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PeterW |
And don't forget:
Posted by Toodledo:
One thing to keep in mind is that only about 3% of our users have ever set foot in the forums, and an even smaller fraction have posted a comment. So, what you read in the forums shouldn't really be used as a general barometer for the desires of the entire user base. |
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Siraj |
Hi TD admin,
I respect your own views on how you want to run the show. I am an ex-CIO and I would tell you from my own experience - the best way to reduce the constant communication about new features from end-users is to put up something like this - new users would go there to check what is already asked and would not post in the forum. In the long run, this would reduce the amount of questions you receive on the forum and would also make the users life much easier. You also get to know what is truly important for the end users - something like location-tracking might be more exciting for a development team to work on; but many users may prefer some other items like custom views, support for project more critical. At the end of the day, you can decide which features you want to implement and you can be secretive about it till you release it. Having a tool like this just tells you what is really needed by users and saves you from building features that you fancy but the users may not (believe me - this is a trap that most of the software development teams get into without realizing it) About the last point of only 3% users participating in the forums - these are the people interested in influencing the product and hence would be a great asset as they would do free marketing for you if they are convinced of your tool. These are my 2 cents on this topic. Posted by Toodledo: 99% of the suggestions that we get are duplicates of stuff that is already on our to-do list. When I encounter something new, I make my own summary of the idea and put it on the list. I am sorry, but I just do not have the time to maintain a roadmap, rank user request, or publicly detail which ideas are new, which ones are duplicates, which ones are being worked on, which ones are low priority, etc. Its all in my head and on our list, which is the most important place for it to be. For my own efficiency, I need to press the "Thanks for the suggestion" button and move on, otherwise I would never get any work done. Please understand that I spend 2-3 hours a day reading, responding and processing everything that is posted to Toodledo via these forums, support tickets and emails.
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piyush_soni |
To ToodleDo Admin : Why are you so rigid about your ways of doing things? Those commenting here are not mad and everyone has a good amount of experience of the industry and its working. They want YOUR product to be better and more efficient.
"Its all in my head" - so unprofessional ! Never heard of it even in a 3 people development team. How many people work on this product? I know you wouldn't disclose this information, but what does "my head" and "our list" reflect? If a list is "our" why not keep everything in there? Are there 'sharing' problems in your ToodleDo list? :) |
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PeterW |
I was just searching the forums and stumbled over this thread from about a year ago:
http://www.toodledo.com/forums/2/3436/0/feature-request-post.html ...which probably answers a few of the posts above and puts things in perspective in terms of what we can expect (or not expect). Note that users Proximo and Vin Thomas have both left Toodledo (they're now using NirvanaHQ.com) and I haven't seen Claudio post anything in quite a while. I still like Toodledo. But I really wish that some of the enhancements that get asked for over and over again would be addressed. But when reading forum posts like the thread linked above, I kinda feel like they never will. :( This message was edited Oct 11, 2010. |
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piyush_soni |
Oh Peter, don't fret. "They can't commit on a timeframe but this is in their to do list. " :)
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Alan |
Posted by piyush_soni:
"Its all in my head" - so unprofessional ! Never heard of it even in a 3 people development team. How many people work on this product? I know you wouldn't disclose this information, but what does "my head" and "our list" reflect? If a list is "our" why not keep everything in there? Are there 'sharing' problems in your ToodleDo list? :) Toodledo is one of the most popular and highest rated task list systems on the internet. I for one do not feel that Jake, the developer of this website, needs any advice on how to work and how to be more efficient, let alone how to meet customer demands. Toodledo is the one service that I subscribe to that is constantly being updated and improved. You only have to read the "News" forum to see how often changes are introduced.And you only have to read that and other forums to realize how responsive to customers Jake really is. Bugs are addressed and fixed extremely quickly. And often, when users provide feedback on these new enhancements, their feedback is considered and if possible, changes are made to satisfy customer needs. I'm not, by the way, attempting to tell anyone else what they can or cannot write in a forum. I'm merely suggesting that the developer has a pretty good handle on how to manage his business based on his ever-growing customer base and consistently positive reviews of his product. As usual, YMMV. |
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Technocrap |
Posted by Alan:
Posted by piyush_soni: $$$Toodledo is one of the most popular and highest rated task list systems on the internet. ... And you only have to read that and other forums to realize how responsive to customers Jake really is. yes, very fast at hitting the "it is on our todo" button.Bugs are addressed and fixed extremely quickly. And often, when users provide feedback on these new enhancements, their feedback is considered and if possible, changes are made to satisfy customer needs. It is the very opposite that's being complained about. I'm merely suggesting that the developer has a pretty good handle on how to manage his business based on his ever-growing customer base and consistently positive reviews of his product. Toodledo: I just do not have the time to maintain a roadmap .... I spend 2-3 hours a day reading, responding and processing everything that is posted to Toodledo via these forums,... How on earth can't he manage to monetize his product to the point of hiring someone to, at least, provide basic support ??? This message was edited Oct 11, 2010. |
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piyush_soni |
@Alan,
By quoting my statement do you want to deny the fact that keeping the to-do items in "Your head" is not at all a Professional way of managing tasks? In fact - this is the sole reason customers join this website! Can you stop for a few minutes and think about that? |
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Jake Toodledo Founder |
Its all in my head and on our list, which is the most important place for it to be. I will elaborate to make my statement more clear. A title, summary, prioritization and estimated length for every suggestion is recorded in our list. What is "in my head" are the technical details, the "how am I going to do this", about implementing each suggestion. To make a simplistic example, if your task is "Buy a widget", you don't need to write down "Drive to the store, open the door, go to aisle 4, etc". That stuff is in your head. That is all that I was trying to say. In response to those who are astonished that support is provided by the developers instead of by hiring a dedicated support person, I just want to say that we are considering hiring a dedicated support person, but our concern is that the level of support would actually decrease. Nobody knows the inner workings of Toodledo better than the developers and we can provide the highest level of support. We think that this is what sets Toodledo apart from others. The argument against the last paragraph is that my "it's on my to-do list" auto-reply is not "good support". To that, I would say, that you are probably right. This is one short-cut that I have to retain for my own productivity. But for urgent issues, bugs and support tickets with specific questions/problems we often reply within hours with bug fixes, answers, or advice. I fully understand the frustration that people have with offering a suggestion and then not seeing it implemented for months or years. I would feel the same way. All I can say is that we get far more suggestions than we can possibly implement in a reasonable timeframe and that we have to prioritize based on our unique knowledge of the business. We have never stopped working extremely hard on Toodledo. What has changed, in my view, is that as our userbase grows, these forums see more usage, which causes our limitations to be more vocally and more frequently discussed, and this shifts the perception away from the stuff that we are really good at. Nobody is more acutly aware of our limitations that we are, and we are working as hard as we can to overcome these obstacles. |
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piyush_soni |
Well, that's a thoughtful answer. Thanks.
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rtobias |
Posted by Toodledo:
What has changed, in my view, is that as our userbase grows, these forums see more usage, which causes our limitations to be more vocally and more frequently discussed, and this shifts the perception away from the stuff that we are really good at. Nobody is more acutely aware of our limitations that we are, and we are working as hard as we can to overcome these obstacles. And even more than that, as your user base grows, is the increased care and consideration that must go into every feature you implement. Something that is submitted on the forum and vigorously supported by it's members does not necessarily represent the interests of the Toodeldo user community. (The forum is 3% of the user base but not nearly a randomly selected 3%.) I just want to say to the 100's of engineers, developers, scientists, and researchers who are working night and day to make Toodeldo an even better product, "Thanks!" |
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Technocrap |
Posted by rtobias:
I just want to say to the 100's of engineers, developers, scientists, and researchers who are working night and day to make Toodeldo an even better product, "Thanks!" I love you. |
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piyush_soni |
Posted by Technocrap:
Posted by rtobias: I just want to say to the 100's of engineers, developers, scientists, and researchers who are working night and day to make Toodeldo an even better product, "Thanks!" I love you. :P |
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