Just a quick note, we have had to reschedule today’s “How to Successfully Manage Software Development Projects” as Craig was unable to attend the call due to circumstances out of his control. I understand - @#it happens. Craig has been good enough to reschedule for Thursday December the 21st. We will send emails like normal to inform you about that.

Thanks to those of you who did attend and stuck with me as I treaded water. As I said on the call, I welcome you to email me a note to let me know you were there and so I can meet you and say hello by phone or email. I already have a bunch of emails and I will get back to each of you shortly.

Thanks for your understanding and I hope you can join us for the two remaining calls in the series: Next Thursday December the 7th with Jeffrey Eisenberg of Future Now as we discuss how you can “Persuade More People to Do Business on Your Website“. Jeffrey is a high calibre speaker with incredible knowledge to share. If you own a website, or help other people build theirs, you will not want to miss this call. We will catch up with Craig on Thursday December the 21st.

From a quiet residential street in Toronto, Canada. So wrong.  Practically unconstitutional.

FeedReader released their newest version (3.07) earlier this month.  In their latest release, they added a few new handy features.

Since version 3.0, you were able to download podcasts, but version 3.07 makes it even easier.  They have a new browser for all your video and audio feeds.  Now you can easily download and manage your audio and video casts including our teleseminars.

They also added these nifty buttons to increase and decrease the size of your text which can be helpful for accessibility purposes or if you have a very large monitor.

If you haven’t subscribed to your FreshBooks system’s RSS feed, then you might be missing out on a lot.  If you ever want to be notified of your accounts activities in real time, then RSS is your answer.  This will also allow you to keep an independent permanent record of your account activities as well.  I wrote an introductory post on RSS some time ago, so take a look if you aren’t too familiar with RSS.

I have been a strong supporter of FeedReader for some time.  Why?

1. I love their prices.  At $0 per download, they are easy on my wallet.
2. They have a fantastic looking interface.
3. They are actively improving their product.
4. Unlike most RSS readers on the market, FeedReader works on both secure (encrypted) and password protected RSS feeds.

My only suggestions for improvements for FeedReader would be an easier way to transfer my feeds from work to home.  This is a common disadvantage that all non web-based feed readers share.   One crazy idea for FeedReader to implement would be a web-based member’s directory.  By entering a stored username and password, I could potentially access a list of my feeds anywhere.

We have a new coffee machine…I’m just not sure it will stay. Why am I writing about coffee machines? Cusinart’s redesign is a great illustration of how new versions can make products worse, not better.

Okay…here is our old coffee machine (sorry about the photos…they are quick and dirty from my cell phone):

Looks like a simple machine, and I will tell you what – it’s great. Independently Joe and Levi both acquired the same one for their homes…I am pretty sure this model was a blockbuster for Cuisinart.

Now a shot of our new machine from the side:

We switched machines because the new one keeps coffee hot for longer. That said, here’s my beef: why is the water gauge on the side? Think about it. Every pot you brew requires reading the gauge to see how much water you have poured in. Therefore, every time you use the thing you need to see that gauge. The gauge is on the side so if you have to reach around the machine to see as you pour. As a result you can’t put this product next to any other appliances or in a corner on your counter top…in fact you might have to physically pull it towards you - across a counter – to get it close enought to read every time you pour water in.

Now if that gauge was on the front, I would be happy. I am guessing that there was a certain aesthetic the design team was trying to achieve. Unfortunately they did not think about the usability (at least not as well as they might have). Since you use this gauge 100% of the time you brew coffee, it ought to be on the front “face” of the appliance. Function before form…this applies to web apps too.

When you add or remove an interface element in a web page, you have to ask yourself, “What percent of the time do people use this element?” If it’s more than 20% of the times users are on that page, that interface element needs to be prominent. If you have been successful with a version of your app (and I am guessing version one of the coffee machine was a block buster for Cusinart), it is vital that you keep “prominance” top of mind as you redesign your app from one version to the next…as the team at Cuisinart proves with a less than perfect redesign here.