As a user who has had some success in getting suggestions incorporated into MLO, I will share my observations on how it works. Please note that I am *not* trying to say that this is working well or that this is how it should work, I'm just reporting the current state of affairs as I see it.
Joel Azaria recently posted a passionate and articulate plea for MLO developers to devote more time and attention to communicating with users and managing expectations. You can find the post here: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/mylifeorganized/zmK6efRXbag/KdM_e6qNvuIJ I highly recommend that you read this post, especially if you are a developer with MLO. Here are the channels available for advocating changes to MLO: 1. E-mail to the MLO support email address. It is a virtual certainty that someone from the MLO organization will read at least the beginning of your message. This works best when your request is short and very compelling, like a fix for an annoying bug, or a simple clear request "please implement flags on Android". Complex, controversial or vague request like "please provide workload management" will lukelt get a quick brushoff. 2. Jira is a tool used by MLO developers to manage bug reports during beta testing. It can also be used to request enhancements. In general, these requests have a good chance of serious consideration by MLO staff, though I'm not certain what happens to requests made for a product that's not in active beta testing at the time. Requests have a much better chance if they have been thought through, include suggestions for how they could be implemented, recognize and address the downside, and include some understanding of users who will dislike the suggestion and how to handle it. Requests also have a good chance if they are reasonably easy to build and if Andrey finds the idea appealing and exciting. The disadvantages of Jira is that there's no opportunity for collaborative discussions, making it difficult to bring an idea to the level of development and consensus that's needed; also the fact that access to Jira is limited to active beta testers. 3. The forum on Google Groups is a great place to propose an enhancement, talk through implementation alternatives, discover downsides and users who are opposed and seek solutions. It's open to everyone and it's possible to build a strong concensus around a proposal. From time to time MLO developers will even engage in the discussion but this is hit-or-miss and you shouldn't rely on it happening. 4. There is also a forum specifically for beta testers. Sometimes you need a beta tester forum, for example if you are proposing a change to an unannounced feature that's currently in beta. For requests that do not involve anything unannounced my opinion is that the general forum is better - more people participate and it's a more diverse group than the beta forum. 5. UserVoice is open to anyone and there's no question that proposals with very high vote counts get noticed even if the proposal is poorly thought out, vague or controversial. The problem is how to get a high vote count for your. New ideas are at a disadvantage in UserVoice because they sit at the back and dont get noticed. Also, there's a recurring problem where similar or identical proposals split the vote so that some popular idea remains with a low vote count. My suggestion on how to navigate through all of this:start by proposing your idea on this forum (unless it involves unannounced features in beta, then use the beta forum). Sell your idea -explain why people need it. Tell what it will enable them to do. Describe how it will lead to new sales of MLO licenses. Give a few (at least one) options for how it could be implemented and ask questions that will draw others into the conversation. Don't be defensive - consider each suggestion that gets made and see if they can help you make your proposal better. Try to get some enthusiasm going. When you have a concensus of support and the discussion seems to have matured, submit your idea. If you are a beta tester or if your idea has attracted the support of any beta testers, submit it to Jira with a pointer back to the discussion on your forum. Otherwise, submit it to UserVoice but be sure to encourage your supporters to vote. Don't be afraid to be a cheerleader. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mylifeorganized/bae3c80e-c661-4b42-939b-c2065c609bc1%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
