Keep It Simple.....

KIS (Keep It Simple)



During the first meetings the whole team had to begin developing Clarensyst ´s Web application that would eventually become  Aberys, people  always asked the  same questions (which eventually came up as the development of Carleon CRM went on):




- How to create a simple and intuitive interface that virtually anyone, even those without a technical background in the use of web browsers or general-purpose software, could use it without feeling lost?




- How to design it in such a way that does not require external assistance,  also generate basic information and exchange vital information with other users within projects (collaboration) without creating a graphical interface disaster in the attempt?



Unfortunately in Mexico, and I dare say that in the rest of the world, it is difficult to integrate a team where the outcome exceeds initial expectations. On the one hand, programmers can be very technical and dogmatic but many of them lack the experience to understand what end users expect from the web tool, much less have ideas of business processes that involve the industry which the app is intended for.




Additionally, graphic designers find it difficult to capture the idea that managers or developers of the tool got in their heads and often abused graphic resources in terms of colors, and font sizes instead of analyzing the aspects of aesthetic intuition of the design. We have repeated to exhaustion: the Web application should be as simple, pleasant and intuitive that even a chimpanzee drinking a glass of wine could use it while watching t.v.




Finally comes the case of the project manager: if you have a purely technical background is a dead end: hours and weeks of work and  useless code before achieving their "killer app". However, if the director has no technical background then runs the risk of underestimating the work of programmers and technical risks, even more latent, to perpetuate the process of development as they do not understand that it is better to land a preliminary application and then tune detail that never even set it at all.




In their books and blogs founders of 37 Signals have contributed many ideas to make it a point of thinking about the development process of web applications. Many might agree or not with them, but in particular we in Clarensyst believe is an interesting and liberating approach  in many ways compared to the expectations that applications can build the team internally and externally to the market general.




Within its mantras, 37 Signals pragmatic approach condense many ideas have been around for some time:




1.-Always think of the end user, not the manageror the owner of the company. The tool must be desired by end users but should be useful enough for principals decide to pay for it.




2 .- Do not try to do much the first time. It is better to have a simple and user-friendly  tool that solves the main problems of the companies (communication, sales tracking, information transfer, instant messaging) rather than having a complex hodgepodge (as many applications of the "big" software companies) that it is completely useless for the purposes of users. We are here to make your life easier, not more complicated than it already can be.




3 .- Manage a single development team , although specific roles and responsibilities must be assigned. This removes bureaucracy, endless meetings, professional egos and speed up decision-making and exchange of ideas between team partners.We must remember that unlike other places here the cooperation of all affects the final product.




4 .- Avoid help from VC´s or  capital partners. Their money would only bring you problems. They´d seek to interfere in your management decisions at all times and you will waste time on endless meetings. You can do a lot with very little in the technology industry.




5 .- Do not get bogged down by the future of business ... at least not yet. The technical aspect tends to create anxiety. How do we scale the application in the cloud when we have 5000 users?-Is a recurring question. As my grandfather would say "Let's worry about crossing the bridge when we get to the bridge ..." NO technical issue is a matter of life or death, white or black. Many technological ventures never get to reach those heights and if they do, which is the type of problems that every company wants, there is always opportunity to address it diligently.

In reviewing the mantra of the people of 37 Signals it seems as though everything is a joke or they would not mind to care: quite the opposite!. In our case we try to adopt this attitude because in the end , one of the ideas that  37 Signals  embraces  has to be the most accurate of all:
"If you enjoy the process, you enjoy the challenge and face difficult time with  energy and passion  as it will be reflected implicitly in your web tool."
www.clarensyst.com.mx