Hi superboyac, I just sent you an e-mail.
Do I have to say that there are valid points in what you say about IQ (which I use for my everyday work -- which means very different projects ranging from task management to programing) ? Yes, the UI needs some work, bugs need to be ironed out, and you're fed up. These points are common with beta software.
Granted, IQ has been in beta for a long time now, but still...
Now... I really didn't want to intervene in this thread. After all, it's none of my business if one prefers something over something else, etc. But there are also some inaccuracies in your more specific criticisms of IQ, which surprises me since you use it heavily. I don't have the time to go into each of them. I'll just pick the last one :
we also need to be able to customize our own keyboard shortcuts (this goes for IQ as well)
Almost
every single keyboard shortcut is customizable in IQ. And not only that, but you can save various customizations and load them at will. And they're not customizable through some strange and unknown IQ UI mechanism. They just use the "standard" MS Office way... Anyhow.
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Some thoughts about constructive criticism :
I still don't understand why you don't post whatever criticism, comments you have about IQ's development, bugs, etc. on the IQ forum? This is a personal choice, of course. And I personally don't mind... I just wonder.
Writing about IQ's defects here or on some other website/blog usually won't be as useful in terms of IQ's progression. Not sure that the developer has the time to check out all forums for bug reports, comments, suggestions list, etc. Not to mention the other IQ users -- how can they be aware that this or that is discussed in DC instead of the IQ forum ?
As far as I know, you have
very rarely dropped by to express your opinions on this feature, reported a bug, etc. I did... Sure, IQ's forum is slow, etc. etc., but so far I and others, have been able to use it to discuss stuff (and, believe me, we're busy too).
So if Pierre really wants to attract more users, he has to make the interface much more elegant, so that the power of the program is accessible to people who are giving it the 10-minute test run. That means he has to soon stop adding features and dedicate himself to overhauling the interface. Only then will more users get attracted to the program. Word of mouth alone will spread. Right now, there might be a little word of mouth but 90% of normal users will be very intimidated and not use the program.
Now, I believe I know how to improve the interface to be this way, but first Pierre has to be convinced of what I said above. If he's not, then I'm not the squeaky wheel that's going to get the attention.
-superboyac
If you don't ask Pierre what are his plans for the next year, or what IQ's development involves, it's easy to speculate that he should to this or that... And if you know what changes should be made to IQ for it to become "better", you should definitely write that specific "feature"/UI change list (I'm still waiting for it)... Before it's too late. But you should understand and accept that your list is/will be just
a list. Like all "lists"/opinion, its importance will be evaluated in terms of intelligence, effort, feasibility, logic, effects, etc. Hopefully, in any project development, it's the soundness of the proposition that should counts, no who says/writes it.
In the end, what's hard is for the developper to be able to know what's the "best" choice among many... And how to spend his precious energy and time. The "best choice" is usually not
that obvious (whether we're dealing with software development or anything else). Isn't that one reason why so many business/projects "fail" or don't succeed as well as they could've (to various degrees) ?
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It's not like you've been impolite and I understand where you're coming from. In my own IQ day to day usage I found a balance (especially with the latest IQ release) where I get a lot done without too much tinkering. But I do know where/what are the problems, etc.. I stick with it though as I know that Pierre is committed and I couldn't achieve with another software what I'm able to do in IQ.
