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The all-new Basecamp is live

basecamp.com

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Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#61
post #6

Their new pricing page breaks many of the "rules" for getting conversions (eg. clear call to action). It will be interesting to see if they blog about the results of it. http://basecamp.com/pricing

"Get started today with a 45-day free trial" ?

No CSS buttons!

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#62
post #59
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This post has a good list: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3110-basecamp-next-the-goodby... The API isn't ready yet, soon though!

Thanks! Seems indeed a lot of useful stuff was dropped. I wonder if that was based on usage analysis, or just an opinion on what the product should have. It is a shame that API appears to be only an afterthought. Otherwise third parties could possibly offer some of the missing features.

It's definitely not an afterthought. If you're interested in beta testing the API feel free to email me at nick@37signals.com, and I'll get you hooked up.

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#63
post #58

Old Basecamp was not being improved actively anyway. It took them 5 years to add deadlines to to-do's, for example. The new product reminds me (even in the name) the failed NeXTSTEP operation systems. The incompatibility with existing solutions was part of it. Basecamp Next is not an upgrade, but a new product. It does not have the same set of features, in fact it has even less (time tracking, milestones, etc). Free…

The new Basecamp doesn't have less features than Basecamp Classic. It has different features. The new Basecamp has dozens and dozens of features that Classic doesn't have. All together, I can make a very strong case that the new Basecamp offers significantly more functionality than Classic. And it's simpler, too.

Comparing side by side isn't the end goal. The goal is which product fits you best. If you love Classic, you can stay with Classic. If you prefer the feature/UI/ideas mix of the new Basecamp, come on over.

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#64
post #38

I didn't use basecamp before and I'm just testing a little bit. Seems to be quite fast. What I kinda don't like: If you click on e.g. a discussion, a modal-window-like layer pops up where the discussion is displayed. Now how can I go back? First I was quite unsure how to do this without clicking on the browser's-back button. Then I figured out that you can click out of the layer and the layer disappears. I think ther…

Check out http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3122-the-new-basecamp-interfa..., there's a great video that explains some of the goodies baked in for navigation.

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#67

Interesting that they've taken an new approach to SEO for their feature pages... a long list of vaguely project management named pages.

Makes perfect sense to me.

I'd also say its not vague - they probably spent a great deal of time naming the pages/titles from a usability & SEO standpoint. I like the redesign a lot.

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#69

The comments here remind me of Joel Spolsky's excellent 80/20 essay: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000020.html Excerpt: "...A lot of software developers are seduced by the old "80/20" rule. It seems to make a lot of sense: 80% of the people use 20% of the features. So you convince yourself that you only need to implement 20% of the features, and you can still sell 80% as many copies. Unfortunately, it…

The reaction from some heavy users of it reminds me of Spolsky's Things You Should Never Do, Part I essay, as well: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html

Re: The all-new Basecamp is live

#70

http://basecamp.com/transition I want to migrate, but... > Basecamp Classic and the new Basecamp don't offer the same features, so some data in Classic won't make it into the new Basecamp. So maybe I'll stay. But wait... > Will you continue to improve Classic? The majority of our design and development efforts moving forward will be focused on the all new Basecamp, but we'll continue to support Classic as long as cus…

For a company that goes on about transparency and clear speaking etc., the answer to the second question you've quoted is appalling. It doesn't answer the question at all. It should be:

Will you continue to improve Classic? No. We will fix any bugs or other problems that stop our customers using Basecamp Classic but we will not be developing new features. Our focus now is on improving Basecamp Next so that Classic customers are happy to transition.

Their response is completely disingenuous.

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