It Will Be What It Will Be

“There are two primary choices in life:  to accept conditions as they exist, or accpet the responsibility for changing them.” – Denis Waitley

I was reminded today of the oft repeated phrase, “It will be what it will be.”  It is meant to help people distinguish between those things they can effect or influence, and those things that are so far down the path that they can’t be changed.  It is a like the Serenity Prayer, but more appropriate for repeating around the workpalce, I guess. 

It also helps people face the truth.  Even if we don’t want something to be true, sometimes we have to admit that things are not as we intend or wish.  Armed with reality, we can identify what we need to do differently.  In program management, they call this identifying the “as is” state, so that the gaps between it and the “to be” state can be clearly defined.

Life is a constant striving towards the “to be” state.  The “as is” state is always changing.  This is the beauty and dynamic nature of life.  And of business.

The “to be” state is always in mind to an entrepreneur, but the “as is” state is equally important.  The tension between the two keeps things moving forward.

Test Patterns

This weekend, we started testing the Alpha version of Remarkable by Creative Outlet Labs.  After some initial browser compatibility issues that were resolved by weekend’s end, we were off.   Now, I can test my testing skills in a variety of methods.  Professional testers run scripts, do end-to-end and functional tests, and have statistical theory behind them.  Me, I take a more organic approach.

Here are my test patterns.  First, I check to make sure the features all work.  Like end-to-end testing, I try to walk through the application the way a real user would.  The test cases for this first release are pretty simple (after all we are starting in the epicenter and working outwards).  I capture bugs and enhancement ideas along the way in our handy-dandy tracking tool. 

I then start experimenting with the edges of the application.  How much text can I cram into a text field?  How big a file can be uploaded?  How complex can I make something before I can see the seams start to break?  This not only stresses the functionality to ensure that it will be able to survive in the wild, but it also allows us to test error handling.  How do we communicate to users of the software when things don’t go right?  Sometimes that is just as important as encouraging them when things are going well and they are using the application precisely how it was designed to be utilized.

As I go through, I am thinking of ways to make it easier, better, or faster for our eventual customers (you!).  This leads to some good ideas and some crazy, off-the-wall, and downright bad ideas as well.  No matter, I capture them all in our tracking tool so that we can rule them out (or refine them) later.  More ideas lead to better ideas, I think.

I am very excited about the early results of this testing.  Not only is it meeting the functional requirements we outlined, but I think we are on to some VERY innovative and insanely simple features that will make your life easier.  After all, I can see how they’d make my life easier.

While testing continues, we are heads down fixing issues that arise and working on the second Alpha release.  I can’t wait to see how the next phase goes. Stay tuned for more updates.

SomeoneYouKnow.IsRemarkable.com…Elton John

Happy Birthday, Sir Elton.  He is 61 years old today.  He is several time zones ahead of me, so I guess this is officially a belated birthday message. 

I think it is interesting that his first single to hit big on the US charts (a year after his debut album in 1969) was “Your Song.”  Because his performance style (and other songs of this period) were so flamboyant and energetic, it would seem strange that this subdued and tender song would be his first hit in the States.

I guess it goes to show that if you are Remarkable, people take notice.  If you know someone who is remarkable, let me know and we can feature them here on this blog.  Or you can take matters into your own hands and send them a mini-tribute at www.isAbsolutelyRemarkable.com.

Rock on!

The Year of the Million Smiles

We are nearly 3 months into the new year and we are tracking nicely towards sending a million smiles through mini-tributes.  As you may recall, you can send a free mini-tribute at www.isAbsolutelyRemarkable.com.  You personalize it with your recipients name and they are sent an invitation to view their personal greeting.  It is sure to bring a smile to their face!

Here are what people are saying about these mini-tributes:

• “That just made my day! In fact, it put a smile on my face that I am sure will last all weekend.”
• “Here is a little Monday morning pick-me-up for you.”
• “How did you get my name in there?  How cool is that.  Loved it!”
• “That is the slickest thing I have seen.  I sent it to three other people.  Thanks so much!”

If you haven’t done it yet, sent a free mini-tribute today and help us spread the word!  They are a great alternative to e-cards for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or thank yous.  Before the year is out, I believe we can send 1 million smiles!

My Other Blog is a Ferrari

Have you ever seen those license plate covers that say “My other car is a Porsche” or something similar?  They are usually attached to older Hondas or an El Camino.  When I sat down to remind you all that I maintain another blog at http://jenniferbdavis.blogspot.com, for some reason those license plates covers came to mind.

My other blog isn’t an exotic sportscar (sadly), but there are some interesting things out there and I encourage you to check it out (or better yet, point your RSS reader to it so that you will see new posts).  I have been posting quite a bit there recently and have a long, healthy queue of other ideas, observations, and products to talk about in the coming weeks and months.  If you like learning about new innovations, the impact of design on business, the proliferation of customized products, or personal development, check it out!

Nothing Happens Automagically

After a brief hiatus (due, if you must know, to a relocation, several family emergencies, and general life upheaval), I am back in the blogging business.  I do wish that WordPress (or someone) would write an application that would “automagically” post whenever I thought of things that might be of interest.  While mind reading is still sci-fi fiction, I have enjoyed Twittering away and encourage you to follow me there (Twitter, as a micro-blog, probably being the closest thing to automagic, which ironically is a term I read for the first time in a Twitter post earlier this week).  I really do hope you missed the blog posts and the updates on the development of Remarkable.

So, on that topic, we have been working diligently on building out the application and are nearing a critical alpha milestone.  For those of you unfamiliar with software development methodologies, most have stages of development during which critical foundational code is written, but only used internally.  This stage is called alpha.  It is usually not in the final user interface (a $20 phrase that means things like how the software looks, how people would click around to do things, and the colors, font styles, and button treatments used).  It is usually pretty unreliable, but is a way to start testing and building out the core functionality. 

With the development of agile philosophies for programming and a “nothing beats real code” attitude, the alpha phases of development are getting shorter.   Even the alpha phase can have several sub-phases as you anticipate changes and iterations throughout the project.  Ours will be several months in total (hate to publicly commit at this point) before we turn our attention to the beta phase which comes next.

Beta is a word that has gotten a little skewed (or expanded, rather) lately as many companies have public, “all comer” beta periods that last a year or more.  In most companies, beta is reserved for either a select group of testers or product champions who can use the real application (usually still with some final tweaks and adjustments to be made) and provide feedback.  Usually beta releases are feature complete and try to represent, as best as possible, the real user experience.  Beta phases also allow a forum for testing pricing, promotions, and for getting the word out about the coming application.  If you haven’t yet registered to receive an invitation to participate in our beta , click here and sign up.

Eventually, you call the application “production” and the beta is complete (you never call it “done,” of course, as you always have ideas and things you can do to improve).  In my days of working in packaged software, we’d do the final release sign-offs and exclaim “ship it!”  With this web application, it is just a matter of pushing the code live.  Now that I think about it, I will probably still yell “ship it” when we get to that point, as “push it” doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

Yes, development is going well even though we are in the early stages.  Thanks for asking!  I am sure we all wish that the process of developing software, just like blog posts, could happen automagically, but alas…our hard work will be your gain when Remarkable is ready for you to use.