I read this interesting article the other day: “Don’t give in to feature demands!”.

It is true that we can’t always add all the features everyone wants. If we added everything ever requested the product would get bloated in all directions. There’s no point adding a complicated new feature if only 1% of users will use it. So how do we decide what new features to add? Well, we listen to all feedback/suggestions and try to implement those that enhance the core of the product for the benefit of the majority. Stuff that will only benefit one or two users is better off as an external library.

We read all the posts in the Enhancement Suggestions forum and in Bugtracker and try to incorporate as many of those suggestions as possible into future releases. Major changes, such as new script commands and interface changes usually get added only to major updates. Smaller changes often make it into point releases. So if you have a feature suggestion post it to Enhancement Suggestions. If you like you can also create a poll there to see what other people think.

If you look at the history list you will see we are continuously adding new script commands and constantly improving the product. The product is very much moulded by its users and any longstanding customer will tell you how most new features are a result of customer feedback. Macro Scheduler really wouldn’t be here today were it not for the user feedback that guides us.

But how do you know which of the suggested features are being worked on right now? Well, when appropriate we will make an announcement. You can also view the status in Bugtracker to see if it is assigned or fixed in next release. But initially we prefer not to make any promises. If we were to promise a newly suggested feature without first looking at the feasibility and analysing its impact on the product we may end up breaking our promise. I don’t believe in making promises that can’t be kept, so, just in case, I prefer not to make promises at all, and then over-deliver One thing I will say is that Macro Scheduler 9.0 will be even easier to use, both for newcomers and experienced scripters. And there are some other exciting developments in the works …

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 12:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.