Software is getting better

The much contested Standish group in some software engineering circles has published an updated study on software project failures. find the original study here. It was contested on the basis of how the research was performed by certain researchers.

The latest study points to some significant improvements over the figures of 94. They report that 35% of software projects started in 06 were completed on time, on budget and did what they were supposed to do. This compares very favourably to 94, where only 16% met the requirements above. In the category of projects that failed outright went down from 31% to 19%, so a significant reduction there as well.

Interesting numbers and very encouraging trend. Reading from the SDTimes, the three main reasons for such improvements:

• Better project Management
• Iterative development
• web infrastructure

If you read the article you will quickly get the point that rapid iterations with users to see results, and check against their expectations, coupled with the users's familiarity with technology is helping capturing the requirements better.

What I take away - If your user does not have a seat on your innovation bus, forget about getting where you want to go successfully.

FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, SecondLife, blogs, IM etc...

I was at Gartner's Outsourcing conference last week, one of the keynote speaker Dov Seidman was on the new ways we have to do business. It goes like this

We're extremely connected. We're in a world of extreme transparency. Connectivity somehow is now transparency. What we do/say as an individual or organization will stay around forever. Rarely now when I meet somebody new I won't google the person's name, or check things our on linkedin. Did you know that MySpace was the 11th most populous country on earth! The reputation game is now more than ever worth gold. As Warrent Buffet once said: "if you loose 1$ for the firm I will be understanding, if you loose reputation for the firm, I will be ruthless".  The connectiveness is an opportunity to find new ways to lead. We know that unlike in the past, information can't be controlled, can't be accumulated just like land or cash could be controlled, and to top it off information is infinite.

We're going into an experience economy, and you can't automate experience it's so human. If you connect to people in this world of extreme connectedness - you get to influence, and this is the new green. Influence has always been important, it just seems on steroids with all things social on the web. As a an individual, one can always coerce, motivate or inspire - but the last one, getting people to buy in the vision as their own is the only one with a long term potential when one is in a connected world.

BlackBerry the start of a new thing?

As you know I've been a huge Palm Treo user and fan for the longest time. Well thanks to my friends at Rove I'm now playing with a Blackberry curve to experiment with it and see what kind of trade-offs I would be making if I switch. Anyway more to come here to discuss my experience.

Maybe some of you know already, pls let me know!

Bye Bye my Treo? a platform loosing steam?

bye bye palm? I'm sorry after so many years but that's it, No more patience for it anymore.  I didn't want to believe it but the writings are on the wall, I will have to make a decision. Mainly two problems

1. The battery life, even after latest firmware upgrade, I'm still baffled sometimes in the morning to see my phone's battery dead. I have add those problems with the 680 since I got the device and I don't have the time for this anymore. On the road this problem is just exasperated I can't last a full day with one charge.
2. The eco system which used to be Palm's strength is loosing steam. I several wonderful applications, but they are no longer updated. For example the best portable email around is snappermail, but it hasn't been updated in over a year and there is no schedule for a new release. I'm using IMAP from google now, and i have a problem with snappermail, there is no way to find support for the problem. The vendor website has little activity and the google web site has little palm activity.

So what should be my next smart phone device - must - long battery life, bluetooth, email, perfect syncing with outlook, good app eco system, would be very nice - wi-fi, camera better than lame 1mega pixel.

Fastcompany social site - in User experience terms - What about the user needs?

So FastCompany the zine is re-invinting itself as a social play. In a way I'm thrilled because it may be a good place to get some good feedback on questions and ideas since I've been an avid reader of the zine, so I imagine I connect well with the readership of the zine, so value for me!

This morning I setout to register. I was happy to see the questions that members are asking are interesting and I think I can bring something to the discussion. I was also disappointed on the other hand by the approach the site is taking - it's positioning itself as the center of my universe as opposed to be an information source. What I mean by this:

• why can't I post to my blogs to get them redistributed on their site as opposed to have my fastcompany blog.
• why can't I subscribe to feeds from my news reader?

They want to make it so sticky that to me they are taking the value away. I want to use my tools and participate where and when I see fit. I don't have time to visit all the sites I'm interested in.

Maybe I miss an obvious way of doing what I'm trying to do, in which case great because I will participate actively, but right now I'm under the impression that my needs as a user aren't met. More customer research and task analysis would have helped them figure my problem.

Vegetables and Fruits Stands

In Yerevan again - things are different, but it's not just language, how people look, dress, or the way buildings are constructed. Every where in the city one can find those little vegetables and fruits stands. For one stands it will be a truck full of cabbages, I've never seen cabbages that big, for another one it's going to be pomegranates, bananas and tomatoes on a table. Another one was a table with various vegetables, and then an open car trunk full of apples.

The super markets "à la Canada" they don't exist, or I should say are not nearly as common and much smaller. The fruits and vegetables I'm talking about are the equivalent of small neighbourhood boutiques, it's neat. The customer experience is very personalized, you're likely to live in the same building or neighbourhood as your customers, it's more personal, people talk around the stands while they buy. My armenian is non existent, so people there may just be trading punches about the quality of the products, but somehow I don't think that is what is going on - it's probably more like "how is so-and-so kiddo and his cold, getting any better?"