[DrewAllen]

Time(s): Mon 10:00 AM; Tue 3:45 PM
Session Level: Intermediate
Speaker: Brenda Murray and Jame Poole
Session Description: Do you ever wish you could spend time with a Blackbaud software designer to communicate your ideas about how applications could be designed to meet your needs? Now is your chance! Join a group of analysts, designers, and Design Managers James Poole and Brenda Murray — all of whom work with The Raiser's Edge®, The Financial Edge™, The Education Edge™, and small college solutions. They’ll listen to your thoughts and opinions on improving the Blackbaud application user experience. Participate in small-group dialogs about creating solutions for your most pressing issues. You’ll provide the perspective; we’ll provide the whiteboards for capturing ideas.

[Elaine Tucker]

I am attending this session

[Peter Gulka]

Wow. Amazing.

This session was very similar to the RE Users meeting we had with the developers on Sunday afternoon. The same developers and other BB staff members were there, and much of the same discussion was had. They asked us to write down some specific issues we had, and to hand in all the papers.

We were then divided into groups of RE, FE, and EE users. Different developers who specialize in each product spoke with each group. I was in the RE group and we discussed a lot of things, the biggest of which was consistency. Consistency and predictability in the user interface design (eg. query field "Gift Amount", export field "Amount"), tab order, and the ability to maximize windows.

The crowd became hushed when on the screen Trit Mulligan ran a demo of RE 7.81 and maximized the Event module window for us!





So that is confirmed. I can also confirm that Fund Relationships that has only been available in RE:Enterprise WILL BE AVAILABLE in 7.81 for everybody!

We talked a great deal about communication. Specifically the feature list of 7.81. IT was brought up that we really should know what is coming down the pipe before a major patch is release. One BB staff member said that "We are still in beta and we don't want to say anything about features that might be removed from the patch if we can't feel confident about them by release time". No one really found that an acceptable answer. In the absence of information, we are left to guess, and assume for ourselves. We would as users rather they tell us something, and then say "Due to testing issues, we will be removing feature X from this release so we can make sure it works properly."

I floated the opinion that users would accept that. Being told something, even if it isn't the ideal is better than nothing. They seemed to mull over that...

The design team for RE are Katie, Johnston, Bruin Robinson, and David Williams. They want to talk to us. They want our stories. The stories behind WHY we ask for things. They referred to themselves as the resident 2-year-olds. They always ask "Why?" to really get down to the root of the problem. They are tasked with implementing features for the 2 person shop, and the 100 person shop. They are better people than I.

Along with stories behind what doesn't work, they really REALLY want to know what does work so they don't screw it up

Some keywords that were written down:Consistency, tailored flexibility, integration

[Elaine Tucker]

Pete,

Excellent report - you said it all. I think that moving forward on the forum with polls etc... we'll need to provide spaces for the back stories and the why's of the suggestions.

BB was extremely receptive throughout the conference. I felt that there was a complete buy in by BB on increasing communication between users and BB.

Their ears and eyes were opened quite wide during the week. I was also in the RE session and our designers are on board and really do want what is best for our respective organizations.

[Jo Ward]

I attended the Tuesday afternoon session of this one, and can only add a little to what Pete and Elaine have said. The "resident two-year olds" definitely want enough infrormation to spark their interest in the beginning, but I was assured that they will be calling the suggester for much more detail than can be put in most suggestions. This is so they can fully understand what the issues are and why they are important

The most significant feeling that I left with from the conference is that Blackbaud's attitude HAS CHANGED. From the Sunday meeting to the CEO's address, to the attitude displayed by most of the presenters, and to this session in particular, I got the warm fuzzy feeling that at least they are willing to listen. They know that communication with the users has been a problem, and they want to improve one this. We must do out part, also, by being specific in what we ask for and being prepared to justify our requests.

JO