Late last week Andrew sent around some amazing designs for the new MG app. (I’m not sure if I can tell you what the official name is yet). In any case, the designs were fantastic and will really push the envelope when it comes to functionality and UI design. Above is a little snapshot of one very tiny part of the UI. I thought it would be fun to have people guess what the ... [more]

We’ve been working on a “mightier” way to manage customer information and interaction, but we’ve been struggling trying to figure out how we can build a system that does more than just feed back information that you “already know” about your customers.

We’ve come to two conclusions:

1. We need to build a system that is “smart” to help you improve your relationships, not just “track” them
2. The term CRM is too narrow in scope and delivery and carries too much negative baggage

And so, we have been working for the last few weeks on a better term to describe what ... [more]

This week MG started eating their own dogfood even more than before. If you take a look at the screen cap above you’ll see an email form and below that a blog sign up screen for the MG beta. This is important because the beta sign up form is now being generated from the MG application and the people who sign up are being directly entered into the app as email ... [more]

Scott A. hasn’t blogged about this yet so I wont let the cat out of the bag (too much).  Jeff Meldrum, Scott A. and I met a the Chelsea Pub a couple of nights ago to start trying to figure out a naming convention for the MG Apps.  Naming something is interesting because to name it correctly you have to try to accurately define what this thing does ... [more]

Mike Marker got busted.

I was talking to him on his cellphone at lunch yesterday and we were having an animated conversation about the project when he cut me off mid-sentence.  Turns out he was pulled over by the Kentucky police.  Here is the transcript of what I heard:

“Just a second, Scott”.

Some background noise.

Kentucky Policeman: “Hello sir, can I see your id?”.

[shuffle, ... [more]

Let’s admit it. CRM can be a bit dry. Part of what’s cool about how MG is approaching CRM is that they are incorporating tools that more closely emulate a personal relationship. That’s what the “R” stands for. Now that things are in full production, its interesting to see a lot of these ideas come alive in the ... [more]

I recently watched a ... [more]

We need a name. Four names really. Okay, maybe five.

So far we’re stumped.

Every decision, every action has been the product of collaboration and passionate discussion, yet this elephant in the room seems to receive sporadic attention, or inattention. It’s the blank screen problem on a billboard scale.

Its seems that this one area of the project has been relegated to our quiet contemplative moments – almost as an ... [more]

No no.

There was no canoeing, no bow-hunting, and no livestock impersonation. Rather, this was a thorough functional review and creative design discussion of our soon-to-be-launched suite of Customer Relationship apps.

Meetings (retreats) like these are important because they help remind you of the things that you take for granted. Things like:

• Our applications are already filled with knock-out functions and features.
• The people you are working with are smart, creative, passionate, and fun to be around (even before the 5th beer).
• We don’t do it enough.

It also reminds me that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that our ... [more]

Just got back from the Mercury Grove retreat. As I mentioned in my previous post, we were getting together to go over the final path to launch. Most of this had to do with getting Andrew and Creighton together in the same room to work on the UI design and functionality. Both of these guys are smart. Let me say it again, BOTH of these guys are really smart. I have worked with talented designers ... [more]