Why Intervals Doesn’t Clean Stairs

John Reeve | January 28th, 2008 | ,

We recently bought a roomba for our home. We did our research beforehand to be sure we were making a sound purchase. The reviews were mostly stellar, and now the little round autonomous robot is like one of the family. There was one reviewer, however, who said the roomba would be perfect, if only it could clean stairs.

I remember chuckling when I read this, afterall, everyone knows the roomba wasn’t designed to clean stairs. But that’s coming from the same guy who would have taken the thing apart the day we brought it home if it didn’t void the warranty.

We receive several requests from Intervals customers each month that often end with “Intervals would be a perfect fit for our business if it just did this one thing.” Sometimes that one thing is obviously incongruent and easy to say no to. And other times that one thing really makes sense and is difficult to say no to. Either way, we have to say no most of the time, or we’ll end up with a product built on too many ‘one things.’

What should a small business do if they’ve found a web-based project management tool that does *almost* everything they need?

  • Ask. We love hearing new ideas for Intervals, and some of them are a really good fit make it into future updates.
  • Bend. Maybe that one thing isn’t as necessary as you thought. Consider how you might adapt your workflow to the software.
  • Move on. There are many options available, developed by different companies to meet different needs. Evaluate other possibilties, and you may find a better fit.

We would be thrilled if everyone found Intervals to be the perfect fit for their web-based project management needs, but the reality is that task and time tracking software is as diverse as the sea, and teeming with life in all its reaches.

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A collection of useful tips, tales and opinions based on decades of collective experience designing and developing web sites and web-based applications.

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Intervals is online time, task and project management software built by and for web designers, developers and creatives.
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John Reeve
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John Reeve

John is a co-founder, web designer and developer at Pelago. His blog posts are inspired by everyday encounters with designers, developers, creatives and small businesses in general. John is an avid reader and road cyclist.
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Jennifer Payne
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Jennifer Payne

Jennifer is the Director of Quality and Efficiency at Pelago. Her blog posts are based largely on her experience working with teams to improve harmony and productivity. Jennifer is a cat person.
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Michael Payne
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Michael Payne

Michael is a co-founder and product architect at Pelago. His contributions stem from experiences managing the development process behind web sites and web-based applications such as Intervals. Michael drives a 1990 Volkswagen Carat with a rebuilt 2.4 liter engine from GoWesty.
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