Post Archive
› April 1, 2004
Basecamp is Best
Basecamp is the web based project management tool from 37signals. The other day it occurred to me that this is by far the best web application I've ever used.
Why am I writing about it? Basecamp has received a lot of press, especially when it first came out - but I imagine that there are other folks who had the same initial reaction to it that I did: A hosted solution? No thanks. If you've wondered about Basecamp, but haven't tried it, maybe my opinions will be of interest.
I've tried quite a number of open source project management applications that I could install on one of my own servers and modify. Each one presented the same critical flaw - difficulty of use. Some applications were so difficult to use that I could determine this by looking at screenshots of the product without even having to download it. There was one that I downloaded and used for a while, it was relatively clean and simple, but the workflow and day-to-day usage reflected a programmers brain cells - efficiency over ease of use. Sometimes, when the architecture of an application is made modular and re-usable, you loose the differentiating details that help visitors identify one section or feature from another. Bottom-line: few of these project management applications made ease of use the most important factor, and those that tried: failed.
Enter Basecamp. Now several times bitten, several hours waisted explaining to clients how to use previous systems, I wasn't very hopeful. When you sign up with Basecamp you get a full month to try it, but it wasn't even two days before I was completely blown away by it. Everything about it makes sense.
The primary function of a project management application should be to enable and enhance a dialog about the project that you are working on with your team (clients, sub-contractors, associates, etc) - Basecamp does this best with it's messages feature, which works very much like a blog. But you also need to keep things organized and have due-dates. Basecamp accomplishes this with to-do lists and milestones. File uploading - that's there too now, and it's very cool.
Basecamp's feature set is comprehensive, and there are many smaller sub-features that are dramatically impressive in their thoughtfulness and usefulness - but it's a summary of these things taken together that make the difference. Everything in Basecamp has been created with ease-of-use-for-you in mind, this is evident in both the larger structure and workflow, down to the tiny details they didn't forget. Proof is in the pudding, grant permission for your first client, and see how quickly they "get it", and start saving you time/money by happily using it.
Disclaimer: Although a glowing review, I was not prompted to write this, nor do I receive any benefit from doing so - you can trust that these are my honest opinions.
Comments
1. April 1, 2004 03:13 PM
2. April 1, 2004 03:33 PM
nate Posted…
Loraine - your opinions are very welcome here!
I do feel obligated to cast some doubt as to the ease-of-use of Infowit. I mean look at it. Yuk.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that Basecamp doesn't have features that might be pre-requisites for certain situations. I first assumed that I'd want my project management app to do invoicing, but I'm actually much happier using Basecamp and iWork separately - it just depends on your situation I think. As far number of participants - I can attest that Basecamp works well with groups of folks in the 5-10 person range, and a based on that experience, I think larger groups would do well too.
3. April 1, 2004 06:54 PM
Loraine Posted…
Haha, yeah some of my co-workers had the same thoughts, but it's actually quite usable. I'm one of those folks that tend to not like those web pages that simulate staring into a light bulb (white backgrounds). Those people that don't like the olive/greens/browns scheme can skin the application with custom CSS. Semantically speaking Infowit is really good at separating style/content, although there is heavy use of tables, it seems justified as much of the data is tabular. But I digress.. =)
4. April 1, 2004 11:18 PM
Carl Posted…
I think your review is spot on. We've been using Basecamp since it came out and are absolutely thrilled. Definitely the best project management tool we've ever seen (and we've tried Infowit's). We just found Infowit's was trying to do too much and therefor our clients wouldn't use it. To me this is a key point: Our clients have to be comfortable with the tool too and Basecamp is perfect for them.
5. April 21, 2004 04:42 PM
Jason G Posted…
Hello, I found this site via a search for sites linking to www.infowit.com. I work for Infowit and just wanted to say that there is no record of a "Carl" ever registered as a user of the Infowit product. So anyone reading this should take his statement with a grain of salt. A Basecamp employee perhaps?
I encourage you to take your own test spin of Infowit to make your own judgement. Thanks for listening.
6. April 24, 2004 05:10 AM
7. May 3, 2004 12:35 AM
Erik Posted…
Just signed up for basecamp and have been playing around with it. I find it VERY impressive but also think it lacks in someplaces -- and I've written the basecamp team about them.
The tool assumes too many things in its post structure. Example: all employees can create posts, as can 3rd party contractors, and members of your client cannot, they can only comment. Why? I have contracts who I'd like to let see content but not be allowed to post OR comment, clients I'd like to have the ability to post to certain topics only, and only allow any particular account to view messages in particular post sections. I can't. So that means I can't use basecamp for internal-communcations regarding a project unless I want to a) set up dual sites for each project or b) don't mind my clients reading our internal-comms regarding them.
Why is this important to me? I have a two person shop -- Myself and a full time assistant. Yes, we're small, but we do projects ranging from $5000 to $35000 on a regular basis, and OFTEN have out-of-state contractors. I guess I want a project managment tool to also be a collaboration tool, and being on the web I expected it to be.
Not all NegativeWith the bad out of the way, comes the good. Its amazingly:
- Easy to learn
- Easy to use
- Downloads and renders FAST
- CHEAP ($20 a month? Come on, I spend that on pens and paper around here)
- Easy to teach clients to use
So, yes its a great product -- but for me, I'd like to see more. I'm greedy that way. Also ... I think if it included a CVS (again with permissions structures so you can give/deny access to anyone) I would have to marry the damn thing.
Just my .03
Erik
8. September 20, 2004 02:19 AM
Nathan Posted…
I came here as I was searching for reviews on project management tools for the team that I manage and, like everyone I know, I've been interested in Basecamp and peoples' perception of the tool.
Nate, spot on review. Very useful and insightful.
Jason G.: I, too, have tried your software (registered by one of my employees -- hopefully, this helps fend off the defensive reply) and, while I enjoyed it and found it useful (it was definitely in the running to be our tool), having a high-trust relationship with our vendors is very important to the company.
If your statements serve as an example of how Infowit speaks in front of potential customers (by publicly making disparaging comments about both a former user and about the company's competition), then you have shown many potential customers how much your company truly does value their users. I do not want Infowit as my own vendor and will not be purchasing Infowit Creative Manager for our clients.
Thank you, Jason, for helping to reduce the number of products we're evaluating.
9. December 10, 2004 10:02 PM
Will Hayworth Posted…
Nate: Fantastic review. I'm using Basecamp myself now.
Jason G: Comments like that could get you fired. Badmouthing somebody without proper evidence (it could be, for example, that it was registered to somebody else in his office) is not the right thing to do in any situation. You've already lost one potential customer because of it and have shown your true colors, and possibly Infowit's as well.
10. March 14, 2005 10:57 PM
11. April 24, 2005 02:42 PM
A former Singlefile user Posted…
One pretty severe warning: make sure you have some control over your Basecamp data in case the site goes away. As a user of one of 37signals' previous products, Singlefile, I had over 3000 book records in their database. At a certain point, their export function ceased working for me. I alerted them to the issue, but the problem wasn't fixed. Then they took down the site two months later...
EDITORS NOTE: I don't usually modify comments made to this website, but because an unverified quote was used, and because the gist of the message is contained entirely in the first paragraph (above), I've removed the rest. I don't think any software can be produced and distributed without pissing off at least a few people. And I'd prefer if this page didn't turn into a 37Signals rant page, especially when the product in question isn't even Basecamp. Bottom line - do as the author of this comment suggests: backup your data - you should be doing so anyway.
12. May 16, 2005 11:04 AM
A former Singlefile user Posted…
Note: the issue with my Singlefile data has been resolved satisfactorily and amicably.
13. November 28, 2005 09:09 AM
Angela Posted…
I've personally tried the Basecamp, Project Tracker and Leading Project, and stayed on LeadingProject, because it adds import from leading Mind Mapping applications, and I alway use ConceptDraw MindMap while planning the projects. And also it allows to avoid over-allocation of resorces and makes the team's workflow flexible and manageable14. December 20, 2005 05:59 PM
Scott Posted…
We looked at BC and several other products too. BC is an attractive offering and if you are new to the world of project management, is a great stepping stone. We ended with @task (www.attask.com) as it has multi-lingual support and project financial analysis. @task isn't as pretty as BC, but they've supposedly got some top-secret :) new version coming out in early 2006.15. December 20, 2005 06:47 PM
Megan Posted…
Could I ask what you're paying for @task? It looks really full-featured, but they don't seem to mention pricing anywhere on the site.
16. January 6, 2006 08:31 PM
James Posted…
I work for @task, so I just want to metion this in the spirit of full disclosure.
Scott, is correct. We are releasing a new version, 4.0, in March of 2006. @task is licensed by the number of user accounts. Pricing varies based on volume.
As for comparing @task to Basecamp, I feel this is a bit unfair as I don't believe we are direct competitors. That said, I'm impressed with the simplicity of Basecamp. Of particular note, the ability to see in a quick glance the recent changes made to a project and how these notes are incorporated into the general discussion on the project is a nice feature. You can expect to see similar functionality (with several useful additions) in @task 4.0.
All in all, the primary goal of @task 4.0 is to simplify what can be, by nature, very complicated: a fully featured project management and resource tracking tool.
I think Basecamp has done a very good job at making their software easy to use. However, I think this can also be attributed to the fact that it only offers a very basic set of features.
For companies that need more granular control over security, robust project management scheduling, issue tracking, resource allocation, or enterprise-class integration with 3rd-party applications etc. @task would be a natural migration path.
Loraine Croswell Posted…
I too tried Basecamp at the company I work for after hearing all the hype, but after about a week into the trial I realized it just wasn't robust enough for my companies needs. We evaluated probably about a dozen other project management software packages and finally settled on Infowit's Creative Manager. It too is built for designers, but unlike Basecamp, it handles things like purchasing (we are a print shop too) RFQ's to vendors, employee expenses, invoicing, on top of all the client review and messaging. Oh and it was cross platform Mac/PC too, which we needed. I think Infowit is geared more towards the medium sized shops to large art departments, while Basecamp is perfect for the 1-3 person design teams working from home.
My Disclaimer: I don't work for either company, but am a frequent reader of WG and wanted to share my opinion, like I said I think both companies offer a solution for different audiences, good luck to both of em!