Features

I have come up with features that I would love to use on Kountr. When I mention them to Michael he gives me a look. This looks says, "You are not technically a user!" So, I smile and say that it is just an idea. Wonderfully many of these ideas have been requested and implemented. I can only thank our users for giving us feedback and to humbly request that you keep providing us with feedback. I have a number of other features that I would love to see implemented... if only I could give you a hint.

I am not taking the credit for these great features rather, I am grateful that there are others out there who use Kountr like I do. One of the amazing things about feedback is how it can spawn new uses that I would not have imagined by myself. Kountr is reinforcing the idea that a community is much more imaginative than an individual. My, my... brainstorming does work.

Implementing feedback

When we implement feedback Michael and I sometimes disagree on what the user has requested or on how polished the feature should look. These are not huge disagreements but rather require some discussion. At the end of it all, I am always amazed at how two people can see things so differently. We both want to implement what we think the user wants but it all comes down to how we personally would use the feature if we were the user. I hope that we have and continue to implement the users request as close as possible to what they had in mind. As we are experiencing, everybody has a different picture in their head of the same website.

For polishing the feature it is an ongoing debate. I would like it to look polished and work perfectly. This includes the functionality and appearance. Michael prefers to keep it as basic as possible. Michael doesn't want to spend a lot of time on a feature and then find out that it is not what the user requested. I agree with his sentiment however, I would like him to spend a little more time on things so that it is a little more polished. A good example is the iGoogle Widget. It looks and works great on Firefox but the appearance is not polished on IE7. The user who requested it is satisfied since he uses Firefox so, it has been put on the back burner. In fairness to Michael, he has a lot of work to do on limited time. If only I knew how to program and was able to take on more of the programming load...

KalendarKountUp

This is a perfect example of our users genius. Our newest feature is KalendarKountUp. It automatically kounts up daily until you click Reset. It can be used to follow the Jerry Seinfeld's Goal Chain. The theory states that you need to repeat the same behaviour daily to create a new habit.

My current goal is to get more sleep. This means getting to bed earlier. I will work on getting to bed by 12:30am. Hopefully, this gives me enough time to work on Kountr and get sufficient sleep. KalendarKountUp is great because I have to be accountable to myself and the Kountr community. Unfortunately, I will already have to reset it to zero. Tomorrow night I WILL be in bed by 12:30am!

What habits are you trying to break or start?

Blogger Widget

I love the widgets. Now, you can watch the kounts that I am tracking or using. My latest kount is 'things to do.' It is an iKount so that I can keep track of things that need to be completed. I plan on treating myself whenever it hits zero! Hmm... treats will include chocolate, a manicure and scrapbooking. I will determine what treat I deserve based on how much and how difficult the tasks were. Let's see how often I can get this kount to ZERO!

Perception

Michael wrote a reply to a post and asked me to proof read it. In his post he mentions the idea that we were originally going to implement our features but it changed to feedback features instead. My understanding is that we always had the intention to only implement feedback features. We had features written down to motivate ourselves and discuss whether Kountr was a viable site. Isn't it interesting how two people working together for months can have different realities to Kountr's history?

Update on a Blast from the Past

Well, she didn't contact me directly. So, I took the initiative, found her email address and contacted her. I let her know about my post and that I was hoping we could become friends again. She reciprocated. I must say, I really did miss having her in my life.



Kountr has created a lot of changes in me and my life. I thought we were just starting a website that would hopefully become popular. I didn't realize that in the process it would enhance my life. It has found lost friends and family and helped me grow. I feel a lot more confident from this experience and I can only imagine what will happen next.

This is what work is all about... It's about loving what you are doing and enjoying your work!

Blogs

I spend hours on the computer reading blogs. The topic of the blogs range from parenting tips to entrepreneur blogs. The amount of information that is out there is amazing. It is hard to sort through all of it. I am constantly looking for another blog that I want to follow. I post replies to blogs that I can relate to, whether it is regarding Kountr or home life in general.

A couple of days ago I posted a reply to The Entrepreneur’s Life - Does Reality Bite? Amazingly Aliza visited Kountr and provided us with feedback. The network that the Internet provides continues to surprise me. I am thankful that she visited and provided us with feedback. It is nice to know that bloggers' are reading their comments. The Internet may be faceless but it is becoming less daunting to face.

Excitement

We are getting tons of feedback on Kountr. We are working all hours of the night. Jasmine has contributed a lot to the growth through feedback. Her latest comment on has really gotten me excited.

"Wohoo! Glad you like my ideas. You know what's funny? Last night I lay awake for awhile with my mind reeling on what other sort of things I'd like to see on Kountr LOL. More feedback soon to come! And I'll keep telling people :)"

When Michael and I first started working on Kountr I just sort of tagged along. Then, the idea really started forming in my head. It started with short conversations about how it will work then, I started thinking about new features and the site layout all the time. There is one incident that sticks out in my mind. I was taking a shower and thought of a potential feature. (I can't remember what the feature was...) I didn't want to forget so, I yelled for Michael and told him my idea right away. He was on the phone. After he left the bathroom I heard him tell the person on the phone how wonderful and excited he is about Kountr. Especially now that I, too, am just as excited. It's true. I became invested, even obsessed. I was glad that Michael loved my ideas but didn't understand why he was so stoked that I was thinking about Kountr so much. Now, I understand. While reading Jasmines feedback and post I could feel my excitement bubbling inside. It's a wonderful feeling!

User drop on Kountr

The number of users visiting Kountr has dropped. I am trying to figure out how to get more users to Kountr. How do I get the attention of people who are not personal friends or family? I read blogs and comment on those of interest but that does not seem to bring new, consistent users.

Any ideas? I'm at a loss...