Here’s a look at what’s been going on at the 37signals Product Blog lately:
Tips and Extras
Basecamphq.com/tips offers over 20 quick tips to help you be more productive in Basecamp.
Macworld talks about the latest upgrade to Outpost, Enormego’s third-party iPad/iPhone client for Basecamp.
Parachute is a third-party extra that lets you backup all your Basecamp project files to your hard drive. It will also rebuild your HTML export to include a files page and links from the original messages so you have all your project information in its original context.
Blueprint is a planning tool — conceived after trial and error creating a plan with spreadsheets — that integrates with Basecamp.
Case studies
Case study: The author of The Typographic Desk Reference (right) talks about how he used Basecamp to edit the book.
The working process with the publisher was simple. We used to-dos for edits and then messages for PDF reviews — rinse and repeat. Once we had a rhythm going, the multiple rounds of edits were done in no time. I can’t imagine orchestrating reference book collaboration without being able to pinpoint attention to the smallest details as Basecamp does. We actually started editing the TDR on Basecamp just after to-do commenting was added. This enabled us to dig deep on the details.
Case study: Red Pony is an Australian company that provides writing, editing, and training services to businesses.
As our business grew, our project management needs also became more complex, including collaborating on projects with editors, proofreaders, graphic designers and other suppliers who were working remotely. Inevitably we found that we needed a more sophisticated solution that would enable us to exchange files, maintain version control and collaborate online with clients and suppliers. After a year with Basecamp, we think we’ve found it.
Case study: The C&S Community Involvement Team uses Basecamp to organize projects for the largest food wholesaler in the USA.
It allows our team to manage tasks between our headquarters and field locations, from New Hampshire to Hawaii. We are able to maintain consistency while coordinating with many different people and departments to achieve successful results. Basecamp ensures that our small team of three people is able to operate in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
Case study: EthicalCommunity.com helps people sell ethical products and says, “[Basecamp] has effectively become our business bible!”
At the start of every day our staff log in to the dashboard, check what tasks they have today or this week (along with any that have become overdue and need to be carried over from the previous day). Instantly in a glance they know what they have to do that day.
Case study: Northern Ireland’s largest property portal wins new business because of Highrise.
We’ve also benefited immensely from the ‘Deals’ section within Highrise, which allows us to quickly see how much potentially we have coming in at a glance, and to keep track of prices we’ve quoted, and work that has won or lost. This of course lets everyone in the office, and at multiple sites, know exactly where we are with new and potential customers. Each sales person is also ‘assigned’ a deal, allowing us to see workload for each, and notes made on visits.
Case study: The Intersect Fund uses 37signals products to help aspiring business owners.
If we merely offered microloans and business training, we would be a decent nonprofit. But our ambitions are higher: we want to be the trusted ally of those seeking success in the face of adversity. This means actually knowing our clients — their difficulties, their needs, and where they want to go. 37signals lets us build the tight connections that enable us to make a real impact.
Jimmy Chan
on 26 Oct 10Adding a search box on top would be nice.
Paweł
on 26 Oct 1037signals Campfire discussion: ”- Hi guys, how can we make people pay us more money in advance? - Let’s build a page with tips and stick it there as one of our recommendation. But don’t put it on the first or last position so it doesn’t look suspicious. - This is gonna be cool!” :)
BTW great way of putting useful tips – I like the big header font you use.
nathan
on 26 Oct 10@pawel yeah those evil bastards trying to make people pay more by creating an entire tips page, and sticking it down toward the bottom of the page – next they’ll be selling our email addresses! I hate it when companies try to make money by shoving their tips page in your face and offering a tip that could mutually beneficial! Nice catch
melody
on 27 Oct 10i like the page you design!
Pawel
on 30 Oct 10@nathan I hope you are joking as well :)
This discussion is closed.