I received 2 pieces of email today about the new ReceiptWallet 2.0 beta basically saying that they wanted their receipts and documents in one window since ReceiptWallet and DocumentWallet were now one. When they were separate applications, receipts and documents had to be in separate windows as they were separate programs. With the combined program, that is basically still the case. Furthermore, with multiple libraries users can now separate out information more, like for multiple years, multiple companies, multiple projects, etc. If everything was in one window, this wouldn't be possible. Am I missing the point of these users? It has me very confused and almost questioning the major decisions I've made about the products (making them handle multiple libraries and combining them). However, most of the feedback I've received has been quite positive; one user even bought a second copy that he didn't need just because he liked the new version so much.I take what my users say to heart and spend a lot of time thinking about what to implement and how to implement. I don't just discard feedback; I always think about it and wonder how many other users are thinking the same thing. Unfortunately most users don't contact me, so I have no idea what they think of what I've done.
Comments
March 4th, 2008
George Dick
Argh. Just a wrote a long response and it got eaten by the captcha…. will try again later.
March 4th, 2008
George Dick
Here’s the short version:
iTunes: one library, video, audiobooks, music.
Delicious Library: one library, books, DVDs, tools
When I scan, I don’t want to have to think about which library I scan into. I currently have my receipts (the ones I need) scanned into document wallet. I’m not worried about entering dollars amounts; I do that in quicken. You could have a radio button to choose what type of document you just scanned, and then add the extra fields (amount, pay method, etc) as needed. Also a preference for the default document type. I can see wanting to have two libraries if I needed to share my library (one for work, one for personal), but at the moment I don’t have that need and everything is in one library.
I also use a folder with a hazel action attached to it as a documentwallet dropbox. I’d have to do a bunch of applescripting to make that work with two separate libraries.
Regardless, I think DocumentWallet is fantastic, and I use it on a daily basis… I’m a Yojimbo switcher…
You don’t have to be out touch… drop a line any time! :-)
March 4th, 2008
Scott Gruby
Thank you for the feedback; while some apps have just one library and that was the original premise of ReceiptWallet, I found that many users wanted multiple libraries for storing data from different years, separating companies, etc. Even with the new version of ReceiptWallet, you can continue using it the way you were using it in the past; just don’t create multiple libraries.
As for your Hazel action and dropbox, please Droplets in the help; you just create a droplet for each library and then you can have Hazel send the documents to that droplet instead of ReceiptWallet.
March 5th, 2008
George Dick
Yes, I can keep using it as I have, but I can certainly understand why people would want everything in one library… And for me, the biggest thing would be having to switch libraries back and forth in the middle of scanning a mixed bunch of documents…..
March 5th, 2008
Scott Gruby
Unfortunately I can’t please everyone. Except for a few people like you that want a single library, most of the feedback I’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive for the multiple libraries. One user has 9 separate libraries and loves it.
March 5th, 2008
George Dick
No one says you can’t have both…. the ability to mix receipts and documents in one library, and the ability to have multiple libraries…. I think your take on it is a little unusual… Look at all the library based programs of the delicious generation… who else does separate libraries for different types of entries? DM? Yojimbo? Bento? Devonthink? No on all of these…. Not trying to pick on you… I’m sure that combining these products was a hard decision, and I commend you for it; I think in the end you have a stronger product…. Just think about it… Run a poll on the MacSB list and see what they think there… :-)
March 5th, 2008
Scott Gruby
Oh, the Delicious Generation, I hate hearing that term. It sort of says “cool UI, low on functionality” (there are exceptions to this), but in many cases, looks are taken over usability.
Just because other apps don’t do separate libraries, doesn’t mean it is a good decision. Yes, it may make things simpler for some users, but it isn’t very flexible. As my user base grows, so do the needs of the users.
If you want to mix receipts and documents in one library, you can still do that (and have always been able to). Just pick the library to be a receipt or a document library (you lose a little by doing this) and stick all your stuff in there.