As we move into the final stages of development, we’re truly excited by the direction version 4 has taken. To date we’ve spent countless hours working over and over (and over!) the specification, starting with some core objectives for the release, working toward mini objectives for each module, then setting a three-page specification in stone, before even taking on a single screen!

As you can see from the screens below, there is still a level of sophistication, however we’re attempting to make Copper as simple as ever for customers. These shots probably don’t do the product justice, we’ll unvieling a usable demo to Enterprise Inner Circle customers soon.

Given the significant expenditure, we’ll be releasing this product as an Enterprise version in December, and depending on traction we’re hoping to roll it out to all customers in 2nd Qtr 2009. Of course if you’d like early access to the product the best option is to purchase or upgrade to an Enterprise license via http://www.copperproject.com/buy/

Shown here is the current iteration of the Springboard, the Files, and Contacts. Not shown here is 90% of the awesomeness just over the coding horizon. Much love from us to all those who continue to support a great product. What else would you like to see?

– Ben Prendergast

Hello all,

We’ve been busy beavers working on this next version of copper, but I can tell you we are now at iteration 8 of our designs. In case you were wondering (and even if you weren’t), that equates to around 22 pages per iteration (including spec and screen designs), and every page is reviewed for around two hours before the next iteration.

So, in total we’ve reviewed 176 discrete designs over 352 hours, and have consumed somewhere in the vicinity of 200 Caffe Latte’s. The current archive of designs in paper form is an inch thick, and the digital design mockup is 17mb. While that sounds like a lot, the result is a design footprint that is actually reducing in size! Which of course means we’re on track to providing you with the quickest, cleanest, most intuitive online project management software ever produced. Big claims, we know. Big clams, too.

Some of the major changes? Highly integrated AJAX elements to keep clicks/page-loads to a minimum, user-preferences on all views, three fantastic new functions for finding/contributing to project information, vastly improved springboard/projects view, gantt timeline, permissions system, file managment, and a positively inspired new reports module and budgeting infrastructure.

And it looks amazing on iPhone too, we have one mockup cut to DHTML already (thanks to newfound godsend designer Jonathan Nicol) and it is _the business_. Onward and upward for us, but I just wanted to shout out and say thanks for your support, and keep flying the Copper flag while we march to the finish line.

– Ben Prendergast

Well, I’m back in wintry Melbourne, after sunning myself in San Francisco, New York, and yes surprisingly even London.

Lots of fantastic progress on where the company and product-set is headed over the next six months, some fantastic meetings with partners/customers, and some real directional consolidation which makes me smile.

In amongst the business side I also met John Lennon’s one-time girlfriend, Travis and I had a private (accidental) David Byrne concert, and John McCain drove past and waved (I’m not sure that’s enough to sway Travis’ vote though). On that note, if anyone is working for the Barack Obama campaign get in touch for a complementary account.

This week we’re continuing with:

I’ll post back in a week or two with new screens to pour over, but for now if you have any interest in where we’re headed keep an eye on this blog, our twitter account at http://twitter.com/copperproject, or just get in touch at info@copperproject.com

– Ben Prendergast

Just a quick post, we’re continuing on development of 3.8 and 4.0 respectively, so there will be a minor update to current Corporate/Enterprise in the next month. Version 4.0 is now funded 25%, and we continue to seek Inner Circle participants

We’re also about to release a new Tour page, this will include a lot of existing information from the Guide, as well as frequently asked functionality questions. This is all neatly sectioned and contained so it should be easier than ever to find answers to questions you have about Copper (and why its better than XYZ product!). We plan to add video how-to’s to this section over time.

However, we’re also on Tour during June! So if you’re in San Francisco, New York, or London, Travis and I will be visiting these cities between 6th-17th June, and if you’d like to meet up for lunch/dinner/drinks/coffee just get in touch! We think this is a great opportunity to put names to faces and just get amongst you guys while we’re in development mode.

Email me at ben@copperproject.com or Travis at travis@copperproject.com for more details.

– Ben Prendergast

– Ben Prendergast

This week we continue with design and development of the next version, and we’ve also started on a minor update for the current version.

However, a few opportunities have come up to simplify the next version by potentially removing features. Well, not so much removing features, rather removing redundancies that exist within the software.

So, we have a few questions that we wanted to throw out there to the customer base so that we can make better decisions about these key changes. We’re really looking for an economy of movement/function in this version.

So here are seven quick questions, you can reply via the comments here, or by emailing info@copperproject.com

Please shoot through your thoughts via email or by commenting on this post, it all helps. Version 4.0 is shaping up to be an amazing piece of software, we know you’re going to love it. And yes, if you’re keen on contributing or want an amazing discount there are still spots available in the Inner Circle.

Until next week.

– Ben Prendergast

Ok, last time I talked about our overarching requirements for the next version of Copper, here they are recapped:

Simple, right? However where do you start? From the end, of course. We usually have a running document which outlines all of the features that customers want. It’s usually 20 pages in length, and the idea is that we work on adding the most popular features, within the context of our philosophy of building beautifully simple efficiency systems for creative teams.

The problem with this kind of specification process is that Customer A is often unaware that what they think is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to their business is actually at odds with what Customer B is saying is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to theirs. If I had a dollar for every time someone said we’d be ‘barking mad’ not to add feature ‘xyz’, I’d have around $12,803. Not much, but still a hefty amount of accused insanity.

So, internally I like to think about ‘Feature Fractals’. A feature fractal is this: Customer A/B/C all talk about a required function using different terminology, and in some cases even different requirements. While most developers would set about adding 10-15 new features, we like to use our experience and distill these requirements into a single feature that will suit the 80% majority.

In our v4.0 spec, we have around 10 phases of development, and roughly 168 new features planned, most of these based on this feature fractal thinking, based on 20 pages, six years of emails, survey responses, conversations, meetings, and gut instinct. There’s a lot in here, yet check out Requirement 1 above!

So far we have around 20% of this next build funded, so if you think your organization might be interested in coming on board to sponsor this latest development, we still have plenty of spots left and they represent amazing value, click here for more information.

For now though here are three untitled screens.

We’re probably 3 weeks on from when these are taken, but you can see that even before we start coding there is some serious consideration around the product. Next week I might provide a little more of a look at the early screens and/or spec, but the in-depth stuff I’ll be keeping for the inner circle.

Feel free to comment, cheer us on, or just tell us we’re mad not to add feature ‘xyz’ ($12,803 isn’t enough to retire on).

– Ben Prendergast

I always get really excited when we kick off development of a new version. It begins after years of customer feedback, and even though we regularly add minor features, a major development like v4.0 means we get to add all of the goodies that we (and our customers) have always wanted.

Of course this is easier said than done!

I need to ensure that the new product doesn’t disadvantage anyone, it needs to be more efficient than its predecessor, yet we want to continue leading the pack with great new features. So for me the process is like a 6-month game of chess. Every small move has repercussions, there are risks, happy accidents, and opportunities.

I’m also a songwriter, and this process is so similar, starting with a theme/idea/rationale, or even a set of principles, and driving your obsession to create a new form. So, this time around I thought I’d share the process with you all. while I won’t be divulging too much I hope you find the journey as fascinating as I know I will. Let’s begin!

The process for me has become refined over the years. It used to be that we’d add one big feature (e.g. Our flash-based dynamic gantt chart, a web-based PM first), and I’d plant myself in a local cafe (e.g. My current fav, A Minor Place, on Albion St, Brunswick, if you’re ever in town!) with a 20-page wish-list document from customers, seven latte’s, and choose five features that would make the most impact for our customers within our limited budget.

Five years on the process is a little more refined (as is Copper these days), however, despite the available technology it still starts with a table full of printouts, three principles and a spec document.

The three very simple principles for Version 4.0 are:

These might seem like relatively simple goals, but they’re anything but! Reducing pages/clicks by 40% (point 1) whilst adding over 165 features (point 3)?! Thanks to the Inner Circle program (which is filling fast, click here if you want to secure a spot) all three principles are certainly achievable. We’re about a month on since those above shots were taken.

Next week, I’ll post back with a sneak-peek at the spec doc, maybe a screen or two, and talk about how the mock layouts work hand in hand with the spec doc to arrive a development-ready brief. As always thanks for your continued support!

– Ben Prendergast

Last week we launched our second annual Enterprise Inner Circle program, aimed at bringing on pre-order customers in order to fund the development of the Copper 4.0 product. We had some great responses, and now having completed our v4.0 specification (including 165 improvements) we need a certain number of participants in order to get started.

The magic number is 30-40. “Hey, that’s two numbers Ben”, I hear you say. “Well spotted old pal”, I retort, “thats because we like to stay zen with our development, and you know this!”. But certainly 30 is the target, and 40 will result in the ultimate awesomeness for Copper.

Here is the offer:

You purchase a Copper Enterprise license ($2999) and receive:

As mentioned above, we have a clear cut specification for v4.0, that closely mirrors the key changes requested over the last 3 years, and is going to take Copper another 5 steps forward in terms of efficiency/project visibility.

This offer represents a great opportunity, in fact you could add a zero to the price and still not approach the approximate value here, but ultimately you need to ask yourself; What price the love of a good software?

If you’d like to be part of the next Copper chapter, please click here to get in touch for more details about the offer or click here to purchase an Enterprise license and secure your spot in the circle.

– Ben Prendergast