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Lately, almost whimsical things have been happening at the desk next to mine. Complete strangers are coming into our office, get placed in front of a PC and are then drilled with questions while using an Ashampoo application. Sometimes, things are more relaxed and you can almost detect a sense of timidity in their clicking but other times it's a clicking frenzy like rapid gun fire. Once that person left, there's always the same questions: "Who was that?" or "What was he doing here?" that are met with responses like "My neighbor.", "A friend." or "A long-time customer from around here.". But what are all these people doing here?
Every software developer seeks to make their applications more user-friendly (at least they should but I have my doubts). But how do we do it? Usually, programmers and program managers meet to review possible use-cases. Occasionally, talks can more turbulent and louder. My guess is that "I became a programmer because I love to compromise" has never been uttered by any programmer in the history of man. Moreover, programmers seem to have their own logic of planning and designing their products and may come up with - I'm doing my best to stay friends here - rather unusual approaches. Everything may seem logical to them, after all, an architect knows his way around a house, but guests may be hopelessly lost. That's why we spend countless hours trying to make everything more intuitive and easier to use. We thought our approach ideal and then you came along.
Relationships with our customers have been intensifying over the past years either through support requests or this blog. Once you report an issue to our support team, not only will you (hopefully) get a useful response but inquiries are bundled and processed to find out whether applications need to be updated or general usability issues exist. Whenever you uninstall an application, you're prompted to state a reason and we always pay close attention to that. Aside from "application smells of cinnamon" and "Stalin told me so" we receive valuable feedback this way. We also hold surveys to learn about user needs and requirements and we even have customers that provide detailed pictures of their feature requests on separate sites. All this information gets collected, analyzed and put to good use.
Still - we came to the realization that something was missing - we can't look over your shoulder when you install and use an application for the first time. And since we can't invite all of you (shame, we'd surely have a ball!), we had to make a selection. So we did and now we get frequent visits from software beginners, average users and specialists. That's not only a welcome change to the daily grind but also highly interesting. I can't help but admire the level of calmness and self-control of our test supervisor Patrick, I'd probably scream "No you fool, you need to click here!" every 20 seconds and grab the mouse away. But then I remember that I've already been with Ashampoo for more than 9 years and spent a considerable amount of time with our applications. So I prefer to shut up and continue writing.
Both the approaches and the ways users look at an application differ widely. In all honesty: A couple of things caught us completely by surprise. An example: We're naturally proud of the many modules WinOptimizer contains - one of our test candidates was so overwhelmed that she was in a state of shock. There were simply too many options on the menu. Only after she switched to category view to narrow down the choices was she able to proceed. Others got lost in submenus and forgot what they originally intended to do or what they had done before. When everything was presented in one place these issues didn't occur. We applied this approach to the burning settings in Burning Studio and will continue to follow it. The right click - the unloved brother of the left click - was barely used yet often provides access to many context-sensitive features. More food for thought. We also wanted to find out how well users did with technical terms and whether a modern, flat design was more intuitive than a photo-realistic icon set.
It'll take more time to analyze all of the data but one thing I can say for certain: We've learned a lot. No, none of our candidates experienced an emotional breakdown and had to be carried out of the office (we didn't mess up that much) but we now have a wealth of constructive suggestions and ideas. That's why the next Slideshow Studio will provide a faster way to complete a project, Burning Studio will receive a usability overhaul and don't even get me started on the mile long wish list for WinOptimizer! So, new talks are just around the corner. And even if programmers sometimes look at us as if we were dancing through the office dressed like a bumblebee - it's totally worth it!
Are you in the mood for some brainstorming? Which features are you missing in our Ashampoo programs? Which program steps currently make little or no sense?
I have used many Ashampoo programs and can understand that you want to let me know about the latest offers. However I do object to the fact that you also download a PUP program with them. Definitely does not endear me to Ashampoo as I have to keep running Malware bytes to get them quarantined.
Not guilty. :) I can assure you that these are always false alerts, we don't distribute malicious code. Please take a look here: https://blog.ashampoo.com/en/2016-01-26/antivirus-xy-has-detected-a-suspicious-program-shut-up
Joe Assink - you might consider using Voidtools Evrything file search... Can be found here:
https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/
I've used a range of Ashampoo apps over the years and have found myself coming back to them more and more. Word processing compatibility seems to be great now, and the music/dvd software and backup and antivirus...the list goes on...and Ashampoo has delivered for me. Great member only deals give great price range for groups of apps I use, and need i mention the "Name your price"? AND the great speedy support I've received too, and you guys are on the other side of the planet too!
Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to utilise Ashampoo products right across my IT business processes and recommend to customers wherever possible.
Love the blogs Sven, keep up the great work and pass on my gratitude to the rest of the support team too please.
All of your wishes and requests have been forwarded to our developers. Thanks a lot for your participation!
Ahh, the contradictions abound. A programmer is paid to make improvements but..what if the product is already near perfect ? We end up with changes that "tweak" the product to death and make it worse. Much software reached it's peak of "user" friendliness/workability in the early 2000s and these days, many of the products' advances are really a backward step. It would be easy to make a large list of programming design failures (Windows 8 put your hand up). Just because there is a new/faster/flashier way of doing something does not mean that you actually HAVE to do it (Windows8 "charms" put your hand up). Generally Ashampoo is better than most but they have had their moments. I had great fun ripping all of my old CDs in Music Studio 3 when it found every one of my old CDs and the tracks. Then we upgraded to 5 and the database of CD tracks disappeared and it all became manual. And, speaking of Music Studio 5, I could never figure out why I had Exit by moving to the top of the screen to get the "charms" style drop down Exit menu ????? That one had me fooled for so so long !!!
And to finish - great that you are using real people to get some user input into your products. Can you let other software designers into the secret as well ---PLEASE.
Ashampoo products are great. Providing trial versions and great deals, the team generates goodwill.
The software are quite intuitive, making the learning curve a lot flatter.
Ashampoo has the programs I look for and want to use.
Support is fantastic and Customer service can't be beat.
You've got a customer for life. Please keep up the good work.
Thanks,
Ken.
O.K. now you've got my attention.. I have been using burning studio of all upgrades and I have a bit of a problem with the burning of D.V.D.'S...I have tried on many occasion to change the format on my burning...but to NO avail. so I don't really bother about it anymore...your burning of C. D.'S is fantastic but storing of burnt music really needs some work...It's not readily accessible to me at moments notice. nevertheless I have no problem with your product.... by the way ..can u developed a feature for looping of music whilst burning... NO SPACES...!
I'm using about 15 of your programs (for years),and I'm more than satisfied with almost all of them.I can't afford myself to buy it,but Ashampoo is so generous with giveaway's.Burning Studio 2015,WinOptimizer 11,Photo Optimizer 5 and especially Photo Commander 12 are my favorites.about 2 years ago I discover Franzis software company(excellent programs),and as I'm interested in design and photography,Ashampoo and Franzis products are almost all I need.Only my virus and malware protection is not produced by one of those company's.And I will using your products until my computer stop running.Thank you Ashampoo for your generosity.You can't imagine how much You helped me.
I enjoy using your apps because they usually give me choices. Some companies evidently believe the user is so dumb they take away advanced options or either hide them so deep they are hard to find. As a PC user since the early dos days, I find Ashampoo tries to strike a balance between ease of use (one ckick) and more advanced options. Your products are work pretty dang good. Keep up the good work. Thanks sf
Can you please ask your programmers to expedite an update to SuperEasy Backup Pro version 1.15.
Back in August 2015 I sent the following query to your Software Support and received a reply shown below in September. I still anxiously await an update to fix this bug.
Regards RR
QUERY:
I have recently installed SuperEasy Backup Pro on two of my three computers, both of them Windows 7 64-bit. I created a backup plan on each computer to do a FULL image backup of the C: drive with the following parameter: Number of incremental backups between full backups 0. I have noticed on several occasions, on both computers, when I click "Change Backup Plan' and review the parameters, that the "Number of incremental backups between full backups" has been changed to 1. I change it back to zero and resave the plan but it later reverts to 1 again. Can you please assist?
REPLY:
sorry for the late reply.
I had to wait for a reply from our developer team.
Unfortunately this seems to be a bug in our software.
We’ll try to solve this with a future update.
Hi Sven,
I have been using Ashampoo for years and have regularly upgraded some of the apps such as Burning Studio and Photo Commander.
As the tech head at home I have a shared use main PC that 4 Users along with sepearte SSD C: OS / Apps drive with two RAID 5 data volumes for our precious data/photos/videos.
Why can't your wonderful apps recognize I am updating for the 4th time and the user profiles do not have the Thumb nail cache on C drive; the users photos are stored on D: and their libraries are all set to point to the correct locations.
On a shared machine I am happy to share the thumbnail cache and have all our family photos all stored on the Public location. When my wife uses the new version perhaps a month after my upgrade I then find all storage and cache stores have defaulted.
I could go on but the rest of the product is good enough to keep me coming back.
Windows 10 is fine, but is there anywhere a substitute for their 'Search' in File Explorer. The one provided does sometimes just not find items.
Referring to the problem I was in touch about a while ago about Snap8 where I suddenly found that I could only use it off-line and if I attempted to make a capture on line I was met with a Black screen. Well I have taken the plunge and downloaded Windows 10 and the first time I tried to use Snap 8 it worked ok both on and off line. I was obviously very pleased and thought that perhaps the problem was brought on by one of your updates preparing for the start of Windows 10. However the next time I tried it I found the black screen again. So any further ideas?
Derek Adams.
Ps. I also find the "improved" talktalk email irritatating.
I have been developing vertical applications since the 1980s, some of the requests can be quite amusing.
"My father's got to be able to use it", "it's got to be used by meatheads", "it has to cope with Sharon on Monday morning when she's got a hangover, had an argument with her boyfriend and broken her nail" would be fairly typical.
First step is to work out what the software is actually for - not always as obvious as it seems. The second is to spend tome with the users of the software - not the managers. It is essential to get a pilot up and running as soon as possible, then observe the user's reaction to it. What is the natural order of the actions, what fields can be usefully set to default values, can the most commonly used functions be up front and the less used down a layer to keep the user interface as uncluttered as possible.
Incremental delivery is a must - some unexpected aspect can appear necessitating a rethink.
And above all, try to anticipate the "ah, can we make it do so-and-so" will invariably be sprung on you, so keep the code open so as to be easy to modify and add functionality. Time spent thinking about the data structure will pay you back many times over at times like that.
And always remember, clever code will invariably come back to haunt you a year or so down the line when you come to maintain the application - i am still servicing a sales application that is now 20 years old - and despite being much expanded to its original concept, it can still read and write the same data files it used in the 1990s.
Thanx for "Sharon on Monday"! :) We had a good laugh together.
Burning Studio programes are bloody good HOWEVER does the latest allow burning a DVD disk that will play on both a computer AND a DVD/TV player ? My origional version did not. Thanks JH
That was not supposed to happen! Can you please contact our support (support@ashampoo.com)?
At the moment I'm still using Windows XP as I understand there are many of us out there that are refusing to change to OS 10 until they sort out the problems with it. What would be nice would be to have a list of your software that works with XP. Do you think you could establish a web page. I have tried some of your newer apss only to find they wont work on XP.
If the new windows 10 is like many of Microsoft's past "new wonderful OS" it may well be years before they sort it out.
I know I have gone a bit off subject however I will say so far most of the apps I have of your software I find i have little problems working with. I guess that's why I keep coming back for more. Ant the other reason is that your pricing is great.
Keep up the good work
G Duckett
The confusing multiplicity of photo programmes is a case in point!
How much overlap is there in them and which one or ones can I make most use of have stalled me even getting started?
There may be feature overlap between photo applications since they all need to cover the basics. However, different applications may focus on different use cases. Photo Commander offers more in terms of photo management while Photo Optimizer focuses on effects and image optimization. This is why we offer trial phases for our applications so you can find the program that is right for you. Just give ‘em a try.
Interesting that David Salter is looking for Ashampoo programmes for a Mac. I have been a tester for W10, but found the constant large updates, and the fact that I kept getting reminders to download them bothersome.
So I have taken my PCs and Laptops to Linux Mint. The problem that I now have is that my favorite Ashampoo programs are for Windows so I have to use Wine to run them now, and I don't mean the alcoholic version.,
"Which features are you missing in our Ashampoo programs?"
Magnify with highlight option of an area in the edit of ASnap. I suspect someone like Techsmith have a patent on it though or you would have done it by now.
Dear Mr Krumrey,
If you ever need to contact talktalk at anytime they model themselves on Westminsters MPs you cannot contact talktalk with emails and their chat line is rarely manned either..they love you to writh them a letter but the reply???? is sometimes lacking Just in case you wanted to comtact them...SR
VESTED INTERESTS
Dear Mr Krumrey,
I sincerely wish you could contact my ISP talktalk and tell them about what you have discovered about your customers and their preferences and presumptions. The demographically challenged cognoscentii at talktalk just arbitrarily .....downloaded a brand new email system on me which many people including myself find to be a waking nightmare and no-one of any significance is - "there?" to take responsibility.
Maybe it's to do with their overcentralised overpaid and overbearing exclusively londocentric management structure at talktalk. Perhaps predictably the head honcho is the daughter of a very prominent british general - and you have some appreciation of exactly how much the military ...values..... democracy. History confirms that they invariably impose colonialism upon us instead?
Nothing positive for the Country ever escapes from a capital city they invariably want total control over our lives our finances and our identities to make so much more of their own. That's why London refuses us an English Parliament and why we remain invisible in the E.U because of that I shall be voting to get out. Scotland will vote to stay in and just maybe due to this England might begin to exist again...
This was promised by all the signatories of The Atlantic Charter of 1941 why should we continue to simply believe in belief to beleave...?
In the meantime could you recommend to me a good email program thankyou cheerio SR
I hope you won’t blame me for visiting your beautiful country in August this year. :) I like em Client (http://www.emclient.com/) and I consider it a worthy alternative to the big players, maybe you’d like to give it a try?
Going back quite a few years and many versions of Windows (now using 10) I had a handy little freebie program that allowed me to schedule my downloads for the early hours of the morning because my providers download allowance was split 50/50 between peak and off-peak and I found I was running out of my peak usage before the month ended and I had to buy additional small data packages while most of my off-peak went unused.
However as Windows upgraded their versions the program couldn't keep up with them and disappeared.
Do you know of any program, whether a freebie or paid one that I can use to get around this problem?
I can’t provide any useful thoughts on this issue, maybe another reader can help?
I love ashampoo. But I now have a Mac and can not use your great products please produce Mac products.
- some programs always default to the same place cf. Microsoft.
- others default to the MRU.
- I would like to be able to specify that I want to default to MFU, as in Most Frequently Used, because most of the time I want the default to be what I most frequently use.
- isn't this likely to be "correct" the most often?
- just keep a sorted list with the location and the number of uses with the most frequent at the top.
- let me know if its an impossible idea.
- I appreciate your blogs, gives me a bit of insight into your corporate culture.
Terry Semple.
Thank you so much for allowing your loyal customers to peek at what you do for us.
One program I have been waiting for you to provide:
A program that will let me edit a song or voice-and then put it on my android as a ringtone. I don't want to edit a whole lot-just take the middle of the song, and use it as a ringtone. Maybe a portion of a Bach or Beethoven piece. Or maybe a contagious laugh from a baby.