Emily Chang - eHub Interviews

twittering: http://pic.gd/a7d661 obama shaka bobblehead lol

eHub Interviews »»

Visit voo2do, originally added to eHub on Sep 17, 05.

eHub Interviews voo2do

Thanks to Shimon Rura, creator of voo2do for this email interview posted October 16, 2005.

eHub: What is your web application/service about?

voo2do: Voo2do is a web-based task manager. There are oodles of to-do list systems on the web--Voo2do is different because it lets you keep notes, time estimates, and priorities for each task you enter. The end result is that with Voo2do, you always know:
- what to work on next,
- when you’re at risk of missing a deadline,
- whether you can reliably commit to a new task.

eHub: Why did you start this project?

voo2do: Voo2do was developed as a consequence of my growing up. When I graduated from college in 2003, I had only ever managed my work by routine. Each day, I’d eat some meals, go to some classes, and work on some homework. I simply had to use all available time to do a certain set of work, had little choice over what to work on, and couldn’t delegate tasks that I couldn’t adequately perform.

Then I was planted into a work environment where tasks of various sizes came to me from many directions. I didn’t have to accept every commitment that came my way, but if I was going to miss a deadline my coworkers needed to know before it passed. I wasn’t very good at this, and my bosses had stern talks with me on this subject more than once.

Then one day while procrastinating, I came upon Joel Spolsky’s Painless Software Schedules article (see article). I used his methodology with an Excel spreadsheet at work for a few months. No more stern talks. Then I realized I wanted to track my non-work projects in a similar way, and was missing a few features I didn’t know how to get in Excel, so I started Voo2do.

eHub: How much time do you devote to its growth? Do you have a day job?

voo2do: I do have a day job. I spend about ten hours a week working on Voo2do, mostly on weekends.

eHub: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

voo2do: I’m solo. I’ve been developing web applications for about five years, and was classically trained in Computer Science at Williams College.

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

voo2do: Everything should be as simple, automatic, fast, and pleasant as possible. The problem with to-do lists and productivity methodologies is that it’s way too easy to let them slide and get off track. If its colors are warm and welcoming, and if the UI is packed with little wonders, that can be the little push that keeps you going. Conversely, if the application is slow or broken or ugly, it can be the little stumble that kills the whole process.

So unlike other projects I’ve done where I focused on developing something that was theoretically interesting, I have tried in Voo2do to focus relentlessly on quality of the user experience, from prospective user/newbie to power user. Whenever I think of adding a feature I try to do it in the most unobtrusive possible way.

eHub: What technologies are you currently using?

voo2do: Perl (with the Apache::PageKit web application toolkit), PostgreSQL, and a lot of Javascript. Almost half of Voo2do’s code is in Javascript.

eHub: If your project is live, what are the most requested features from your users/community?

voo2do: The most requested feature right now is a way to share tasks with other people. I’m focusing my work on this.

eHub: Does your user base reside in a primary geographic location or is it distributed?

voo2do: Distributed. I didn’t foresee this but some of my most insightful emails from users have originated in Russia and India. I really had to hustle to add Unicode and time zone support after my initial release. :)

eHub: Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months? The next 2 years?

voo2do: I’d like to see voo2do stabilize around a well-defined set of features, so that I can spend a smaller amount of time making minor improvements and fixing bugs, rather than needing lots of time to develop new features. I could see Voo2do developing in many different directions, but in order to keep the application simple and focused, I have to find the plateau.

Voo2do gained about 1500 users during the month. If this rate holds for the next two years, Voo2do would have a user base of about 40,000 people. At that size, it could probably be made to generate some revenue outside of donations, or could become a sustainable open source project. Either way, my main goal is to get Voo2do into a position where it could continue to exist and serve people for the next 10 or 20 years.

eHub: What is the greatest challenge to your success?

voo2do: My time. I’m not confident enough that Voo2do could make money that I am willing to drop my day job, so I can only do my best on evenings and weekends. Of course, this also means I’m a lot less likely to add stupid, wasteful features to Voo2do. And it’s a fun, cheap, rewarding hobby.

eHub: What is the one thing you need to get to the next phase of the project?

voo2do: Users. Feedback from people who use Voo2do is my greatest source for inspiration, and knowing that hundreds of people have worked Voo2do into their lives is a great source of motivation/shame for improving the software’s quality.

eHub: Do you have a business model? If so, what is it?

voo2do: Currently, people who like Voo2do are encouraged to smile at strangers. If they like, they can send me donations too. Perhaps someday, if Voo2do becomes expensive to operate, I’ll find some way to offer extra service for a fee. Right now it’s a fun hobby that costs me virtually nothing after donations.

eHub: If you’re able to disclose this information, how much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

voo2do: Voo2do was launched to the public in the middle of August, 2005. In September 2005, it added 1500 users, reaching a total of 3382 at the end of the month. On average, it received 608 visits or 4233 page views per day. Users added, on average, 287 new tasks per day.

eHub: What is the one thing you’re most proud of about the project?

voo2do: I’m proudest of the feedback I’ve received from users. People like and benefit from Voo2do; I like to imagine it helps them achieve more in less time and better meet their goals in life. When they write me and say thanks, it feels great.

eHub: How would you describe the shift that’s occurring with the web right now to future generations?

voo2do: I think Web 2.0 is mainly a label pushed by people who want the dot-com boom to come back for a second round. I don’t think there’s a huge shift right now, but we are seeing the wonderful consequences of several factors:

the best programmers from boom 1.0 are still around and considering fun projects

people who got rich in boom 1.0 are investing

a younger generation that missed boom 1.0 is starting to turn out its own cool projects and brilliant hackers

widespread deployment of internet access in China, Russia, India, and other countries is expanding markets worldwide

everyone you know has email, so social software applications aren’t just for nerds anymore

browsers, search engines, and open source software are all in really good shape.

eHub: What site(s) do you visit everyday other than your own?

voo2do: GMail, Bloglines, Google, and LiveJournal.

eHub: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

voo2do: Six to ten. When it’s a lot of six, I have to make it up on the weekends with 12-hour sleepathons.

Thanks to Shimon Rura, creator of voo2do for this email interview posted October 16, 2005.

Visit voo2do
Originally added to eHub on Sep 17, 05

» More eHub Interviews

eHub Interviews is a series with the creators of Web 2.0 applications and services by Emily Chang, author of eHub, designer, and co-founder and principal of Ideacodes, a strategic web consultancy in San Francisco that she co-founded with Max Kiesler.

Also see eHub Interviews in Japanese at CNET Japan

Browse eHub (2975 resources)

eHub Home
Features
Interviews
News+Events
Categories
Directory
Editors
Submit a Site
Advertise on eHub

Request an Interview

If you're the creator of a web application, service or product, you can submit your site and request an interview.

Recent Interviews »»

Jun 16, 09

eHub Interviews Ambiently
Ambiently is a web discovery engine. To use it, you only need to put a bookmarklet onto your browser. Then,…

Apr 21, 09

eHub Interviews Staction
Staction is a project management tool focused on communication and on being fast. It uses a simple tags system to…

Aug 07, 08

eHub Interviews Brightkite
Brightkite is a location-based social network that enables people to take their online profiles with them into the real world…