How do I go about Requesting a New Feature in Newforma?

Posted by newforma on 06/19 at 02:20 PM

I guess the real question is does it even matter if you submit a new feature request. The last version only had 60+ new features requested by customers. The company I work for has only been using the product for 8 months or so and have already “by ourselves” submitted over 60 features. Not sure how they decide on what features to implement or why they ignore the thoasands of other feature requests and decide to use only 60.

LMN has been using Project Center since 3rd Edition and while not every suggestion of ours has made it into the final product, I can say with confidence that no other software vendor I’m aware of has been anywhere nearly as responsive in incorporating customer feedback.

Keep in mind the sheer number of suggestions Newforma must receive, the fact some may be contradictory, some may not be possible given the limitations of existing technology, and others may not be practical within their current development cycle.  While I’m not trying to defend NF, anyone who has ever put out a “suggestion box” knows that it takes guts.

In light of these considerations, I believe that the success of Project Center is largely a function of how well they listen and I commend Newforma for making it as easy as they have to offer suggestions - even if my pet peeve hasn’t been addressed.

We are not currently making our users aware of the “Send a suggestion...” feature within Project Center.  Instead, I ask everyone to forward feedback about the program to me (I am the lead for Project Center implementation for the company as well as being an active Project Center user) so I can review the feedback before sending it on to Newforma.  Many times the requested features/actions can already be accomplished in Project Center and the user making the request is just not aware of it yet.

For features or bug reporting to Newforma I use a combination of the Newformant forums and the email address and have had good luck with getting issues addressed and some features added (particularly in Sixth Edition where we participated in the Newforma LCR program).  My preference is to use the Newformant whenever possible because I like the publicly accessible nature of it that allows Project Center users and administrators from outside my company to comment on items that I post.