December 14, 16:10
The Basecamp manifesto is a series of beliefs we hold to be true as guidance for developing and running the application. It explains many of the decisions visible in the structure, features, and constraints of Basecamp. It's about why we started to develop Basecamp and why we continue to push on. It's a behind the scenes of our minds.
Being a student of informatics, I'm particularly proud to see so many Scandinavian values reflected. The high priests of participatory design would be proud to read statements such as:
- "Basecamp democratizes project management and makes it a team effort"
- "More participation should not result in higher fees"
- "...all support emails are answered personally by the people who actually built the product".
Would you like to know more about these beliefs and how you can recast and practice them for your own projects? Sign up for our Building of Basecamp workshop. We're doing the fourth of them in Seattle on the 27th of January. All previous workshops sold out well in advance, so be quick.
Challenge by rabble on December 14, 16:36
Speaking of support emails, it's not totally clear where to send a support email when you find bugs in basecamp. The error page doesn't say anything either.
It's a great product, but there isn't a clear place to report bugs or give feedback.
Challenge by PBaldanta on December 14, 17:54
http://www.basecamphq.com/manifesto.php
I thought basecamp was developed with Ruby ;-)
Challenge by Ryan C. on December 14, 18:08
... and on the topic of support, I recall sending one or two support emails (to support@bhq) some time ago with no reply. I didn't see the bugs get fixed within a weeks time, and think I left it at that (they were very minor).
The experience (though likely rare) made me wonder if multiple people see the support emails, or just one person? While I certainly agree with 'rabble' that it's a fantastic tool, more information on the support system would be appreciated.
Regarding the manifesto, I read through it yesterday. Definitely words to live (or work ;) by, executed with that fantastic 37s flair!
Challenge by Sean Santry on December 14, 18:31
When are you guys going to present "Building Basecamp" out here on the east coast? We'd love to have you in Boston!
Challenge by Jason Fried on December 14, 19:26
We respond to all tech support emails -- usually within 30 minutes. If it's a feature request we may not respond immediately (the priority is obviously tech support emails), but we do read every single one.
I'm sorry you didn't get a response. Things can fall through the cracks time to time, but I assure you that is the extreme exception.
Challenge by Jason Fried on December 14, 19:27
"Speaking of support emails, it's not totally clear where to send a support email when you find bugs in basecamp. The error page doesn't say anything either."
There's a link in the sidebar on the HELP page inside the application itself. And there's a "Questions?" link at the bottom of every page on the BasecampHQ.com marketing site.
