Keep up with updates to What's Open
We're working to make the app better every week with significant upgrades
What's Open was a good example of "just in time" software development. Time was critical in deploying What's Open, so we had to get a first draft of the platform out there as quickly as possible. We built it in four days. As soon as we felt it was stable and functional, we rolled out the platform knowing we'd learn as we went and would be making frequent upgrades and improvements to adapt to a changing environment.
Week 1: We focused on rewording all the fields of the submission form based on content posted to our first sites and questions we got from newspapers and businesses.
We also rebuilt the template for data entry in the back end, renaming fields and dropping some fields that weren't required by the form. We also converted the print option to a category to make it easier to find and export listings that picked the print option.
Week 2: We moved the business hours info from the first upgrade to the free portion of the form. We also made it a grid with specific hours for each day. While that makes the form harder to fill out, it will eventually allow us to make the platform "time aware" and report results for which businesses. Wording on the entry form was updated to reflect the changes. Using the grid for hours is optional.
In the first upgrade area, we also added separate photo and logo upload fields. Originally, businesses could upload a photo OR a logo. Now they can do both.
We added more sorting and display options to the list views.
Week 3: We're adding more search, sort and finding tools to the list view and refininig the wording around hours.
Week4: We changed some of the upsell wording in an effort to entice more businesses to upgrade.
Week 5: The main list view display widget can now be placed on a newspaper page instead of being a stand alone element, opening up the potential to sell ads or wrap editorial around the main display.
We're looking for your suggestions and ideas to continue to refine and develop What's Open. Please send any suggestions or ideas to Bill.