"The buyers aren't the users"

I'm a believer in making user-friendly and attractive interface to IT solutions.
The question is; why is it still so rarely found when it comes to Enterprise software?

Khoi Vinh, Design Director at NYtimes.com, wrote a post about it. 

Further reading, 37signals, the legendary company that is "committed to building the best web-based software products possible with the least number of features necessary", added their thoughts about the topic.

37signlas point is that "the people who buy enterprise software aren't the people who use enterprise software. That’s where the disconnect begins. And it pulls and pulls and pulls until the user experience is split from the buying experience so severely that the software vendors are building for the buyers, not the users. The experience takes a back seat to the feature list, future promises, and buzz words."

Great point.

Presentation: What is a blog?

I've been asked by a Swedish commercial real estate consulting firm to make a presentation about blogs next Friday. So why not use the same tactic as Dustin Luther at Rain City Guide and ask the readers for advice. 

The key area in which I'm looking for example on blogging in the commercial real estate market.

There are tons of activity in the residential area, but how about the commercial sector of the industry. Are you aware of any commercial real estate agent that has a blog, or a property company that uses blogs for communication.

Good examples are appreciated.
Add a comment or drop me an email.

Thanks in advance.

Report from the PCS expo in London

It’s 3 am and I’ve just got home to Sweden after some hectic days at the PCS expo (a Property Computer Show) in London.

Being on panel for one session, attending another 5, get an understanding of 100 exhibitors and conducting 12 meetings in two days surely was surely a challenge…

My strongest impressions are;

More energy then ever – it’s my 3rd time going to this event and I haven't seen this much of energy before.

Finally the web has hit the property industry - almost every boot you went into was displaying their solution using a web page. Even property management systems have taken on a SaaS aspect (well kind of… more about that later)

The most impressive presentation was about e-Leases -  Chris Lees from Calvis had a brilliant walk through of the project how one of UK's largest property owners has gotten four law firms to use Acrobat Reader documents to fill in and send the lease agreements (including over 200 data fields) using a PISCSES standard XML schema. Which has the effect that the data gets directly imported in to the owners property management system without re-typing any data.

Rewarding to meet other believers - One of the great benefits of going to an event such as this one is about meeting other believers. One needs that ones in a while.

In the upcoming week I’ll write more posts about my experience and thoughts about PCS.

The believer.se

As of today this blog has a new name; The believer (www.thebeliever.se).
(Have to admit that the previous name wasn't the catchiest blog name around....)

This because I believe in;
     ... the smart use of Internet
     ... that the real estate industry can be more efficient 
     ... that a process always could be better
     ... doing all things above at the same time!

The focus about this blog will still be the same. In other words, focus on "the smart use of Internet in Real Estate". My ambition is to be an inspiration for businesses in the real estate market on how to use the Internet. Both in Sweden but also elsewhere.

Looking forward having you as a reader.

Meet me at the Property Computer Show in London

If you're visiting the PCS Expo (Property Computer Show) in London mid-October, why not come by the session "The Property Investment Forum: 2008, the year of change"?

Bob Thompson, RETRI Group, will chair a session with John Glascock, Professor of Real Estate Finance Cambridge University, speaking on the risk in the property market. Nick Laird, Channel Rock Funds LLC, and myself will be on the panel.

For me it will be about commenting on the "... the challenges for those who provide information in this environment".
Will for sure be interesting.

See you all in London.