(Archived) Evernote: One Year In

[Owyn 457]

Just passed my first anniversary with Evernote. Impetus to move was a combination of drop in support for Google Notebooks and an interview with Phil on the CNet Real Deal podcast. At this time I expect to stay with Evernote for the long term.

There have been a lot of changes over the year. Milestones that impacted me include significant updates for Evernote Windows, iOS, and the Web. The new Web interface has had a big impact on my own use as my primary OS is Linux. It is becoming a fully featured UI and not just an adjunct to the Evernote service.

I have also noticed a significant improvement in the quality of the announcement posts on the Evernote blog.

Evernote has replaced Google Notebook, Delicious and most other Browser bookmarks. In fact my browser bookmarks are now reduced to a few frequently visited sites.

Evernote has not replaced my primary to-do managers, Remember the Milk & Grocery IQ.

Quick recap of my estimate of the Great, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly about the experience.

Great:

This forum. Best source of information and quick general support for Evenote. I have yet to file a specific support request.

The company. I believe that Evernote will be a long term survivor. Combination of a working business plan, good people, and a clearly stated data security plan.

Multi-platform syncing.

Good:

More data available for search.

Searchable images.

Bad:

Search dialog could be richer.

Inconsistency between platforms, particularly with Search. I know this is a moving target, but, Search is a core requirement and must provide consistent results on each platform.

Browser clipper problems. Another moving target, but, problems with clipping have made me switch default browsers.

Documentation could be a lot better. It has taken me a lot of time to get used to using Evernote effectively.

Ugly:

None that I can think of.

[Phil Dean 150]

Thanks for your detailed observations and summary of your experiences so far with Evernote. Also congratulations on being with us for 1 year it is greatly appreciated. In regards to some of the "bad" observations you mentioned we are spending some significant time on improving the browser experience. We just launched a new Chrome plug-in which in my opinion is a huge improvement and it is now my default plug-in that I use on a personal level. We are also working on getting a more uniformal search experience across all platforms, this is a big undertaking but we are working on this. In regards to documentation what in your opinion would benefit you and other customers, what are we lacking what would you like to see. We are all ears in getting better documentation and how to guides out, but would love your opinion on this.

Cheers

Phil D

[Owyn 457]

In regards to some of the "bad" observations you mentioned we are spending some significant time on improving the browser experience. We just launched a new Chrome plug-in which in my opinion is a huge improvement and it is now my default plug-in that I use on a personal level.

Ditto. Article clipping and signicantly improved clipping reliablility made me switch back to Chrome as default. Still use FF4 as backup and for downloads via DownThemAll. Almost never use IE, but, have to keep it installed on Windows because it's libraries are used by other applications (e.g. MediaMonkey).

We are also working on getting a more uniformal search experience across all platforms, this is a big undertaking but we are working on this.

In regards to documentation what in your opinion would benefit you and other customers, what are we lacking what would you like to see. We are all ears in getting better documentation and how to guides out, but would love your opinion on this.

As mentioned previously, the announcement posts in the Evernote blog for new public releases are now actually useful. Scope and readability are excellent. Please keep this up.

Thinking back to my new user experience the getting started documentation was really lacking. A lot more task oriented video documentation would improve this process. Other users (Jefito??) have mentioned LastPass's videos as a particularly good example of how to do this. I agree with him.

The new Evernote Windows 4 manual is a good starting point. It should be provided in both PDF and navigable HTML format (e.g. #section so that links can be used to relevant sections for forum posts).

The existing KB seems to be very fractured. Looking forward to seeing what the planned update looks like.

Also feel that you could have a lot more use case/best practices oriented documentation.

My 2cents.

[jbenson2 2,147]

Link to my comments and suggestions about the excellent LastPass documentation:

http://forum.evernote.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=25766&p=109724&hilit=Lastpass#p109724

Key point - don't rely only on only text to explain Evernote.

Include screen shots and graphics.

Also, keep the marketing people away from twisting the documentation information.

example: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=23420&p=100900&hilit=video#p100900

Evernote is an excellent program.

.

[Owyn 457]

Link to my comments and suggestions about the excellent LastPass documentation:

Well, at least I got the first letter of the user name correct. :?

[jefito 5,589]

Link to my comments and suggestions about the excellent LastPass documentation:

Well, at least I got the first letter of the user name correct. :?

I was wondering about that...