The review process is quite simple, but we thought it would be good to explain it anyway for those of you who are curious. First off, we take a good look at the current market trends and find out which software products are selling the most copies. Once we know what is selling…we go get it so we can find out why it is selling the way it is. We look at many different things while reviewing a digital product. The overall rating we give a product is based on but not limited to our generic template: ease of use, graphical user interface (GUI), support, pricing, and features. To get a better idea of what I am talking about I have broken it down to make it easier.
Ease of use
The ease of use is based on how easy it is to get the job done for a beginning user. We approach it as if we have had no experience with software of this kind before even if we have. We ask ourselves questions like “Is there anything that would be hard to do because of lack of instruction?” and “Are the manuals too text heavy with not enough relevant information?”. Most software nowadays passes this without any problems because companies realize they need to make their software easily accessible by anyone. If there is a learning curve we will note it, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Some software will take some getting used to, but the powerful features it may contain will be worth it.
GUI (Graphic User Interface)
This is a very basic thing to look at, but it can make the difference in whether or not a product is praised. Just because a program can perform needed tasks doesn’t mean it should be messy. We look at the overall layout of the program and assess whether or not things are where they should be. Believe it or not, I have come across software with terrible layouts before. I’ve seen it all from buttons that do nothing to buttons that don’t exist but are supposed to. Again, this is an easy category to pass for most software developers because they know sloppy software doesn’t sell.
Support
Do they offer any means of support for their product? If they don’t then that is normally a red flag for me. At least having email or help desk ticket support should be standard with any trustworthy software company. If they throw in phone support then that is really all you can ask for. If a company doesn’t provide support we will note this in our review. It’s not always a bad thing, but it is nice to know if something goes wrong you contact somebody to troubleshoot.
Pricing
How much does it cost and is it worth the price? This is the main question we ask ourselves when reviewing a product because this is most likely the most important to the buyer. Everyone wants to know if they will get enough bang for their buck so we make sure to talk about it in every review.
Features
This is just as important as the price is in my opinion, and they pretty much go together. If you are paying a hefty sum for a product, do the features it provides make it worth it? What does the program do? What are all the options provided and do they do the job the company said it would? Are there any features found in this program that set it above the rest of its competitors? These kinds of question help you see what you will get in the end and will make your decision on which product to buy a lot easier.
