All users will have noticed a significant change recently in the Optiweigh App, Data Portal, and Daily Email. Here’s a summary of where we are and where we’re headed.
At the outset, please let me apologise for any situations where you feel the upgrade hasn’t really helped, or even worse, where you think it is a step backwards. I also understand all too well how frustrating it can be to get used to knowing exactly where to look for the bit of information you need, only to find that bit suddenly moves and becomes harder to find.
But what we are doing is trying to take the past 6 years of learning and turn it into better outcomes for everyone. So far, that has involved rebuilding the whole IT infrastructure behind the reports and changing systems used for display. To the user, this just means that the information is currently the same – it’s just the display that is a bit different.
So, for a quick recap on where we are up to now:
- The App and the Data Portal now show exactly the same information in the same format;
- The home screen shows summaries, and there is a “See More” link on each that opens up more detail; and
- A new Daily Email is coming out any day now that provides a much easier to read format, including a weight chart showing all the mobs for a single account.
Looking ahead, we are setting everything up so that we can provide better insights and more useful information. In the coming months, there will be some changes coming through that I’m really excited about.
Some of these include:
- Significantly improved individual animal reporting that is easier to find,
Reporting the confidence (accuracy) of the measurements based on the size of the sample; - The ability to load a list of mobs and paddocks and just select from the list instead of creating new sessions every time;
- The ability to separately report subsets of a mob (e.g. different age groups, breeds, sexes etc running together);
- The ability to analyse weight gain (ADG) over time based on
- Mob (or subset of a mob);
- Paddock; and
- Feed Type.
- Improved integrations with other farm/livestock management systems.
Making these changes doesn’t come easily, and it is impossible to get it right the first time. There will be things we get right and things we get wrong, and it is impossible to please everyone.
Nonetheless, I’m a firm believer that we should get the changes out as quickly as we can and rely on our users to let us know what is working and what isn’t working.
So please let us know what you like and what you don’t like.
All our development is done in-house in Armidale, so I can assure you that we will take all feedback into consideration and continue to make improvements as we go. It’s all part of our mantra to always be Making It Better.
Bill Mitchell
CEO & CoFounder.