Dev Nova has a familiar structure so you can run your projects with confidence.
Build a visual timeline of phases and features, attach expenses resources like employees, contractors, equipment, etc. and get a clear picture where the money will go.
Estimating a project is really just guessing. Being able to see the timeline and costs helps you get closer to reality. We have included a "buffer" percent that you can use to cover uncertainty and keep room in your margins for when things don't go as planned.
Remember, you are a company. Companies need profit to survive. After you project costs are estimated, you can now add a percent on top for company profit.
Each project can have as many boards as needed. When adding a user to a project, you select which boards they have access to. This allows managers to separate, for example, design and development tasks to their own boards.
This is where clients can create tickets, report bugs, etc. You can also use this to assign tasks (responsibility) to a client.
Scoping a project is one of the most overlooked phases in a new project. It is also arguably the most important phase. A written scope of work aligns everyone's expectations and can protect you from scope creep and legal arguments.
Integrated chat really helps keep things moving when your client doesn't use other popular chat services. No need to ask them to create another account, they can simply ask questions and keep all the communication right in the project, where it belongs.
More details on features can be found below.
This is especially important for the "solopreneurs". When you're running client meetings and the only one responsible for coming up with the right questions to pull out the actual requirements for a project while also trying to get a read on how much value the deliverable will bring to the client.
It is game-changing to have reminders of powerful questions to ask, how to set up conversation scenarios, and feel confident when closing the deal.
A column view of tasks with grouping and filtering. Each project can have as many boards as needed. This allows you to separate, for example, design and development tasks into their own boards.
The ticket modal is packed full of all the communication tools managers and implementers need to get the job done.
Compact and organized. The ticket modal is where many people will be spending most of their time. We have iterated over many layouts and structures and have been actively using this for our internal project management to ensure all the features are actually useful in real-world situations.
Keeping internal tickets separate from client-facing is important on many levels. That is why they are kept on a separate board.
Only users with permission can access the service desk. Usually limited to project managers and team leads to ensure all communication with clients is kept organized.
The task modal is also full featured here, just like the internal tasks. Yes, that's right. Clients get the same features as the internal task modal. You can even include these client facing tickets in releases and scope documents.
When adding people to a project, you can clearly see who has access to what and customize the permissions based on the need of the project.
Project scoping is arguably the most important phase of a project and the most overlooked. Having a scope, that is included with your signed contract, keeps everyone on the same page, and can protect you from legal arguments.
A project scope details what you are building and delivering and can include timelines, price, and other various terms.
In Dev Nova, you can submit a scope to a client for approval. They will have the option to approve or deny it. And all of these actions are recorded and kept in the project for you.
Throughout Dev Nova, you will notice inline coaching sections. In addition to the project startup page, there will be context-specific coaching for quick access to reminders, articles, and videos to help you write effective scopes. This coaching can help reduce scope creep, assist in billing what you're worth (get away from hourly billing), and what to include to help avoid legal arguments and misunderstandings.
Having a historical changelog for a long running project is essential. Being able to see which tasks were included and attaching release notes makes looking back such a joy.
We use releases to track delivery and changes in design work, 3d modeling, audio work, and more. Whenever you are delivering an asset to a client that may need to be updated, changed, or revised, it is good practice to track what was changed on each delivery. This organization will always come in handy if a client questions what changed, why the final was delivered on a different date etc.
In Dev Nova, invoicing is integrated with your project and project scopes. We encourage you to estimate your project based on the value your providing to your client instead of guessing or tracking your hours and multiplying that by an hourly rate.
In-line coaching will assist in transitioning to setting a project price and invoicing based on that.
Imagine estimating a project to not just cover your time to design or develop it but also include a company profit markup, equipment usage charge, and even if you are a single-person team, break up the charges into all of the different roles you perform on the project. All these adjustments in billing will help you go from project to project to having some breathing room with cash flow and company profit.
You know that feeling when you meet someone new, and your good friend introduces you and says some amazing and flattering things about you? It means so much more to that other person because it is coming from a third party. If you were to say the same things, it could come across as being full of yourself and off-putting.
A similar feeling can be there when reminding people to pay you.
Dev Nova handles some of those conversations for you, at least getting them started with payment reminders and late payment notices.
General Chat
General chat is a channel open to all users with access to the project. This also allows people who have access to the project but no boards to access chat and request access to a board.
Project Boards = Channels
Each project board in a project will be used as a chat room/channel.
The permissions will use the project board permissions, so if you have access to the board, you have access to the corresponding chat room.
In development, coming soon.
Most organizations already have a dedicated chat/communications service. That's great! We're not trying to replace that. Project chat is more about posting information and asking questions that you would want to have searchable in the context of the project.
Imagine if, two months after a project, you needed to find a question/answer on the project. Where do you search? A third-party comms service private messages, various group messages, a couple of internal channels? Or, just search the project where it should be. So simple.
Imagine having documents right in the project! Project documents are editable by multiple at the same time. Real-time collaboration is enabled on pages, releases, tasks, and scope documents to ensure everyone is on the same page.
You can set a page to private and allow only certain people to view it. In addition, you can also create a shareable link that allows anyone to view using the link. This opens up the ability to create a quick walk-through or documentation and share it with a client organization without having to onboard every single person that needs to view it.
Meeting notes are an essential part of doing business, and they so easily get lost. Dev Nova meetings are enhanced with integrated screen recording in the browser to capture your business conversation while you take notes.
Meeting recordings can be uploaded and transcribed
Once your meeting completes, you have the option to upload it to your Dev Nova project and have it transcribed. Once transcribed, you have a searchable transcript that links you directly to that portion of the meeting recording.
