Is That It??

Am I missing something? I have been playing with Microsoft Gatineau for a couple of week now, and I’m thinking “What? Is that all there is?” Sure, it looks good, and if you haven’t read Stephen Few, you might still think that 3D graphs add to the depth of insight. However, I don’t think Gatineau usability is that good though: try to find the calendar for changing date range, it’s not obvious right away what metric you’re looking at, the top-level graph is not easily understood at first glance, etc. And let,s be frank: there aren’t that many reports!

OK, I know I shouldn’t complain: I got to test it before many people, and, heck, it’s free!! This being said, if a client asked me whether they should use Gatineau or Google Analytics (gosh, the thought of having to compare/recommend free stuff!!), I would and should definitely go GA’s way. Sure, it’s a good start for Gatineau, however my expectations were higher, since we had been reading a lot about it for months. I appreciate the socio-demographic dimension, but I don’t see how useful that can be when your site evolves in a B-to-B environment.

OK, we’ll wait for v2, which I guess will try to get at par with GA. Microsoft is looking for a new Product Manager, and I am sure a lot of people are working hard now to make it a better product. The race is not over, the finish line is not yet in sight, and Microsoft still reads the #1 number on Google’s back.