Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group, shares his vision for 2025, focusing on remote work, automation, and integrating Apple Intelligence into their apps. He discusses the user-centric redesign of OmniGraffle 8, emphasizing decades of customer feedback shaping new features. The conversation also highlights overcoming document linking challenges across platforms and the transformative benefits of automation in Omni apps. Ken reflects on how the evolution of remote work has influenced OmniFocus development, revealing exciting updates for dedicated users.
The Omni Group's 2025 Roadmap emphasizes enhancing user experience through automation and user feedback for improved app functionality.
Transitioning to remote work has fostered equitable collaboration and a stronger community among team members, accommodating diverse work-life balances.
Deep dives
Enhancing User Experience in OmniFocus
OmniFocus 4.0 was designed with careful consideration of user feedback to enhance functionality without compromising compatibility with previous versions. The development team prioritized a smooth transition from version 3.0, avoiding changes that might disrupt users' existing workflows. After a year of using 4.0 and its subsequent updates, the team is now ready to incorporate features that users have long requested, sometimes for decades. This approach reflects a commitment to customer satisfaction and an understanding of the importance of user-friendly design.
Adapting to Remote Work Culture
The shift to a fully remote work environment has led to more equitable collaboration among team members, ensuring everyone can participate equally in meetings. This new culture has allowed for a more integrated work-life balance, accommodating various time zones for team members. Recognizing the unique challenges of hybrid work setups, the company explored innovative solutions like remote presence robots, which proved to be less effective than the current remote-only model. Over time, this adaptation has fostered a stronger sense of community and collaboration among the team members.
Embracing Automation and Cross-Platform Compatibility
Automation has become a key focus for improving user experience in Omni apps, allowing routine tasks to be streamlined and less cumbersome for users. With features like the ability to sync OmniFocus automatically upon connecting to Wi-Fi, users can enjoy a more responsive and updated platform regardless of their usage frequency. Furthermore, the emphasis on cross-platform compatibility and the thoughtful integration of customer feedback has strengthened the overall usability of the products. The goal is to ensure that users have a consistent experience, regardless of the device they choose to work on, enhancing efficiency and productivity.
In this episode of The Omni Show, we sit down with Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group, to dive into this year's 2025 Omni Roadmap Blog Post. Ken shares insights on remote work, automation improvements, and getting the inner-workings in Omni apps ready for Apple Intelligence.
We also discuss what's coming up for OmniFocus 4, the redesign of OmniGraffle 8, and how decades of user feedback is shaping the new features. Whether you're a dedicated Omni user or just curious about the latest developments, this episode offers an inside look at what’s happened and what’s next.