My name is Bjorn Gustafsson and I’m the architect and developer of ProjectKoach. I’m a software engineer at heart and while others write books about their experiences and ideas, I write software; ProjectKoach is my statement to our industry of simpler (and more agile) ways to agile team management.

I started to build ProjectKoach in 2004 to fill the void between all-purpose project management tools, which are not really suitable for software development, and the (in my experience) simplistic approach of “post-it notes on a board”. I wanted to create a non-intrusive tool that allowed agile teams to work under a well-defined software process but without the friction normally associated with “process”. My experience from consulting with software teams and as RUP architect was that process itself quickly became an obstacle to process adoption; my idea was to make process transparent by building it right into the tool. In essence, while ‘process’ was perceived as just a recipe, or a handbook, I wanted to take it to the next level and make it an integral and active component in the team’s planning and execution.

The ProjectKoach 2010 release marks an important milestone with the completion of the Eclipse migration – it provides a simple but powerful user experience for those people in charge of planning and control, while doing a good job of making itself transparent for all others. This release is far from the end (“but it might be the end of the beginning”) and it provides a solid platform for the continued quest for an ever simpler and more powerful tool! I’m looking forward to a steady stream of new releases over the coming years!

ProjectKoach as it exists today has grown far from the original idea and it has continuously evolved thanks to a lot of great user feedback – I thank each and everyone of you! This blog and forum are intended to continue to relay your ideas and feedback just as much as they are intended to provide tips and tricks and insight into the ongoing work of ProjectKoach.

Enjoy!