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The Digital Project Manager’s Software Review Methodology

We’re the world’s biggest, baddest collective of digital project managers. And we share what we know through our articles, podcasts, newsletters, courses, and member community.

What’s included on this page

Software Reviews You Can Trust

We know how critical it is to make the right decision when selecting project management software so we invest in deep research to help our audience make better software purchasing decisions. 

We ensure we provide up-to-date, detailed, practical,  reviews and information to help decision-makers compare and evaluate software to make more informed buying decisions.

What Makes Us Qualified?

We’ve been testing and reviewing project management software since 2011.

  • We’ve worked with 170+ Digital Project Management professionals
  • Researched over 2,000 software tools for Digital Project Management use cases
  • Written over 1,000 comprehensive software reviews

Why Our Reviews Are Useful, Honest & Trustworthy

Our reviews team is committed to bringing you unbiased evaluation and information with editorial independence.

To do this we rely heavily on:

  • First-hand software testing
  • User interviews
  • Product data analysis
  • Expert insights from practitioners

Ensuring quality opinions and recommendations to guide you toward making the best decisions for project managers and leaders building great organizations.

How we test software and what criteria we look for:

We know that each company’s software needs are unique and depend on a variety of factors, all of which are taken into account in our stringent set of review criteria, outlined below.

When considering which tools to include in our lists, our process might include any of the following.

Hands-on Testing & Evaluation

We ensure we personally test and use the software ourselves, so we are able to accurately evaluate and review its strengths and weaknesses. Our hands-on approach lets us test how the software works in practical scenarios, not just in theory. 

Our robust testing process typically includes:

  • Reviewing product demos
  • Registering for a product trial 
  • Hands-on software testing 
  • Feature benchmarking and evaluation
  • Functionality gap analysis

In our testing process, we set specific criteria for each software category. This ensures our reviews are thorough and relevant. For example, we might focus on ease of use for collaboration tools or data security for financial software.

Our detailed approach to software testing means we’re able to offer insights that are truly helpful for anyone considering these tools.

User Feedback Analysis

To provide additional quality control for our software reviews, our review process also includes detailed analysis of user feedback. 

Here’s how we do it:

  • Gathering Diverse Feedback: We collect opinions from various users across different platforms (ensuring we exclude testimonials from the software companies themselves)
  • Analyzing Real-World Use: This feedback gives us insights into how the software performs in actual work environments.
  • Assessing Effectiveness: We evaluate the practicality and efficiency of the software based on user experiences.

This approach ensures our reviews are not just informative, but also directly applicable and useful for your software selection process.

Direct Conversations With Software Vendors

To ensure our reviews are factually accurate, we work with software companies directly to better understand their customer offering, product roadmap, features and functionality.

Getting this first-hand information ensures our software reviews are up-to-date and accurate.

Our Comparison Criteria for Software Evaluation Explained

With so many different software features and slightly different functionality it can be hard to compare one tool with another. 

We help you make more informed decisions about software and make that comparison simpler and easier. 

Here are some of the aspects we consider when reviewing and evaluating software, to ensure the most accurate, comprehensive and relevant software reviews.

Features & Functionality

Our tool analysis begins with developing a thorough understanding of the feature set to  understand what’s included – and what’s not. 

  • Feature Set Understanding: Check what features are included and what are missing.
  • Functionality Testing: Test and evaluate how well each feature works and compare them to similar tools.
  • Standout Features Evaluation: Look for features that are more advanced than those in generic software.

We know our readers look for tools that offer more than just the basics, so we highlight standout features that differentiate tools from one another.

Usability & Onboarding

We start by learning the software ourselves to assess its ease of use:

  • Learning Curve Assessment: Review how easy it is to learn the software with minimal training.
  • User Experience and Design Evaluation: Examine the tool’s UX and design to ensure it’s enjoyable for the team.
  • Onboarding Features Analysis: Assess templates, mobile apps, and automations to determine the speed of team adoption.

We evaluate how well designed, usable, and easy-to-use the software is and its ability to save the team time, overall making it a better investment.

Integrations

We know how important it is to acquire software that plays nicely with the other tools and software you already use. 

  • Integration Robustness Evaluation: Check the strength of native and 3rd party integrations.
  • Ease of Setup Assessment: Determine how simple these integrations are to set up.
  • Live Integration Support Analysis: Evaluate the effectiveness of live integration and data exchange between systems.

Support

We test how quick and easy it is to get help when you’re stuck. We review and evaluate the quality and quantity of tools available to customers to get help and get unstuck. 

  • Help and Support Testing: Test how quickly and effectively you can get assistance.
  • Support Tools Review: Evaluate the range and quality of support options like wikis, forums, live chat, phone support, and ticketing systems.
  • Response Time and Thoroughness Assessment: Review the response speed and the comprehensiveness of the support provided.

We know good support means less hassle and we know that’s crucial for our readers.

Price

We know SaaS tools are not just a one time purchase, but an ongoing investment, with high switching costs. 

  • Cost-Value Evaluation: Determine if the software’s monthly price per user aligns with the value it offers.
  • Price-Functionality Comparison: Compare price and functionality, focusing on how features vary across different pricing tiers.
  • Cost-Effectiveness for Startups and Small Businesses: Pay special attention to affordability, crucial for startups and smaller businesses.

Ethics

We believe it’s essential for our audience to understand how our company earns money. The following statement is at the top of every story on our site:

Our reviewers evaluate software independently. Clicks may earn a commission, which supports testing. Learn how we stay transparent & our review methodology.

The editorial team, however, does not handle commissions in any way, nor receive any of the commission earned. Reviewers are paid for their work and do not earn bonuses based on referral of one software or tool over another. Sponsored articles exist on this website, but are disclosed as such.

Addressing Specific Business Challenges

We know that different software solutions are built to address different business challenges (and we know that it’s different for everyone). We focus on their practical applications in real-world scenarios to help you understand where we’re coming from in our evaluation process.

Software to Make Project Management More Efficient

Our reviews focus on software offering these key benefits:

  • Streamline project workflows: To optimize and simplify the progression of tasks within a project for efficiency.
  • Enhance team collaboration: To strengthen teamwork and communication for improved collaboration on projects.
  • Optimize resource utilization: To efficiently allocate and maximize the use of available resources.

Why? We focus on these benefits because efficient project management is essential for aligning on project requirements and minimizing operational challenges, key priorities for our audience of project managers and leaders.

Project Management Software Reviews:

Tools for Managing Project Requirements

Key benefits we look for in project management tools: 

  • Enhance Visibility: To forecast project needs and facilitating better coordination among team members.
  • Improved Tracking: For efficient tracking and tracing of requirements throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring accountability and alignment with project goals. 

Why? Because solid project requirements are vital for project managers as they establish the foundation, scope, and objectives, serving as a blueprint for successful project execution.

Project management requirements software reviews:

Tools for Managing Resource Allocation

Key benefits we looks for in resource management tools:

  • Streamline resource management: For optimizing efficiency, avoiding bottlenecks, and ensuring optimal utilization of available resources
  • Provide a bird’s eye view of organizational capacity: Enabling strategic planning, efficient allocation, and proactive decision-making.
  • Revenue forecasting: To provide accurate budgeting, resource allocation, and strategic planning.

Why? This approach helps our readers find tools that help them to manage resources effectively and run successful projects

Resource Allocation Software Reviews: