Review: Nevin Freeman pops the Addepar hood to see what $50 million of coding can do for RIA software
Other than a couple of willful eccentricities, the Mountain View-based start-up's engineers earn a 'well done' from our technology maven
Pete Giza
Nevi,
Thanks for the review. Addepar 2.0 looks cleaner, simpler. I believe that less is more with interface design. Economy of motion is also big element in successful human appeal. It is a real accomplishment to retain the goal of simplicity of presentation when you hand the wheel over to another driver. As we know “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” and the power of WYSIWYG reporting tools are a very sharp two-edged sword.
One the one hand it allows the user to build, within limits, whatever their whimsy. However it takes discipline to keep yourself from respinning the same report 20 times thereby ending up with 20 different versions of the same presentation. Multiply this by N clients, with X accounts, bonds, privates assets, etc., and you have a formula for tremendous complexity rather than the advertised simplicity.
An simplicity can become an issue with a user that is very happy hugging Excel and want to test, twist and analyze what the system they are using is supposed to do for them in the first place. Old habits die hard but Addepar is doing a great job of educating the market that there are a lot of great technology advancements in play in this market. I for one applaud that effort since, selfishly said, it benefits me.
Best,
Pete
Pete Giza | VP Bus Dev | WealthSite Inc | www.wealthsite.com
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Addepar
Portfolio Management System
Top Executive: Eric Poirier
