Q: Hi Tom, I am a little bit confused.
On the top it says Malcom is an alternative to Typeform or Help Scout. But then it says something about "repeating tasks". And in the video it says Malcom is for FAQs. And somewhere it says it is for workflows.
To sort it out: Typeforms is for Forms. I can´t imagine that you "just" want to do forms.
Workflows and automated tasks, this reminds me about Process.st. I would love to have a good alternative for Process.st, but does Malcom handele Workflows like Process.st? And what have FAQs got to do with repeating tasks?
Honestly, it looks good but your description is so confusing that I have no Idea what Malcom really is about. Is it a Support-Center? Does it automate Tasks? Of all kind? Is it for forms? What is it for?
And please don´t tell me "for everything". I an trying to find your USP, the core-Idea behind your software, and not a list of all of the small extra-features that "somehow" can do "something". ;)
All the best, Julian!
TomJ_Malcolm
May 14, 2024A: Hey Julian
Thanks for the feedback!
There are a few different parts of Malcolm! - a brief overview here:
https://malcolm.app/features
The Workflow part of Malcolm! is all about forms and is comparable to Typeform.
https://malcolm.app/workflow
The FAQ part of Malcolm! is comparable to other Knowledge Base products like Help Scout's KB offering. Our floating widget is also similar to what they call Beacon.
https://malcolm.app/faq
Both those parts of Malcolm! (Workflows and FAQs) are fully featured and could be used as standalone products.
The reason we bundle them together is that we want to help companies and organisations "digitise" their user servicing. And from projects we've done over the years that tends to come down to two broad areas: 1. Answering user questions and 2. Taking users through a business process. There is a bit more of a long winded explanation here: https://support.malcolm.support/faqs/understanding-malcolm-initial-concepts-and-how-to-use-the-product
it is nuanced and I agree it can be confusing at first, but we think it does make sense :-) I guess the fact we combine these things could be our USP. To us it just makes sense - in most servicing or user interaction situations there are questions to be answered and processes to be followed! A bit like now - you're asking us questions and we're answering. If you like the answer you might buy, which will involve going through AppSumo's business process of buying a code :-)
Having said all of that it's certainly true that not all users of Malcolm! will use all parts of the software - we have users who just use the FAQ part or just the Workflow part. In a similar way some users bring Malcolm! content into their existing websites via embeds whilst others use our hosted hub on a dedicated sub domain.
We do often see users start out with one part (eg they need a Knowledge Base initially) then later on start to use Workflows and vice versa because the FAQ and Workflow tools are complimentary.
I hope this makes sense and helps explain our focus and the angle we are coming from :-)
dsignsbyfeI agree with you. It’s a bit confusing.
Hiya
Hopefully my reply to Julian helps - let me know if not :-)
Julian_WolfPLUS
Verified purchaser
Hi Tom,
honestly, it does not feel good to me when I am confused by a lot of unsorted informations and your answer is full of youtube-links and feature-lists. If it would be transparent enough to get an idea about what your software is about, I would not have asked you.
Let me try to summarize it:
-> The Workflow part of Malcolm! is all about forms and is comparable to Typeform.
https://malcolm.app/workflow
Hä? Typeforms is forms. What is a "Workflow" if you simply add some actions to a form? My bicycle is not transforming into a car only by adding a small electro-motor. So why do you call your Forms "Workflows"?
-> Both those parts of Malcolm! (Workflows and FAQs) are fully featured and could be used as standalone products.
And car-manufactures bundle cars with radios so you can drive to a place and listen to a music. I still don´t see the "big vision" behind that. to me it sounds like you have a form-builder and a knowledge-base. Did I miss anything?
Following your logic of combining you could also add a review- and rating-feature. And a tracking and analytics-feature. And a website builder. And then you can recreate the Internet. I am still totally missing the "big point" of combining that. And looking on the different appsumo-offers, there are so many different offers that fullfill a certan need, like OBF, like Endorsal, like AIDA-Forms, and like many more. They all are totally specialized and perfect in what they do, so they can easily and smoothly be integrated in our processes.
It really looks nice on the first view but it really feels annoying if you call something "Workflow" and then there is something totally different inside. Only by calling your forms "Workflow" you don´t have a software that handeles Worklfows. If you can´t fullfill a workflow (like Process.st) You are producing a total wrong expectation to what your software does.
So once again: Your software is a combination of Forms and Knowledge-Base.
And you can NOT do Workflows like most business define workflows.
The workflows you can do are ONLY certain actions after a user fills out a form.
Is this right?
All the best, Julian!
SupoPLUSExactly, I am missing here the true meaning of this service, is it a FAQ board plus a simple form inquiry! It is similar than Aidaform but in my first trial and test I faced issues. You can try it here:
https://testi.malcolm.app/workflows/testataan
I tested Multi file upload, which completely got frozen while first trying 100mb file. -->doesn't let Submit the form. What is the maximum file upload size or multiple files together?
I can try to upload more but name won't change and I don't know if upload is finished or see which files I have uploaded.
And is this "Powered by Malcolm" text always visible (not white label)?
Hiya
Thanks for the feedback!
The file upload should work - if you continue to have issues please email support@malcolm.app and we can look at that for you.
You can change the branding - more info here:
https://support.malcolm.support/faqs/can-i-remove-the-malcolm-branding
8745468327PLUSMaybe "Workflows" is not the word.
That is an interesting one and one we have often debated internally :-)
Our take is a workflow is a sequence of steps involved in moving from the beginning to the end of a working process - and you can do that in Malcolm!
You can build multi-page forms/user journeys with conditional routing (https://support.malcolm.support/faqs/how-do-i-create-routing-via-rules-logic-flows-in-a-workflow) and conditional integration triggering plus allow users to save/resume journeys (https://support.malcolm.support/faqs/can-users-save-workflow-progress-and-complete-later) and also do some cool things with hidden fields (https://support.malcolm.support/faqs/can-i-set-workflow-values-in-a-url) - so it's pretty powerful - more so than a simple form builder but perhaps more generic that something that is heavily customised for a specific task or a dedicated business process mapping bit of software .
In the context of supporting general user interactions there are lots of use cases - some starters for ten here: https://blog.malcolm.app/how-to-incorporate-workflows-into-your-business-organisation/
Like all products it's best to try it to see if it suits your needs - we do have a free trial that lets you do just that!