Case Study: Browning Trails Camera

From Frustration to Cohesive Collaboration: Browning Trail Cameras’ Journey Using Visor with Jira

“I work with an external team of developers, and we needed a way for me to see all of the Jira tickets even though I don’t have access to their Jira system. Visor provides an excellent way for me to see current ticket status and what’s in the backlog, even though I’m not part of the same company as our developers.”

Stephanie Dorough
Product Owner
Browning Trail Cameras

Browning Trail Cameras designs and manufactures the most technologically advanced outdoor surveillance cameras. To support its web and mobile applications, the company enlists the help of an external team of developers. Still, Browning Trails Cameras needed a process where Jira tickets could be visible to all collaborators. 

“What once took 12 to 24 hours now happens instantly thanks to Visor. It is well-built and provides the Jira syncing that I needed.”

Challenge

As a new product owner, one of the biggest challenges for Stephanie Dorough was that the external team of developers only used Jira for tracking tasks and progress, and she didn’t have access. Instead, she had to update Excel files often to stay on top of tasks.

As a result, she found herself trapped in the tedious loop of manually updating Excel files daily without real-time insight into Jira tickets. Not able to get the updates from Jira for herself, Dorough tried using an online version of Excel, but she still had to wait for the developers to sync the data for her.

“We tried to make the online version of Excel work. However, I didn’t have syncing ability, so if I had to create tickets and add them to the priority list immediately, I couldn’t see the Jira ticket number or the ticket information.”

Finally, after mounting frustration, Dorough’s team sought a solution that could make her workload less cumbersome.

Solution

Dorough was determined to find a way to access Jira, even though she wasn’t part of the external team of developers.

Recognizing the shared goal of enhancing team productivity, Dorough explored other options with a Product Manager. Together, they sought a way to grant her access to Jira and provide instant ticket visibility. Whichever solution they chose would have to eliminate the requirement of updating Excel files daily.

Eventually, Dorough found Visor. Through Visor’s Workspace, Jira data could be synchronized in real-time, making her workflow more efficient and seamless.

“Visor allows me to easily move, sort, and organize Jira tickets and priorities. It lets me get an overall view of everything on our backlog and everything active right now.“

Results

Visor revolutionized Dorough’s process of managing projects with Jira-related tickets. The ability to make customized visualizations of Jira tickets and drag and drop priorities in real time are two of the most considerable improvements for Stephanie.

Before Visor, Dorough had to wait 12-24 hours to access Jira tickets and their statuses. During that hours-long wait time, she had to copy and paste project details in Excel to ensure continued access. This practice further delayed relaying up-to-date information to her internal team. Now, her Jira tickets are visible almost instantly with one click, eliminating the frustration of copying and pasting tickets manually. 

There’s even more good news. As a result of the streamlined project management process, Browning Trail Cameras also has a higher app store rating since using Visor. Thanks to Visor, Stephanie’s project management journey has transformed remarkably, improving operations and liberating her from these time-consuming tasks.