I keep meaning to write about RedCritter. The innovators at this Dallas-based company are really thinking out of the box. I'm not sure if the result is awesome or awful, but it certainly has captured my attention.

RedCritter is the publisher of Tracker, a project-management tool for Agile development. It's a lightweight tool, but that's OK – Agile is a lightweight approach to development. In fact, most teams manage their Scrum and Kanban processes without recourse to a project-management tool. Using a tool seems...un-Agile, somehow.

But Tracker is well-suited to Agile methods. The folks at RedCritter built the product especially to support Agile development (though they believe Tracker is suited to project-management tasks in fields besides software development as well). And they added a twist: the software treats development like a game.

Tracker allows members of development teams to earn points and badges by fulfilling project goals. The badges – the system allows program managers to define as many as 50 of them – can be displayed on developers' profile pages, much like the badges gamers earn by acquiring skills in computer games like World of Warcraft. Points can be accumulated and traded for incentives in a company rewards store. A live feed, sort of like an in-house Twitter, lets developers track each other's progress toward incentives and gives managers a view into the development process.

The idea is that treating development like a game makes the whole project more fun. Letting developers compete for badges and points isn't just fun, it's motivating. At least, that's what RedCritter's customers have found.

RedCritter makes Tracker available on a 30-day free trial basis. So why not give it a try? It sounds like it could make development more fun. And isn't that what everyone wants?

Web recommendation: You have probably heard that Google is killing off its Code Search feature. Stepping into the void is search[code], an innovative site run by hacker Ben Boynter in Australia. According to Boynter, the site is “an attempt to put all programming documentation in one searchable place.” That's a big job for one guy, but it's pretty impressive what Boynter has done so far. You can see for yourself by clicking here. J.D. says check it out.

J.D. Hildebrand has written hundreds of articles for dozens of publications and online communities dedicated to software development. Today's lunch was spaghetti with an excellent homemade bolognese sauce.