The new task view/edit screen (on the iPhone) is very pretty, and it is good to have the view and edit functionality combined.
I have some suggestions for the order and layout and terminology, though, which would perhaps make the app even slightly quicker to use, but would make GTD much easier to learn and understand for a novice user.
Right now, when you enter a new task you are presented with a number of initial options:
- an all-day switch
- a selector called "Start time" (which contains Today, Next, Waiting ...)
- deadline
After that is:
- a group of selectors for context, project, tags, and priority
- a group of selectors for repetition and reminders (time-based settings).
Here are my suggestions:
1) The first and primary choice should be the "Status" of the task:
- inbox
- next
- waiting
- someday
- scheduled
Comment 1a) :Today and Tomorrow are merely sub-options within Scheduled and do not belong in the main "Status" selector, If we ever schedule a task (which is seldom in GTD), the detailed scheduling options such as today, tomorrow, next Wednesday etc, and whether it is an "all-day" or "exact time" are things that should appear in the separate timing section further down on the edit screen.
Comment 1b) "Start time" is a misleading name for "Status". For example, Waiting is not a timing factor at all - it signifies that somebody ELSE (not you) is doing the task, but it has already "started", i.e. it has been given to another person to do asap. Someday/Maybe is not a timing factor either - it signifies that you are NOT SURE whether you want the task done (just a possibility/idea).
2) An "Attention today" toggle (e.g. a star), which can be applied totally independently of the "Status".
3) The group of selectors for context, project, tags, and priority
4) All the timing and scheduling options - repeat, reminder, all-day, start date etc. The Deadline needs to be possible to set even for non-scheduled tasks, just as it is today. In this section of the edit screen I would also like to include a Calendar/Tickler toggle for controlling the behavior of "scheduled" tasks.
.. and, preparing for an important next step for managing real projects:
4b) A toggle for "active/inactive" (default = active; i.e. visible on the "status" list; whereas inactive = subsequent/dependent task, not possible until previous project tasks have been completed; not visible yet on the "status" list).
(These are the tasks that in paper GTD, too, would have been left out of the normal active lists and would have been kept on separate lists among the project support material. It is practical to have a separate active/inactive switch for this purpose, as this allows for automation at a later stage, such that subsequent tasks can go automatically, serially to the predesignated "box" when preceding tasks have been completed.)