@Folke
Hi,
Thank you for your feedback!
Firstly,I must to tell you that we are going to try to be a good app for GTD. At the same time,we hope more and more people could know GTD by using Doit.im,and then use GTD to help them manage tasks. So the app should be easy for users to understand who never know GTD. It is a challenge for us.
Some of your suggestion have been in our developing plan,such as the better filter,better Goal viewing page. Some changes need to be considered seriously. We must make it clear before we develop it.
Shall you need any help or have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me back.
Thank you for your support!
Best regards,
Doit.im Team
I cannot blame the Doit team for that decision because there are probably a lot more users in the world that have a "time planning" (scheduling) mindset than a "dynamic" (situational) GTD mindset, but all the same, I think it is a pity that so little is done to make life easier for us GTD adherents, and I think it is a very great pity that some features directly "sabotage" GTD use of the app. Question: Is this something the Doit team are willing and planning to improve?
If the above is difficult to understand, please let me explain and exemplify. In GTD we never really use dates and times unless the date is objective "hard landscape", either agreed with others or firmly stated by others. But we never set up "target deadlines" or "book time with ourselves". The fundamental approach is to decide what task to do now based on the current situation (the current moment). But of course this requires preparation.
In order to make dynamic decisions effortlessly all day long (instead of following a set list or schedule) it is necessary to have a number of key facts visibly recorded for each task, and to have powerful display choices for being able to see exactly the kinds of tasks we want to see when making such choices. All this is prepared during what GTD calls "reviews", which in GTD is not a historic review, but a forward-looking analysis (verification and/or amendment) of all our uncompleted tasks and projects.
For example, some features that would help GTD adherents would be:
- a regular "attention star", like most apps have, for conveniently putting selected "hot" items on a short list for our convenient attention without thereby modifying anything at all about the task (no date change; no list/box change etc etc)
- more convenient and powerful display options for showing exactly the desired things on the list we are looking at. This is a wide field of functionality, but a very good example of a very sueful feature is exclusion filtering, to be able to exclude (hide) tasks with selected tags, contexts, etc from the list we are looking at, especially the Next list. Other examples are single-click switching between difert grouping modes; having a by Gaol group mode.
- a Goal overview: Since projects can be grouped under Goals, and since Goals can be used both as GTD 30k goals and as GTD ~30k "areas", the whole Goals feature is essential for the GTD reviewing process, for being able to review (verify, amend) each goal.
- a mechanism to represent subsequent tasks and have them excluded from the active Next and Waiting lists. The simplest solution would be if individual tasks could be marked as "Inactive" just like projects. In addition, Doit could allow automation, bringing the next "inactive" task in turn to an active state and let it be shown on the list it belongs to (Next, Waiting, whatever)
- full recognition of the fact that a Waiting action is someone else's Next action. It is just as important and urgent as our own actions, but needs to be done by someone else. Therefore, for example, in the left menu Waiting should be immediately under Next. Another example: When the other person has promised us a deadline date and this date arrives, then the task should only be "attention starred" but must remain a Waiting action (not be changed to Next) because it is still to be done by someone else, but we must now begin to think of whether we perhaps need to undertake or create some NEW next action such as remind the person, or give the job to someone else etc, or perhaps do nothing if it does not matter to us that the person broke his promise, or if we do not have time to argue about it today.
There are many other features we could discuss of you decide to become a forefront GTD app. But my main worry right now is: Are you even going to try to be a good app for GTD?
-
08/13/2014 09:32#1PRO
-
08/13/2014 11:15#2PRO
@wendy_only
Thanks both for answering and for trying. I know it is a big challenge. It is also a big opportunity:
As I am sure you know there are not really any other apps that are pioneering strong and useful features that are particularly aimed at non-scheduling (dynamic) methodologies like GTD (avoiding date/time planning). So there is every opportunity for a creative developer to be the first one out. And a good part is that most of this GTD specific functionality will be entirely within the app itself, not requiring any expensive third-party integration nor any continual adaptation as other parties change their platforms. For example, once you have created some good, quick and powerful features for "view rearrangement" (exclusion filtering, instant re-filtering, regrouping etc) this functionality will be quite stable even when new browsers and phones etc have hit the market. Best of luck! -
08/14/2014 02:57#3PRO
@Folke
Hi,
Thank you for your support.
We agree that it is also a big opportunity. We will take your suggestion into consideration when we make improvement.
If you have any question,please let me know. :)
Best regards,
Doit.im Team