Action Method
Didn’t I just finish saying there’s a new task/project management app each day? Yesterday, TechCrunch posted about a new project management application called Action Method. I just signed up to check it out, and even though my first instinct is to label them as a “me-too” app, I must say I am pretty impressed with what they’ve built.
They haven’t just dropped a set of features on a page and labeled each with a navigation link, the way another tool I found today has done (check out Pelotonics). Instead, they’ve attempted to create a flexible tool that reflects how we actually work. The primary focus of the app is on “Action Steps” - actual work products. Beyond that, I can dump items into References, Backburners, Discussions, or Events. They’ve also got a “Project View” that unites all of these project items together, and an Activity Feed that shows what everyone has been up to.
The collaboration is extremely smooth. After I type in the name of a task/”Action Step”, I can just start typing in an e-mail address to assign it to someone, even if they haven’t signed up yet. For each new task I create going forward, it attempts to auto-complete for the e-mail addresses I’ve already entered. I can also choose to share all of the activity associated with a project with a specific contact. Kudos to their UI designer(s) for making the whole user experience quick and easy to get started with.
Where’s the task management category killer?
Every time I check up on the status of task management apps, it seems that five more have appeared. Here are a few of the apps I’ve come across: Remember the Milk, Nozbe, Todoist, Things, OmniFocus, ActionGear, iGTD, Zenbe List, and HiTask.
Then, if you want to put a collaborative slant on things, you can take a look at all of the different project management tools: Basecamp, Goplan, QuickBase, CentralDesktop, activeCollab, and @task.
Why are so many of these applications getting built when the existing list of options is so large?
Maybe it’s because programmers are the group that most need to pay attention to a long list of detailed tasks, so they build it for themselves - because they can. Programming about programming.
Or maybe it’s because none of these tools have captured how we actually want to work. Developers are stuck in a world where they’re trying to port a desktop application to the web, and hoping it sticks; but all they get is a steep learning curve. Many throw every possible feature at the user, and hope that the user can make sense of it all.
Can task management be a winner-takes-all category? Can an application generate enough value by making its users more productive than they were before - to the point where they’re willing to use it every day? Can it reduce enough friction and become viral so that it’s not just me using it, but us?
I’m still not sure I’ve figured out the answers to these questions. But if it is possible, then I think this space needs an entirely new approach. The user doesn’t want to learn GTD theory or somebody else’s idea on the tools and features necessary to be productive. He wants to learn how to accomplish his tasks.
Our approach to task management with Ativiti is similar to the way we learn our native language (through hearing it, reading it, and speaking it). We think you should learn how to become more productive by seeing how others did it - by seeing how they effectively accomplished a project goal, and then adopting their expert approach.