Is there a place for new app for GTD?

[Zielun]

Hi there,

There is quite a lot apps that can be used but do you thing there is a room for a brand new one?
Do you think that apps that you've chosen once are perfect or good enough, or rather it's the best you could find but there is plenty things that should be added/modified to improve GTD model?
Do you think that there is a room for new application like this, with maybe different approach, design, functionality that you couldn't find in existed ones so far? If you could name a few things that's in your opinion is missing that would be great.

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth to invest quality of time and resources to build something new from scratch. I use one app and I'm quite satisfied with how it works but see some areas that could be improved i.e. web interface and UX on both desktop and mobile.

Thanks in advance for your opinions on this.

[GTDClone]

I'm not interested in having a new app for gtd however I think there is always room for new stuff for other people :p
For me it would not be worth it though

[Zielun]

Thanks :-)

[Suelin23]

Yes I think so. I haven't seen any app that is designed to meet everything GTD, and if there was one I would definitely change. I am using Pocket Informant, and I can sort of manage to sort by context and time (using tags), or context and priority, but I'd really like to be able to sort by context, time, energy and priority and be able to change the sort order too. I'd also like to have a project list that I can group by area of focus. And links to my checklists and natural planning model.

[TesTeq]

There is quite a lot apps that can be used but do you thing there is a room for a brand new one?
Do you think that apps that you've chosen once are perfect or good enough, or rather it's the best you could find but there is plenty things that should be added/modified to improve GTD model?
Do you think that there is a room for new application like this, with maybe different approach, design, functionality that you couldn't find in existed ones so far? If you could name a few things that's in your opinion is missing that would be great.

Reliable, easy to use (easy data input) and ubiquitous list manager and calendar - that's all that you need for GTD.

[mcogilvie]

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth to invest quality of time and resources to build something new from scratch. I use one app and I'm quite satisfied with how it works but see some areas that could be improved i.e. web interface and UX on both desktop and mobile.

Thanks in advance for your opinions on this.

I think it's a crowded space now for mac-iPhone-iPad apps that are useful for GTD. Windows seems dominated by Outlook. In the web+ arena, I suppose the question is whether you could do something that is clearly superior to Toodledo. It has a not-so-pretty web ui, but is very robust. Maybe there's a market for a good Android app, but I don't know.

[vicve]

I totally agree that there are way too many of the productivity apps out there already that essentially all do the same thing but I would love to see an app for the latest podcasts, articles, newsletter, tips, etc from David co. I have a similar app for a site called Morning Coach and think that's useful. It would be great to get push notification reminders and tips.

[pxt]

If you want to do something unique, I would suggest you forget about the app idea and think instead in terms of cross-platform components that allow users to construct their GTD workflows from tools they are already familiar with.

Take a tiny example of collection.
I write notes to self via email to a mailbox called Collector.
When I see a cool website, I add it to a bookmark called Collector.
I could now write some script that regularly gathers my bookmarked web sites and emails them to me.
Now I have a single collector: my email inbox.
So I can do clarification anytime I have an internet connection, using my favorite email software.
Plus my data is in an open format (IMAP email) that I own and I can move my data to a different client or even a different email provider.
But what about when I have collected a website but want to do clarification when I'm offline, like on a train commute?
Well safari can save entire web pages to a .webarchive.
And GoodReader can display those webarchives perfectly on an iPad.
And Dropbox can sync and save those .webarchives to my iPad.
But none of it just works. I have to set things up and do manual saves and transfers and caching, etc.

So the trick is to leverage what already exists and make it all flow together and allow the user to insert their tools of choice where possible.

[May]

If you want to do something unique, I would suggest you forget about the app idea and think instead in terms of cross-platform components that allow users to construct their GTD workflows from tools they are already familiar with.

Sounds similar to Personal Brain, except you don't really need any other tools when you use it.

[May]

But what about when I have collected a website but want to do clarification when I'm offline, like on a train commute?
Well safari can save entire web pages to a .webarchive.
And GoodReader can display those webarchives perfectly on an iPad.
And Dropbox can sync and save those .webarchives to my iPad.
But none of it just works. I have to set things up and do manual saves and transfers and caching, etc.


I use Evernote separately just for a single purpose, as an inbox. It's cross platform, you can forward emails, photos, monitor a folder, save webpages, articles and etc.

I don't keep anything in Evernote though, it's just an inbox. Everything useful is moved to Personal Brain eventually. I don't really need Evernote though, it just works faster and more convenient as an inbox

[able222]

I use evernote to catpure all next actions, including capturing all misc reference material. Knowing whatever I capture on the go is accessible anywhere, I've found that besides an iphone calender and a strong project manager that's all I need.

Evernote is really good.

[Anitteb]

I have spent the last week comparing solutions, but even my frontrunners have major flaws.
Nozbe.com: Does not sync with iCal (big no-no), no ability to add notes to tasks, no sub-context, no desktop app (Supposed to be coming), too expensive);
GetItDone: not sure they've read GTD? No context(s) at all (has to be hacked by using tags or similar), no url links in notes (what's the point of a note if it cannot contain a link?), no desktop app;
toodledo: horrible UI - too much information that looks very cluttered, no desktop app (what do you do when you don't have access to the web???), no integration with Evernote.

It would be great to actually find an application that does things actually the GTD way :-)

[TesTeq]

It would be great to actually find an application that does things actually the GTD way :-)

Could you please specify what does it mean?

For example subcontexts are not the part of the original GTD specification - this feature is just your own preference.

[Anitteb]

Could you please specify what does it mean?

For example subcontexts are not the part of the original GTD specification - this feature is just your own preference.

Here us what "GTD way" means to me in the context of this discussion:

1. Basic Set-Up: Provide me with the core "infrastructure": inbox, actions (with someday option), projects, tickler and maybe altitude, ideally a tool that also makes my reviews cohesive and easier. For example: GetItDone does not have "contexts". The way tabs are used there is not very efficient - and does not replace that function.

2. Integration / Sync: In the digital age, it means that I am empowered to manage actionable items in an integrated way: that includes (for me) the ability to i.e. integrate with tools like Evernote, or Backpack,or similar, so I can easily find my materials (frequently materials for a project or action); it also should mean that I can have links in my notes (to i.e. the phone number of that person I am planning the call with, or the documents we need to go over in that conversation, etc.). It should also have the capabilities to sync with the most common digital calendar formats (i.e. iCal or Google Calendar).

3. Convergence: I know that mobile was not a major focus when GTD started: but for many of us, our mobile tools (phones and tablets) have become the remote controls for all of our daily activities.

To get things done today, I think, requires tools that live in all the dimensions of how we work (computer desktop, web and mobile) and must be able to seamlessly transition between mobile, desktop, web and (maybe) paper (in our case not so much: we're a green company, so most of our documents, means 90%+ of any reference and other materials etc. are digital and not on paper).

Hope that clarifies?

[ehpehp]

"toodledo: horrible UI - too much information that looks very cluttered, no desktop app (what do you do when you don't have access to the web???), no integration with Evernote. "

Yes, toodledo's UI isn't great. The project framework in particular is clunky. For me, it's good enough, and it accommodates my world of a Windows PC at work, and Apple devices at home. There's a nice ipad app that works off-line.

[mr.chris]

Here us what "GTD way" means to me in the context of this discussion:

My iphone project covers much of what you desire (what isn't covered is planned for the next version):


Regarding point (1): Basic Set-Up
* The Inbox is clearly labeled and is persistently located along the bottom of the screen as you peruse your Projects.

* Each Project is given its own summary view that displays (at your option) only the Next Action in series or all Actions (in parallel).

* You can easily associate contexts like Calendar Events, Full Contact Information, and mapped Places (with directions, phone number and physical address) with each of your Actions. Intention+ally makes use of data from the on-board Calendar and Contacts apps; it doesn't waste space on your device with unnecessary replacements for these apps.
-- for additional, specialized contexts, you can add Twitter-like hash-tags anywhere in an Action's title or description. For example, an Action that needs to be done at home, requiring internet access and an energy level of '5' can include hash-tags: #home #internet #nrg5 anywhere in the title or description of the Action. You can then use the included Search feature to search those tags. The more tags you search for, the more refined the results.


Regarding points (2) and (3) Integration / Sync and Convergence:
* Since Intention+ally uses your on-board Calendar and Contacts databases, syncing your device via iTunes will also sync that data with their desktop counterparts -- easy.

* My planned interface with Evernote, Twitter, and others is waiting on Apple's iCloud implementation to be fleshed-out. Apple has (necessarily, I suppose) been reluctant to "come clean" about what other cloud services will be allowed to interface directly with their iCloud. I am under NDA not to disclose specifics, but it would seem they may be willing to do much of the heavy lifting involved in interfacing with popular online cloud services.

* Clickable typed web- and phone-links are planned for version 2.0 (they aren't difficult to implement, but will require changes to the user interface that are significant enough to be justifiable only at a major version release).

Again, I am the developer for the app, and I view this forum as the primary spot to glean suggestions for its future. I am at your service; don't hold back -- let me know more about what you want!

Check it out: http://goo.gl/w2Jos

UPDATE: Thanks for the positive feedback! Orientation bug fixed.

[PeterR]

With Omnifocus on the mac, iPad, and iPhone, and all sync perfectly and do everything GTD requires (well, most of everything), you're up for some tough competition.

[mr.chris]

With Omnifocus on the mac, iPad, and iPhone, and all sync perfectly and do everything GTD requires (well, most of everything), you're up for some tough competition.

I suppose the reason I committed to this project is that I do not find the competition (OmniFocus, primarily) to be so tough. I covered a bit of the reason why on another thread in this forum (here: http://goo.gl/ZodXM), but to be brief:

(1) I admire OmniGroup for being able to create a GTD compliant iOS product so soon after the introduction of the iPhone. They had to create most of what is needed to make GTD happen on an iDevice from scratch at the time. Perhaps as a result, the user interface (UI) for OmniFocus was left as "vanilla" as possible. I purchased it right away (this was 2008!) and I found it to be very unintuitive. I had already devoted time to learning GTD, now I needed to devote more time to learning how to use it on my phone -- no good. It wasn't long before I went back to my old system -- also not good.

Having spent so much effort "training" customers on the UI, OmniGroup probably feel as though they are stuck with it. Changing the UI might cause a riot among its customers.

(2) Apple has since come out with application frameworks that simplify the creation of a GTD app for iDevices: UIKit has been significantly updated; Intention+ally connects directly with your device's onboard Calendar and Contacts as a result of these updates. You can setup ticklers right from within the app using your onboard Calendar and have them sync to iCal (or the calendar that iTunes syncs with on Windows if that is what you are on). CoreData makes database setup and communication easy, and, with the soon-to-be-released iCloud framework, sync will be a breeze!

OmniGroup spent money developing custom equivalents for these frameworks and needed to recoup its costs (and, of course, make a profit), so they charge US$20 for the iPhone client, US$40 for the iPad app, and US$30 for the desktop version.

My time isn't cheap and, thanks to Apple's updated frameworks, I'll be able to get away with a single app that works on all platforms (yes, iPhone/iTouch/iPad and desktop in ONE app) for significantly less cost to the customer.

Currently, Intention+ally is free to try and costs US$9 to buy.
The price will indeed increase once I implement the all-in-one feature set. I haven't done the cost analysis yet, but there's no way it'll come anywhere near US$90 for my one app that works on all platforms and syncs between all platforms via iCloud's free service.

That said, I hope to one day count you among my customers.

[Suelin23]

had a quick look, but couldn't find the next actions list, which is a major oversight! And no contexts either this is far from being GTD

[mr.chris]

had a quick look, but couldn't find the next actions list, which is a major oversight! And no contexts either this is far from being GTD

Hi Suelin23,

You are mistaken. Both "Next Actions" lists and contexts prominently exist in Intention+ally.

"Next Actions" lists are components of "Projects". Following GTD methodology, you would:

* add items to the "Inbox" as you think of them (or simply *do* them if they'll take less than a couple minutes)

* later, you would gather those items into "Projects" (Intention+ally: tap an Inbox item or tap and hold to gather several items into a new/existing Project).

* Those items each become part of that Project's "Next Actions" list.

Optionally, you can tap and hold on the Project Summary pane, create a new Project, and tap its "Next Actions" button.

To simply have a "Next Actions" button out in the open and not associated with a "Project" is akin to having a simple, flat to-do list -- which is certainly "far from being GTD".

I understand that people coming from OmniFocus are a bit indoctrinated to the way in which the OmniGroup team have setup their user interface (UI) after finally getting used to it. I created Intention+ally because I think the OmniFocus UI is unintuitive; Intention+ally is easy to get used to. All the same, I knew it would be necessary to prompt customers coming from OmniFocus (and other systems) the first time around, so I implemented instructional pop-up windows for first-time users. The first pop-up window welcomes customers and prompts them to enter items into the "Inbox". Customers can choose to ignore this prompt at which point they will see a prompt at the top of the Projects Summary pane telling them they can "Press and Hold the list to create a New Project". Did you not see/read the prompts the first time you opened Intention+ally?

"Contexts" again, according to the methodology, are the people, places, things, events and circumstances needed to perform an Action:

* People: Intention+ally uses your onboard Contacts app to attribute People to Actions. Said another way, adding people to your Contacts app, makes them available to Actions in Intention+ally.

* Places: As soon as you open the app, you will see a "By Place" button on the Projects Summary pane. Tapping that, you'll see a prompt to "Press and Hold the map to edit place listings", or if location services are enabled on your device, Intention+ally will allow you to quickly add your current location to the list of Places.

* Events: Also on the Projects Summary pane (visible as soon as you open the app) is a "By Event" button which, when tapped, will show a list of past, present & future events as well as a prompt to "Press and Hold the list to view/edit all events". Intention+ally uses your device's onboard Calendar app to glean events and adds to that Calendar when you add Events to Intention+ally. Those events sync to your desktop Calendar when your device syncs with iTunes.

* Things/Circumstances: Here is where those Twitter-style hash-tags come in. As you enter an Action (remember, Actions go under Projects), you can add Twitter-style hash tags to those Actions which will permit you to enter as many Contexts and Sub-Contexts as are necessary to perform that Action. For example, if "Reply to Comments on DavidCo.com forums" is my Action I would append the following hash-tags: #internet #10mins
Intention+ally picks-up these tags and allows you to search for all Actions containing a particular tag (or set-of-tags). I chose this style because Twitter's hash-tags have become a well-known UI element.

This has become a lengthy post, and I'm certain someone out there is thinking "Wow mr.chris, if your app is so intuitive why did you have to submit such a lengthy explanation regarding its use?" My response would be that "I don't think I *had* to, I am considerate of those who are willing to break away from their established GTD implementations to try my app." However, the most important word in my response is "willing". If one simply reads my app store blurb and does not download the app, or if one simply downloads and opens the app and does not read the first-time user prompts or enter anything into the Inbox, then of course nothing good will come of those token efforts. A more concise post would read "Please first *use* the app before deciding to publicly condemn it.", but that would have come across as terse and unwelcoming.


UPDATE: I forgot to thank Suelin23 for her comment. There really is no such thing as bad feedback. Thank you very much!

After some careful thought, I've decided to end the try-before-you-buy concept. It occurs to me that customers tend to more fairly evaluate a product if they are asked to pay for it. Said another way, giving your product away seems to result in a less-than-fair evaluation of the product. This change will take effect at the next maintenance release (version 1.6) and will only affect *new* customers. Those who have downloaded the current version (version 1.5.x) will continue to have the try-before-you-buy experience after upgrading to version 1.6.

[TesTeq]

After some careful thought, I've decided to end the try-before-you-buy concept. It occurs to me that customers tend to more fairly evaluate a product if they are asked to pay for it. Said another way, giving your product away seems to result in a less-than-fair evaluation of the product.

Oh, that's a very interesting and controversial decision. Let's assume that now you've got in a given period of time:

100 pay-now customers and 10 converted from try-before-you-buy (with conversion rate 1%)

Do you really think that more than 1% of those 1000 who tried your product will be eager to pay you up front?

[mr.chris]

Oh, that's a very interesting and controversial decision. Let's assume that now you've got in a given period of time:

100 pay-now customers and 10 converted from try-before-you-buy (with conversion rate 1%)

Do you really think that more than 1% of those 1000 who tried your product will be eager to pay you up front?

Well, if those 1000 have tried Intention+ally then they are already on the try-before-you-buy plan and so won't be paying me up front. The upgrade to 1.6 won't change things for them. New customers -- customers who have yet to download Intention+ally before version 1.6 comes available -- will not have a try-before-you-buy option.

That said, here is my thinking (bear with me):

* Mobile GTD is a niche market with limited supply and high demand (relative to other niche markets). I say limited supply because, despite the huge number of apps that claim to be GTD compliant, it would seem that adhering to David Allen's methodology in a monolithic package is either troublesome or not cost-effective for organized software development houses.

* OmniGroup is the current champion in this market despite having what is hands-down the most expensive and unintuitive array of products on offer in this category. As I have stated elsewhere on this forum, OmniGroup have my congratulations! Creating an iPhone GTD app three years ago must have been daunting. I don't begrudge them their success, however, in these times, if your closed applications ecosystem (i.e. the OmniFocus family of apps) requires users to receive training outside of simply using the apps and a support page on your web site, you are doing it wrong. Incidentally, I am active in these forums both as a promotional venture and as a hedge against my own confidence in this regard; if I am doing it wrong, I want to know that sooner.

PROS:
Given those points, there are a significant number of people who are willing to throw down at least US$20 and up to US$90 AND go through specific training AND tollerate the need for a website support page just to have GTD compliance on their computing platforms. I am both astonished and encouraged by these facts. My app is no where near those price points (and I suspect never will be). I have the advantage as long as I can perform to expectations.

CONS:
The sociology of this niche market is such that even the slightest rebuke (however unfounded) produces a negative impact that is more influential than five independent, all-star reviews among people of equivalent social status.
At the same time, if someone with an influential status (say, an executive of a medium to large corporate) gives a product in this niche a positive review, the people in her/his circle of influence seem to fall all over themselves to buy it. OmniFocus is evidence of this, for I say a pen, a small spiral note pad and a disciplined filing system trump OmniFocus's UI, and I suspect I am not the only one who thinks this. I'm sure those in this forum who go to the trouble to acclimate themselves to OmniFocus will ultimately find it useful. My point is, acclimating yourself to your software shouldn't be necessary.

Thus, try-before-you-buy presents too many opportunities for random and unfounded bashing of my app which I must then devote time to defending. People who are willing to pay, on the other hand, are willing to get their money's worth in using the app properly and, if they like it, they are willing to support it and maybe even cheerlead for it. If they hate it, they will go out of their way to burn it down, but since they were willing to pay for it, odds are they genuinely want something that works which means their gripes are likely constructive.

[Suelin23]

"Next Actions" lists are components of "Projects".
To simply have a "Next Actions" button out in the open and not associated with a "Project" is akin to having a simple, flat to-do list -- which is certainly "far from being GTD".

Did you not see/read the prompts the first time you opened Intention+ally?

"Contexts" again, according to the methodology, are the people, places, things, events and circumstances needed to perform an Action

According to GTD, next actions can be part of a project, but they can also be standalone isolated actions, that are only on a context list. I found I couldn't edit the tasks ie add context detail etc until they were in a project.
Yes I did read the prompts.
But intuitive to me, means if I want to filter the next actions by context, I look for the word 'context'. It was only after you explained that the places, things, etc were contexts that I realised they were. So to me it wasn't very intuitive, and I was indeed looking for GTD words in the app.
I also had trouble adding a place, I spent about 30 seconds trying to add one before I gave up. It needs to be a bit easier.
I also don't think Omnifocus is that great, but if you are looking for something with really great features, check out Pocket Informant. You don't need to buy it, you can download the manual from the internet and it has all the features in it.
Also, I think it should have a lot more features for the price you are asking.

[mcogilvie]

Dear Mr. Chris,

Please don't take this in the wrong way, but
I'm not sure you're presenting yourself
or your product in the most favorable
light possible in this forum.

[mr.chris]

According to GTD, next actions can be part of a project, but they can also be standalone isolated actions, that are only on a context list. I found I couldn't edit the tasks ie add context detail etc until they were in a project.

Right. Perhaps it is a misinterpretation on my part, but I implemented the standalone-contexts-list feature as being the results of a context search (i.e. search for #internet, and get a list of all Next Actions with that hash-tag context). That contexts can be set only after having associated Actions with Projects is an attempt to keep one from living in the Inbox the entire time. I will reassess these decisions...



Yes I did read the prompts.
But intuitive to me, means if I want to filter the next actions by context, I look for the word 'context'. It was only after you explained that the places, things, etc were contexts that I realised they were. So to me it wasn't very intuitive, and I was indeed looking for GTD words in the app.

Yes. So as not to alienate those who had yet to discover GTD, I attempted to keep GTD concepts in tact with a minimum of GTD jargon. Thanks for this insight! Perhaps I will update the app such that a switch in the preferences will alter the user interface to contain GTD jargon in buttons and prompts.



I also had trouble adding a place, I spent about 30 seconds trying to add one before I gave up. It needs to be a bit easier.

I see. Were the "categories" and "locales" the issue?



I also don't think Omnifocus is that great, but if you are looking for something with really great features, check out Pocket Informant. You don't need to buy it, you can download the manual from the internet and it has all the features in it.
Also, I think it should have a lot more features for the price you are asking.

I'll check it out! Thank you very much for your feedback!

[mr.chris]

Dear Mr. Chris,

Please don't take this in the wrong way, but
I'm not sure you're presenting yourself
or your product in the most favorable
light possible in this forum.

I'm hesitant to make a volley on this point as it is not germane to the forum parameters, but I am very interested in the topic of the alleged importance of presenting things in a "favorable light". Perhaps the forum moderators will forgive us this exchange just this once so I can explain:

I'm sure that what you say is true.

I come from a culture here in the southern United States that views the notion of "presenting things in the most favorable light" as being equivalent to "an unwillingness to be entirely forthright". Being forthright garners respect; being less than forthright garners suspicion and distrust. I understand this is popularly viewed as "bad business sense" because being forthright has the potential to enflame others' egos. However, being true to my character is important to me; it keeps me healthy and level headed. That plus GTD helps me maintain several revenue streams (of which Intention+ally is a member). I consider myself to be fairly diplomatic. However, and for example, if faced with a situation where my stated intentions (no pun intended) are being brought into question, my response will be forthright and leave nothing to interpretation. If you make the right friends, this is the best way to live.

I'm sure I'd be an abject failure as a politician though.

If you would like to continue this discussion, please consider using this forum's "private message" function found under the "My Forum Profile" link.

[Suelin23]

I see. Were the "categories" and "locales" the issue?


Yes, they were! Maybe rather than selecting you just type the names in directly?

[TesTeq]

Well, if those 1000 have tried Intention+ally then they are already on the try-before-you-buy plan and so won't be paying me up front. The upgrade to 1.6 won't change things for them. New customers -- customers who have yet to download Intention+ally before version 1.6 comes available -- will not have a try-before-you-buy option.

That said, here is my thinking (bear with me):

* Mobile GTD is a niche market with limited supply and high demand (relative to other niche markets). I say limited supply because, despite the huge number of apps that claim to be GTD compliant, it would seem that adhering to David Allen's methodology in a monolithic package is either troublesome or not cost-effective for organized software development houses.

* OmniGroup is the current champion in this market despite having what is hands-down the most expensive and unintuitive array of products on offer in this category. As I have stated elsewhere on this forum, OmniGroup have my congratulations! Creating an iPhone GTD app three years ago must have been daunting. I don't begrudge them their success, however, in these times, if your closed applications ecosystem (i.e. the OmniFocus family of apps) requires users to receive training outside of simply using the apps and a support page on your web site, you are doing it wrong. Incidentally, I am active in these forums both as a promotional venture and as a hedge against my own confidence in this regard; if I am doing it wrong, I want to know that sooner.

PROS:
Given those points, there are a significant number of people who are willing to throw down at least US$20 and up to US$90 AND go through specific training AND tollerate the need for a website support page just to have GTD compliance on their computing platforms. I am both astonished and encouraged by these facts. My app is no where near those price points (and I suspect never will be). I have the advantage as long as I can perform to expectations.

CONS:
The sociology of this niche market is such that even the slightest rebuke (however unfounded) produces a negative impact that is more influential than five independent, all-star reviews among people of equivalent social status.
At the same time, if someone with an influential status (say, an executive of a medium to large corporate) gives a product in this niche a positive review, the people in her/his circle of influence seem to fall all over themselves to buy it. OmniFocus is evidence of this, for I say a pen, a small spiral note pad and a disciplined filing system trump OmniFocus's UI, and I suspect I am not the only one who thinks this. I'm sure those in this forum who go to the trouble to acclimate themselves to OmniFocus will ultimately find it useful. My point is, acclimating yourself to your software shouldn't be necessary.

Thus, try-before-you-buy presents too many opportunities for random and unfounded bashing of my app which I must then devote time to defending. People who are willing to pay, on the other hand, are willing to get their money's worth in using the app properly and, if they like it, they are willing to support it and maybe even cheerlead for it. If they hate it, they will go out of their way to burn it down, but since they were willing to pay for it, odds are they genuinely want something that works which means their gripes are likely constructive.

Thank you, interesting business strategy. Every GTD Connect conversation is a lesson for me!

[Oogiem]

So as not to alienate those who had yet to discover GTD, I attempted to keep GTD concepts in tact with a minimum of GTD jargon.

My take on it is that I ignored the app because it was not using GTD terminology. Unless a "GTD App" uses the terminology I have an automatic assumption they don't really follow GTD precepts. I would make the default using the standard contexts, actions etc terminology and optionally change the terms to something else.

That said after reading this thread I did download the app and have tried it. I would never have even considered trying any new app that I had to pay for. There has to be a try before you buy option, a free version or a very inexpensive price or I will not even consider the app. I'll try a bunch of 99 cent apps just to see if I find something better but I won't pay $9-20 for an app unless I already have experience with it and know it will work.

For me the portable option is an adjunct to a desktop option so as long as I can try the desktop and sync is supported I'm ok with waiting until after I've tested a desktop version to try the portable one. Omnifocus provides a 14 day free trial for their Mac app.

So far on my first relatively quick attempt at using it I found it completely un-intuitive but then again, I am a very happy user of Omnifocus and so probably not your target market.

Things I still can't get is how to add contexts that are not places, events or persons. It appears there is no way to create a context for a tool or an energy level (The @computer or @braindead) contexts that so many of us use. I don't want to use location services or google maps to define stuff. Events as a modifier seems very confusing because events are from calendars and the whole point of GTD next actions is that they are not scheduled or timed. Hardly any of my next actions are related to people so adding a person to an action is not helpful.

I've got some projects each with some items but I need to edit the action items and I can't figure out how to do that. I can't see how to get an overview of all the projects I have nor can I group the projects into logical sets by area of focus. In fact I can't even see how to get a list of what I actually have to do or reset things easily.

While the inbox is clear and I can add things I can't get the prompts to display again. I want to easily get to a setting page to determine what help I need or turn it off.

So far I've played with it for about 3 hours this morning and at this point I would say it is not at all a GTD app because it appears to be difficult or impossible to implement key features of the entire GTD method.

Anyway that is my take on it.

[mr.chris]

So far on my first relatively quick attempt at using it I found it completely un-intuitive but then again, I am a very happy user of Omnifocus and so probably not your target market.


Noted. This is some great feedback despite your stated bias -- Thank you!
Ok. So far I have noted your preference for explicit GTD prompts and for try-before-you-buy. Continuing...



Things I still can't get is how to add contexts that are not places, events or persons. It appears there is no way to create a context for a tool or an energy level (The @computer or @braindead) contexts that so many of us use.


In Intention+ally you would append those context keywords anywhere in the text of the Action.
For example:
"Post Review RE: Intention+ally #computer #nrg5"
"Watch that #braindead t.v. show daughter keeps bugging me about"

You can make-up whatever context keywords you want; I use "#nrg5" to indicate an energy level of 5 out of 10. This method is based on Twitter hash-tag syntax.
Don't worry if the text of the Action becomes long, Intention+ally will simply wrap long entries into the Description section and put ellipses at the wrap point.

Later, when you want to find everything #braindead, scroll to the Search area (it's on the far left) and tap the #braindead button. All of your #contexts are listed in that area and tapping them will bring up a list of Next Actions that contain them. If you want to search for multiple #contexts, just type them as a space-delimited list in the search field (i.e. #internet #work #nrg10). Of course you can enter search terms that are not #contexts in the search field too.



I don't want to use location services or google maps to define stuff. Events as a modifier seems very confusing because events are from calendars and the whole point of GTD next actions is that they are not scheduled or timed. Hardly any of my next actions are related to people so adding a person to an action is not helpful.


I think I understand your perspective, however, while Intention+ally certainly does not *force* users to append Events, People, Places or any other context to an Action, there are circumstances where those options are needed. Customers have used the Events option to setup GTD Ticklers for Next Actions that sync with their desktop calendars, Some Next Actions have a "drop dead date" which needs to be kept in mind, etc.
An Action like "Meet with Concept Team RE: Beta Project" might need to be associated with the relevant team members so as to more conveniently call them about last-minute changes of plans, etc. (tapping on Person cells displays their contact information -- tap their phone numbers to call them from within the app).



I've got some projects each with some items but I need to edit the action items and I can't figure out how to do that.


While in Portrait view: Tap the "Edit" button, or
While in Landscape view: Tap the pencil icon.
Then tap the Action you want to edit; the keyboard will appear and the current entry will be pre-entered in the text field. Tap that Action again to edit its description.
(If you are already adding/editing entries, just tap the Action you want to edit)

Interestingly, none of the "blind" tests of the app indicated that testers found any issue with editing an Action entry. If it wouldn't be a bother, could you describe how you were expecting to edit an Action?



I can't see how to get an overview of all the projects I have nor can I group the projects into logical sets by area of focus. In fact I can't even see how to get a list of what I actually have to do or reset things easily.


The Projects list is the pane on the far right. It's the one you see upon first opening the app. Every project is listed there and that pane is presented every time a Project is created. Re-ordering the list of Projects is done via standard Apple UI table reordering. Tapping a listed Project will take you to that project's pane where you will be shown the current Next Action(s) (in series or in parallel, at your option). Tap any of those listed Next Actions to get more context about them.
This too was no problem among the "blind" testers. As I say, the Project overview pane is designed to be the most prominent of all the panes. While developing it I was concerned at times that it might be *too* prominent. Can you elucidate as to why it was difficult for you to notice? It would be a great help.

Grouping the Projects into logical sets is accomplished via Sub-Projects:
Create a Project titled with the name of the logical set, then
Create Actions representing the Sub-Projects belonging to that logical set, finally
Tap and Hold those Actions to convert them to Sub-Projects.
Having done that, tap those Sub-Projects to begin entering Next Actions.
If necessary you can continue doing that within each of those Sub-Projects to make more sets.

There is a first-time user prompt for this.



While the inbox is clear and I can add things I can't get the prompts to display again. I want to easily get to a setting page to determine what help I need or turn it off.


Yes. Per Apple's "Human User Interface Guidelines" (which must be strictly adhered to for approval by their reviewers in Cupertino, CA), app Settings must be located within the Settings app (it's the three-cogs icon initially found in the device's doc).
There you will find the Intention+ally settings where, among other settings, you may reset the first-time user prompts.



So far I've played with it for about 3 hours this morning and at this point I would say it is not at all a GTD app because it appears to be difficult or impossible to implement key features of the entire GTD method.

Anyway that is my take on it.


Thank you for spending that time! I truly appreciate it. I note that the "key features" you state are "difficult or impossible to implement" are really just one feature: the need to enter context keywords (the Twitter-style hash-tags). I describe these on the app store product blurb, but I do not currently have a first-time user pop-up for them. That is an oversight on my part and will be corrected in the next minor release. The other issues you describe seem at first glance to be related to unfamiliarity with iOS user interface standards rather than an impossible to implement key feature, though, as I say, I hope you are willing to elucidate those as well as why noticing the Projects list pane was problematic.

Thank you again for this very helpful feedback!

[mr.chris]

Yes, they were! Maybe rather than selecting you just type the names in directly?

Yes. That is what Google Maps does and what I was hoping to avoid for very interesting (but not GTD related) reasons. I won't bore you with the details (unless you are a computer scientist/engineer in which case you might be mildly interested)... I will strive to improve the ease with which map entries are committed. Thank you for this.

[supergtdman]

There is a place for an app for Project Support materials :D