Quick Wins

Here's a great post on the idea of Quck Wins. A quick win is a small thing you can do to get immediate positive results.

I'm a strong believer in this principle, and it drives my development cycles.

Another Milestone

Today is the first day that my product is out on a publicly available web server!

It's only about 25% feature complete, but my very small testing group can now start giving me useful feedback.

I can't wait to hear what people think. If you're interested in becoming part of the pre-release testing and having a major voice in the development process, leave a comment here.

43Folders Shout Out

Here's a major shout out to the 43Folders Google Group!

I just posted a question that was basically a summary of my last post, and I've already gotten some awesome feedback!

In fact, I may have even found myself a business partner.

Rock on.

Auto Next Action

One of the features that I'm considering implementing is a way to move the Actions on your project list directly to the Next Actions list as soon as any other actions that they rely on are completed. Here's the summary of what I'm thinking about doing:

• On the site, you will be able to setup a number of "Actions".
• You have the option to put an action into a project.
• If you don't put the action into a project, then it goes on the Next Actions List
• If you do put the action into a project, then you can check a box to mark it as a next action and it'll show up on the Next Actions List
  

The feature I'm considering implementing would allow you to tie actions together by setting a "Relies On" field. When you complete an action, and another action relies on it, then the other action automatically goes to the Next Action List.

For example, I've got to setup a meeting in Los Angeles. My LA-MEETING project will have the following actions.

1. Find hotels in LA (NEXT-ACTION)
2. Reserve rooms (RELIES-ON: Find hotels in LA)
3. Book flights (NEXT-ACTION)
4. Send itineraries (RELIES-ON: Reserve rooms, Book flights)

When I finish item 1, item 2 will become a next action. When I finish items 2 & 3 then item 4 becomes a next action.

Development Priciples Podcast

This podcast by Jason Fried of 37signals is a must listen for any developer or entrepreneur. His insights into creating a truly flexible and efficent organization transcend the technical realm.

I surely will be relistening to his presentation throughout my development process. As an early user of Basecamp, his company, 37signals, is a major inspiration to me.

Eating Dog Food

Eating your own dogfood is a clever term used within the software industry to describe the process of using the software you're developing to help develop the software itself. For example, once Microsoft gets the next version of Windows to the point where it's basically usable, but not really finished, they start using the unfinished product internally. This provides a ready made group of testers to put the product through its paces.

In addition to being a testing milestone, the point at which you're ready to eat your own dog food is also very exciting point for the development team. It is the first time when the team has produced something that actually resembles the finished product.

I can't describe the width of the grin on my face last night when I realized that I was at that point. After weeks of looking at code and dummy test data, I'd finally built a product that I could start to use to GTD!

Of course, the site that I'm looking at on my development system probably won't even resemble the finished product, but I do have a working inbox. From this point on, I'm going to start capturing everything that I need to do within my development process in this inbox. Sure, I don't have areas for the rest of the GTD Flow Chart yet, but, hey, I've gotta start somewhere.

GTD Meets Web 2.0

Not too long ago I picked up the book Getting Things Done by David Allen and became hooked. After years of being a disoraganized slob who never knew what was coming next, I realized the error of my ways. Suddenly there was a beacon of light, a map through the organizational wilderness. Mr. Allen's book provided me with a simple system that promises to allow us to free our minds so we can achieve new heights.

Part of the allure of the system is its abstract nature. Purposefully, the book tells us what we need to do without saying exactly how we must do it. For instance, the book says that we need to keep a reminder list of the next things we need to do across all aspects of our lives, but it doesn't dictate that this list must be on Form 23297-A of the GTD system management portfolio. Likewise, it doesn't dictate some fancy technological gizmo to try to wedge our personal lifestyles into. The book basically asks us to find a system that works and stick with it.

The amazing result of this system is the potential for personal variation and the amazing collaboration that goes on between adherents to find the best solutions for each and every person. Sites like 43 Folders and numerous newsgroups and mailing lists have cropped up to help everyone learn from eachother.

Personally, as I've navigated through this trove of information and opinion, I've yet to find a system that works perfectly for me. PC based solutions won't work because I have two computers at home and several at work. I need to have all of my information available in one place, and synchronizing between all of these systems won't cut it. PDAs and paper based systems also have a major flaw for me. I have to carry them around. Between car keys, house keys, cell phone, wallet, cash, receipts, and all the various other junk that accumulates in my pockets throughout the day, I'm simply out of space. If I thought inbox clutter was bad, pocket clutter is worse!

Finally, I came to the conclusion that I needed to develop my own system, and that the web was the perfect place to host it. Gmail and del.icio.us convinced me that this was the right course of action. After seeing a truely high quality web based email service, everything else just seemed obsolete. These systems are simple, easy to use, and accessible from anywhere.

Once I decided to go ahead and build this system, I then decided that it would be silly to keep it to myself. Instead, I am going to develop a system that will be publicly available and designed with a broad audience involved.

My primary design goals are:

• Ease of use
• Simplicity
• Speed
• Fun! ('cause without fun, what's the point?)

I'll be using this blog to keep everyone updated on my progress and to solicit opinions on features and design ideas.