today, while adding tasks to a project, i realized i needed to add a new task at the *top* of the list. i already had a new, unnamed task ready for entry (at the bottom of the list), so i typed the task's name, then grabbed it and dragged it to the top of the list. the arrow i saw indicated that the item would be placed exactly where i wanted to go -- except when i released it, it disappeared.
this happened 3 times, and searches i performed for those tasks produced absolutely no results.
i was all ready to send in a bug report when it occurred to me to check the inbox -- and of course, that's where they were.
i have a few thoughts about this:
1. it's disconcerting to have a task disappear before your very eyes with no feedback about what just happened. is it gone? or did it go somewhere? because i don't really use the inbox, it didn't immediately occur to me to look there. if something is going to be moved somewhere (with the exception of occasions when actually clicking the "clean up" button), the user needs to be informed about it. leaper
one way of addressing this might be a dialog window: "because the task you've just created has not been assigned a context, moving it will cause it to move to the inbox, and it will not be visible in the current window. would you like to assign a context before moving it?"
another way might be a preference to allow tasks without contexts to simply remain in the project view. i realize that's not "pure GTD," but we've established that not everyone is implementing pure GTD, and in fact omni has stated that it's creating OF for to GTD-ers and non-GTD-ers alike.
frankly, even if i do decide to go with "pure GTD," i still dislike the "disappearing tasks." i find them confusing and unfriendly. instead of getting things done, i just spent several minutes wondering what had happened to my tasks. during that time, i Got Nothing Done. :-) and as it turns out, there were *6* tasks in the inbox -- not just the 3 that had disappeared before my eyes. i don't even *use* the inbox -- yet there were 6 tasks there. if i hadn't been looking for today's 3, i never would have discovered the other 3. how scary....
i understand that a task without a context doesn't technically belong in the project view. with that in mind, i think the user should be given -- at he very least -- a warning about the unassigned context. there's also a compelling argument for "that's where the user typed it, so that's where it should stay." devil's advocate and all.... another option might be a different color -- as a temporary measure to inform/remind the user that a key element is missing.
imagine the confusion this will cause when newbies download and try out this wonderful app.
2. i also think that the search feature should default to searching everywhere.
one aspect of OF that scares me to death is the notion that all of the various filters and views could be obscuring something that i really need to see -- simply because (a) i had forgotten to enter a context, or (b) i didn't configure them properly (i.e., i was viewing "available" instead of "all"), or (c) although i was searching in the spotlight-like field, there were several items that weren't showing up -- because they were in the inbox instead of the project window.
i'm not ashamed to say that all of these conditions scare the crap out of me -- because, darn it, i'm just never quite sure if i'm seeing everything.
if the search field were "global," that would provide one measure of comfort. i realize that OF is still alpha and that features will be added and refined. so perhaps the search field can eventually work the way it does in itunes: the default is to "search all," but the user can also restrict searches to "artist," "album," and so forth. another nice touch in itunes is the fact that upon changing the search to the "artist" field, for example, the label below the search field changes to "search artist," and so forth, with the other searches.
well, i didn't intend for this post to be so lengthy, but quite a few thoughts came to mind while typing. i'm really enjoying the "sneaky peek," and i look forward to seeing these issues addressed (hopefully) in one way or another. :-)
this happened 3 times, and searches i performed for those tasks produced absolutely no results.
i was all ready to send in a bug report when it occurred to me to check the inbox -- and of course, that's where they were.
i have a few thoughts about this:
1. it's disconcerting to have a task disappear before your very eyes with no feedback about what just happened. is it gone? or did it go somewhere? because i don't really use the inbox, it didn't immediately occur to me to look there. if something is going to be moved somewhere (with the exception of occasions when actually clicking the "clean up" button), the user needs to be informed about it. leaper
one way of addressing this might be a dialog window: "because the task you've just created has not been assigned a context, moving it will cause it to move to the inbox, and it will not be visible in the current window. would you like to assign a context before moving it?"
another way might be a preference to allow tasks without contexts to simply remain in the project view. i realize that's not "pure GTD," but we've established that not everyone is implementing pure GTD, and in fact omni has stated that it's creating OF for to GTD-ers and non-GTD-ers alike.
frankly, even if i do decide to go with "pure GTD," i still dislike the "disappearing tasks." i find them confusing and unfriendly. instead of getting things done, i just spent several minutes wondering what had happened to my tasks. during that time, i Got Nothing Done. :-) and as it turns out, there were *6* tasks in the inbox -- not just the 3 that had disappeared before my eyes. i don't even *use* the inbox -- yet there were 6 tasks there. if i hadn't been looking for today's 3, i never would have discovered the other 3. how scary....
i understand that a task without a context doesn't technically belong in the project view. with that in mind, i think the user should be given -- at he very least -- a warning about the unassigned context. there's also a compelling argument for "that's where the user typed it, so that's where it should stay." devil's advocate and all.... another option might be a different color -- as a temporary measure to inform/remind the user that a key element is missing.
imagine the confusion this will cause when newbies download and try out this wonderful app.
2. i also think that the search feature should default to searching everywhere.
one aspect of OF that scares me to death is the notion that all of the various filters and views could be obscuring something that i really need to see -- simply because (a) i had forgotten to enter a context, or (b) i didn't configure them properly (i.e., i was viewing "available" instead of "all"), or (c) although i was searching in the spotlight-like field, there were several items that weren't showing up -- because they were in the inbox instead of the project window.
i'm not ashamed to say that all of these conditions scare the crap out of me -- because, darn it, i'm just never quite sure if i'm seeing everything.
if the search field were "global," that would provide one measure of comfort. i realize that OF is still alpha and that features will be added and refined. so perhaps the search field can eventually work the way it does in itunes: the default is to "search all," but the user can also restrict searches to "artist," "album," and so forth. another nice touch in itunes is the fact that upon changing the search to the "artist" field, for example, the label below the search field changes to "search artist," and so forth, with the other searches.
well, i didn't intend for this post to be so lengthy, but quite a few thoughts came to mind while typing. i'm really enjoying the "sneaky peek," and i look forward to seeing these issues addressed (hopefully) in one way or another. :-)
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