Intriguing new task-management software

Posted by Randall Shinn
Jan 13, 2009 at 09:18 PM

I’m a fan of Omni software, and I have purchased OmniOutliner, OmniFocus, and OmniPlan. I find OmniPlan good for planning complex projects.

The interface for OmniFocus has never quite clicked for me. I probably need to spend more time studying it, but I find it frustrasting that some much of its power seems to reside in floating inspectors. I also find myself surprised when a task I enter doesn’t show up where I expect it on a context list. Somehow it seems as if a task-management program should have a less demanding interface.

I have also paid for Things 1.0, and so far I find it more pleasant to work in for relative simple task management. The task information is easier to see and manipulate in one screen, and I like using areas rather than contexts. But in order to make me into a long-term user I need to have some kind of synchronization that works easily (as does OmniFocus’s). I would also need to be able to enter subtasks.

What I find attractive about The Hit List is the interface paradigm. I like outlining tasks, and I like seeing all the relavent information on one line. But at the moment THL lacks crucial features like repeating tasks, and easy synchronization. The latter might be solved by placing a copy of the file on the web. THL is not yet ready for prime time IMHO, but I think its interface is refreshing and its basic concepts seem easy to think in.

A year from now I will probably be using whatever program seems to most help me think about and then get them off my mind. At the moment I find that with OmniFocus the program doesn’t seem easy to think in, because I am too distracted by the complexity of interacting with the interface.

Randall