The To-Do List View

Yesterday’s post presented an over view of the project view, today we’re going to take a look to-do list basics.

The To-do list is expected to be something that users will keep open and refer to throughout most of their day. It provides an integrated view of all of the tasks currently assigned to the user and attempts to present this information in as useful and organized a way as possible.

This is intended to be a control center for the user that lets them monitor and update information for all of the tasks they are currently managing. It also provides them with an interface to define, describe, and assign new tasks without leaving the page. For instance, I personally have over 100 different tasks assigned to me at the present time, but this page, and in particular the agenda view, allows me to focus on the things seven or eight things I’m actually going to work on today.

This page will likely go through several more iterations before our initial product release, but what we have to show here should give you a good idea of what is in store.

A screenshot of my actual do list.

The current incarnation of the to-do list is split up into two parts. On the left hand side of the screen is the agenda, which is a short list of the tasks the hapless user is trying to accomplish in the current day or the next few days. On the right hand side is a complete list of every other project and task currently assigned to the user with a priority above zero.

Each project listed includes a current open task count and an expandable folder. Clicking on a project’s folder icon exposes the tasks in the project not currently listed under the user’s agenda. Tasks can be moved between projects and the agenda by dragging or by clicking on icons exposed by highlighted task controls.

Standard new task creation

To create a new task, hit the “Create new task button.” The button will immediately be replaced with an AJAX form that will allow you to write up a quick summary of the task, pick which of your projects the task applies to, and categorize the task as one of that project’s basic task types (for instance, Task, Bug, or Feature Request).

Standard task creation

Once the task has been defined, hit the submit button to add it to the system. The new task will immediately appear at the top of your agenda, where you can dismiss it, further clarify it and or assign it to another user with a few simple mouse clicks.

The new task is automatically inserted at the head of the agenda list

On-blur task creation

This option, which has its fans at our company, makes capturing thoughts reflexive and easy. The task creation form above consists of a single edit control, in which the user belts out a short tasks summary and hits the tab key or the enter key. The task is immediately created, assigned a default priority, and assigned to the users selected default project to be refined later.

Personally, I love this feature (it reminds me a lot of using Twitterific), but it may not be for everyone. Fine tuning the other settings only takes seconds, and can be handled later. The main objective is achieved: the thought or task is captured in the system without interrupting my own process or flow.

Agenda task management

Once the task has been created it can be easily moved around the agenda list, or dismissed back to its parent project, or assigned to another user in the project with a few simple mouse clicks. The task’s controls can be accessed by simply moving the mouse in the task on the agenda list (this works for tasks in project folders, too).

Mouse-over to reveal the task’s control set

The drag control on the left hand side can be used to change the items order in the agenda list, or it can be used to drag the task over to its parent project.

Reordering tasks in the agenda list

The projects list

The right hand side of the todo list view current shows every project for which the user is a member. Each project can be expanded to show any outstanding tasks assigned to the user that aren’t currently in the agenda view and have a priority higher than zero (the zero priority is used to keep something captured, but out of your face when you know that you won’t be able to get to it right away).

Project expanded to reveal outstanding tasks not placed on the agenda list

Tasks within the project lists display the same control set when moused over. They can be dragged into the agenda or edited directly without ever having to leave the todo list page.

To-do list task controls

Task controls allow you to quickly review a task description, assign it to another project member, close out items, view and add comments to the task, or add personal notes to keep track of your work. This makes managing takes a lot easier, at you can add a comment to an item and assign it to someone else in the space of a few seconds, without ever having to leave the current page.

Inline task editing

That’s about it for today. We will post screencasts demonstrating this functionality next week. Coming Monday: using Mentat from mobile devices.

Filed under: mentat by Daniel