chrisleeuk
As previously discussed MLO is much more of a platform and less of an application. All I am saying is that the confusing and cluttered nature of the inteface this is holding back sales dramatically. And that this is completely unnecesssary and a shame. Personally I have wasted countless hours trying to get MLO to do what I seek. Through pure bloody-mindedness I have tried using all sorts of dramatically different configurations. Out of interest did you ever try GTDNext. I have my eye on them because unlike MLO they are incredibly responsive to customers. They are an extremely small team however they listen to all feedback and reply to it all - usually pretty swiftly (often within a day or two). They will give reasons where they don't implement stuff. And they also release things in the modern way with lots of small incremental changes, which further encourages users to get involved and to give more feedback. In short they clearly seem to have read Eric Ries's best selling book "The Lean Startup" and seem to be putting into practice. MLO have a lot to learn from GTDNext. Yes MLO is find for geeks, but it is not fine for mainstream users. And I simply can not imagine any of my non-geekfriends using it because the learning curve is too steep and the interface too cluttered/confusing. Which is a shame because it is superb in so many ways... On Wednesday, 18 November 2015 17:54:23 UTC, chrisleeuk wrote: > > This is more a reply to the comments from John Smith. > > > > I regard myself as a techie, which according to your comments suggests I > don't fit into the definition of a normal human being :) > > I'm not sure if that makes me some kind of super human, or a weird tech > geek, either way, I take it as a compliment. > > > > I'm sorry that you find the learning curve for MLO so challenging. > > I agree that MLO could probably benefit from a little more in the help > department and it always better to make software accessible. > > > > MLO is definitely powerful and configurable and no doubt learning all the > features does take time. > > > > Personally I found that with MLO I could start small. I could learn to use > the basic task functionality without much issue. Gradually I learned the > more advanced functionality, but MLO did a good job of hiding all this > stuff away until I was ready. > > > > I've tried probably half of the software and services on your list of > competition. Many were easy to use and no doubt would appeal more to a > wider public. However in every case I found them either too limiting or I > had to bend my work flow and way of thinking to fit the product. > > > > With MLO I can configure it to fit me. > > > > Your argument is principally that MLO will fail due to lack of mass market > appeal, or that it is inferior because it will be too difficult for the > average person. > > > > It's a typically modern view that products must conform to the lowest > common denominator in order appeal to the maximum audience. That’s the kind > of thinking that, for example, results in big corporations creating some > truly dreadful, but highly profitable TV shows. > > > > MLO does require some investment of your time. It does require learning. > It’s highly specialized, and won’t appeal to everyone. > > > > MLO as a company is small but it’s sustained itself for 15 years so far. > > > > Not every product needs to be all things to all people, but if you can't > get on with MLO, you have a big list of other software that might meet your > individual needs better. > > > > MLO appeals to a niche market, and that’s fine by me. > > > > On Monday, 1 December 2014 01:56:40 UTC-7, J Smith wrote: >> >> Obviously because I am new... that means in part I have no idea what I am >> talking about. But partly it makes me a real expert in the NEW user >> experience. >> >> The thing is I develop/managed websites for a living and I too would >> regard myself as 'above average' technically and I also have a strong sense >> of how users work. >> >> To be honest, I do feel for the MLO team. Given where they are, it will >> not be easy to get to where they need to get to in order to get anything >> close to adoption by the mainstream audience. >> >> I am being extremely persistent here because I have a fairly short >> time-window in which to get my entire life onto MLO... or give the heck up. >> >> I am also being persistent because there is MUCH wrong with all the >> competition that I have seen so far. But that won't last (see below). >> >> What do I like about MLO? >> >> Well, on the up-side, there is a plethora of hotkeys on MLO, many of >> which you can configure yourself is great and it is dead-easy to whiz items >> things up and down multi-level Project Trees and also it's also trivial to >> switch items between being an action and being a Projects. [These aspects >> are astonishingly rare in the obvious competing product that I have tried >> but I LOVE them in MLO!] Moreover you can have something called a "Folder" >> which is neither a Project nor an Action. It's a subject area. (Brilliant! >> But again, v rare in other apps...). >> >> On the down-side this has to be up there as being one of the hardest apps >> to 'learn how to drive' that I have ever, EVER come across. [And that's >> even after I have spent quite a lot of time reading up on GTD theory - and >> after I have even listened to an entire 2-day seminar by David Allen!] >> >> BUT I can't think of a single social or business friend who would put up >> with this level of difficulty of learning that I have experienced with MLO. >> Yes, some techies might well go for it... but any normal human being - >> Absolutely no chance! >> >> And it's no use saying "but it's very powerful and configurable". Life is >> short. We are aren't here for the fun of using your software... Ultimately >> we are only using these tools in order to *save* us time! >> >> [Aside: MLO reminds me of the PC database software dBase clone called >> Clipper - anyone here old enough to remember that? It was indeed incredibly >> powerful and configurable but the learning curve to get anything useful out >> of it was about 3 months. Management were NOT happy. And commercially it >> simply *died* as hugely powerful and highly configurable as it was.] >> >> Now, after all the work the you good people at MLO have put into this >> your extremely powerful tool, this is bad news indeed. >> >> If you want a 'quick win' you could regain a lot of usability points at a >> stroke simply by doing a couple of explainer videos. A quick short high >> level one for total newbies *selling* the whole concept (max 1-2 mins) >> and a more detailed one for the converts telling us *how to use* the >> system (8-12 mins). And then if you get a chance do another 5 or 10 and >> slap them onto YouTube. And do them in English. >> >> Having built this video the next thing you need to do is 'Primary >> Customer Research' - newbie *user trials *! What you need is need about >> 8-10 users who are not particularly technical sit them down in front of the >> software and WATCH. Get them to talk their thoughts out loud. Video them. >> >> Then show them the video and watch again. You will be appalled, I promise >> you. >> >> Honestly, you chaps have built a fantastic engine. But if you want to >> appeal to *Mainstream* users (rather than *Early Adopters*) then frankly >> you people need to stop all developments until you have done both of the >> above. >> >> To get clear Early Adopters have a very different psychology from >> Mainstream users. Early Adopters like to be the first. They are generally >> pretty clever. They like learning news stuff. They tolerate complexity, >> mistakes, errors and even bugs to a significant extent. >> >> BUT there aren't all that many of them. And if your product appears to be >> going nowhere and is not longer "cutting edge", then they will feel like >> idiots for wasting their time with you and they are off! >> >> MAINSTREAM users are different. They value their time very highly. They >> just want to get the job done. And fast. They do NOT want to waste any more >> time than necessary learning stuff. So they want everything to be easy to >> learn and obvious. They like simplicity. They HATE complexity. They want to >> get the job done and they want everything to work. >> >> Frankly as things stand, MLO is a total nightmare for Mainstream users. >> But don't just take my/Joel's word for it. Do some serious trials with >> newbie users! Try some less intelligent / 'ditsy' and/or 'arty' new users. >> Even try some slightly drunk or extremely tired users. You need a random >> spectrum of users to trail. They will run screaming I guarantee you. >> >> [Aside: Another top top - if you are short of time &/or money and want to >> do a 'quick and dirty'/'better than nothing' user trial, then consider >> using Feedback Army and asking the reviewers to so something specific. The >> clever thing is that you can keep rejecting their responses until you are >> happy with the level of work that they have done. Brilliant! But actually >> you at MLO also need to do proper face-to-face user trials I suspect as >> well] >> >> If you want further proof of what I am saying take the number of really >> important keyboard shortcuts that are completely missing from your official >> Keyboard Shortcuts page. e.g. >> >> Control/PgUp ==> to change tab >> Control/PgDn ==> to change tab >> Control/Enter ==> to parse the title of an item >> Control/Shift/Insert ==> to add a new folder >> Control/Shift/S ==> to add a star >> Control/M ==> to move a task >> >> ...} all missing ! (er I think...!) >> >> If you had done in depth user trials then surely this would have been >> picked up. >> >> One word of caution. Beware of *some* of your most loyal customers. There >> is no subtext to this - I am not having a go anyone whatsoever. But it's an >> established fact that in order to appeal to *Mainstream* customers you >> will almost certainly get terrible advice from some of your customers. But >> they are dangerous. They are far too close to your product to see it >> through the eyes of anyone else. And over time they can bankrupt you. >> >> Finally you need to know that much though I am trying to help MLO in what >> probably seems like a whirlwind of input, please know that I am not happy. >> And I have been keeping a list of competing software in case I find that I >> genuinely can not get MLO to work for me (This is still not clear either >> way...!) . And believe me there is a LOT of competition. My spreadsheet for >> this purpose has well over 100 competitors ! >> >> For completeness here they are: >> 2Do >> 5PM >> Achieve Planner >> ActionComplete >> Action Method >> ActiveInBox >> Ajour >> Apigio >> Asana >> Assembla Tickets >> Astrid List/Task Manager >> Blue Smiley Organizer >> Bonsai >> Bontq >> Central Desktop >> Clear (Realmac Software) >> ClearContext >> Conqu >> d-cubed >> DoIt.im >> Do It Tomorrow >> do-Organizer >> DropTask >> Due Today >> EasyTask Manager >> eProductivity >> EssentialPIM Pro >> EverNote (+The Secret Weapon) >> FacileThings >> Facio Tasks >> Feng Office >> Flashpoint >> Flow >> Frictionless >> GeeTeeDee >> germ.io >> Get Stuff Done >> Getitdoneapp >> Ghost Action >> Gmail Tasks >> GoalsOnTrack >> Google Tasks >> GTD TiddlyWiki Plus >> GTDAgenda >> GTDFree >> GTDNext >> gtd-php >> Harmony PIM >> HiTask >> iGTD >> IQTell >> Jello Dashboard >> KOI >> KonoLive >> Lifeballanced >> LifeTopix >> LiquidPlanner >> Lists Manager? >> MasterList Professional >> mGSD >> MindManager >> MindOnTrack >> MyLifeOrganized >> Nach >> Nepture >> Next Action, Personal Ed >> Nexty >> Nirvana >> Nitro >> Nozbe >> Omnifocus >> OneNote >> OnePlace >> Online Task List >> Oprius >> Organitask >> Org-Mode >> Outlook 2010 >> Papirus >> Pimki >> Plancake >> PocketInformant >> Priacta >> Producteev >> propelr >> Psoda >> Redmill >> Relenta >> Remember The Milk (RTM) >> RexDesktop >> SimpleNote >> SandGlaz >> Smart To-Do List >> SmartSheet >> Smartytask >> Smthngs >> Task Coach >> Task Toy >> TaskFreak >> TaskPad.jp >> Tasks/Tasks Pro >> TaskStep >> TaskTask (iOS only?) >> TaskUnifier >> Taskwarrior >> Tasque >> The Now Organiser >> Things (iOS only?) (by Cultured Code) >> ThinkingRock >> Thymer >> TickTick >> TiDy >> TimeGT >> TimeManagementNinja.com >> Timetpnote >> Tjeklist >> ToDo >> To-Do DeskList >> ToDo.txt >> ToDo Exchange >> ToDo Matrix >> Todo Pro >> ToDoIst >> ToDoList >> ToDoMoo >> Toodledo >> TomBoy >> TouchDown w Exchange Tasks >> TaskUnifier >> Tracks >> Tracks.tra.in >> Treedolist >> Ultimate ToDo >> Upvise >> VIP Task Manager >> VitalList >> Voo2doo >> What To Do >> WhatsNext (not ready?) >> Week Plan >> Wieldy >> Workflowy >> Wunderlist >> Zendone >> Zoho CRM >> Zoot >> >> OK many of they above may not be *direct* competitors, (e.g. many don't >> run on Windows and many are more list managers than GTD tools as such ) but >> I promise you that as a normal/average user, this is the number of tools we >> have to wade through on-line, competing with your listings. >> >> Why are there quite so many competitors? Because they all think that the >> existing market leaders aren't doing a good enough job! They are trying to >> steal your lunch and there are a LOT of them out there. >> >> Conclusion: >> You have SERIOUS competition and you need to raise your game. You need >> dramatically improved usability. >> >> Finally: >> Please don't think I'm saying you need to work harder. Nor write better >> code. What I'm saying is you need to work differently. VERY differently. >> >> J >> >> >> P.S. If anyone from MLO is still reading and appreciating my input please >> let me know. >> >> Alternatively, if I am simply wasting my breath please do let me know too! >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mylifeorganized+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to mylifeorganized@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized. 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