Frustrated lately with project management systems, both on the web and applications on my Mac. There’s a disconnect between this cloud we keep trying to work in and our actual work. I have information scattered across too many systems, and too many places for it to be considered useful.
I am not trained as a project manager. I did not go to school for what I do now (gasp!), nor did I study business management. There may be a component of my troubles here that tie into a lack of some specific skill, but I doubt it. I have a feeling it is more about how creators of these tools see the way they think people should work.
If you look at the two major OS’s that I work on, iOS and OS X, there are some very impressive project management tools available. Impressive in their UI, impressive in their sales, and impressive in their marketing schtick selling them as PM tools. But truthfully, they are almost all just glorified task apps. Todo lists all of them.
Here is where the disconnect happens. I have work to do. Much of it involves completing tasks, many of which have to be done in certain order and in certain time-frames. They almost all involve clients, websites, emails, meeting times, phone calls, and any number of other project meta data. I do not need a task application. I need a way to see through all this, track all this, and form it all into completed project work. I need a way to archive it, and reference it again in the future.
I need an something that does the following:
Note: I’m posting this well after writing it. Since writing this, I’ve found some tools that have come close to what I need, but thought this would make a good starting point.
Mad for iPhone Inside ‘Mad Men’
Found on Twitter via @davepell RT’d from @gruber
Fetch -
Fetch is the easiest way to sell downloadable products from any website, blog, social newtwork, e-commerce system, or Shopify store.
Use Fetch to sell music, videos, photos, artwork, themes,…
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I may or may not have let out an audible gasp when I saw this organizational beauty.
“Your backups are stored at Amazon S3 (“Simple Storage Service”), the gold standard of reliable online storage in the industry, backed by Amazon.com, a large stable company. Backups of your Mac are complete and accurate, including all “metadata” — something that many other online backup offerings can’t claim (see results).” —
Online Backup for Mac | Arq | Haystack Software
Found this after looking into the blog of a recent follow, Alison Gianotto @snipeyhead
My early years crashed into my grown up self and had a party when I saw this.
Ligature, Loop & Stem print (by Luke Dorny)
Lovely work, as always, from the LL&S team!
“And while we’re talking about things not to be weird about: don’t talk professional designers down by telling them “this will look good in your portfolio.” Designers work for a living. You don’t tell your doctor your colonoscopy will look great on his office wall. This is no different.” — Mule Design Studio’s Blog: Tips On Buying Design
“Ideally, I would like to be able to see the basic construction in a week, make comments and adjustments if needed and have final in another week. Overall two week time frame.” — Web programmer needed
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-8-15) -
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
blue striped bearded beanie L/XL by taraduff on Etsy
MUST OWN. /via @tickettohel
Minimalist Wallpaper.
While my desktop rotates through artwork and fashion models, when it comes to my laptop, I exclusively prefer minimalist designs. With the help of HongKiat and several digital artists, I have been able to boost my collection five fold. Check them out.
Lovely.
Average Betty’s Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno POP Burger
I just salivated all over my laptop. /via @sketch678 and @MarisaAlexis
Like a lot of developers, we start every HTML project with the same set of HTML and CSS templates. We’ve been using these files for a long time and we’ve progressively added bits and pieces to them…