Foustland

UPDATE, 4-22-2011: The Taskforce team has been busy at work, adding new features, and making Taskforce slicker, and more user friendly. Here are some of the nice things that are starting to get me more interested in using Taskforce.

First is the addition of Lists. This feature gives the user a way to organize tasks into collections that are alike. This is one of the features I found lacking most in the first go around.  

Another thing that I noticed is when adding collaborators, a pop-up displays a list of possible addresses  from which you may wish to choose.  I don't know if this is tapping into my address book, or really how the list is populated, but it is a welcome addition.

It is also cool to see that the Taskforce team is using social tools like Twitter, Facebook, and Get Satisfaction to develop a great understanding of what the growing community of users are saying about, and requesting for Taskforce App.  This type of engagement really shows that company founders Niccolo Pantucci and Courtland Allen are interested in making a product that not only does something good for the users, but improves based on the user feedback and requests.  I have a lot of respect for this transparent product development approach.

The Taskforce App is really developing into a wonderful tool.  As I mentioned, I am going to start to use it for a variety of lists, and give it more of a chance.  Looking down the pike, I hear there is some GCal integration that is being worked on.  That would be huge!  Now if there was an easy way for me to access Taskforce on my DroidX.  

Original Post

There are a bunch of tools out there that help to get stuff into organized lists.  Most don't work for me,but I usually give them a try anyway.  The latest in this round of task lists is a tool called Taskforce.  It is an add on for Gmail that lets you easily connect email messages into a new or existing task item.  Some other things Taskforce does is collaboration, assign dates, delays and comments, and click a little box when you are done.  All pretty straight forward.  

This got me thinking, what makes Taskforce different from the built in Task tool in Gmail?  Well, it's not quite an apple to apple comparison here.  While they both do pretty much the same thing, there are some differences in the way each tool lets you organize your world of tasks.  

Google Tasks

For starters G Tasks is a built in part of the whole googleverse, so if you like to keep al the eggs in the same basket then this is for you.  Still not sold?  Let's dig in a little more and see what makes G Tasks tick.  

G Tasks is available within Gmail, as a stand alone tab or floating widget, on an iGoogle page, and on phones with mobile browsers.  Right there, that integration across those different ways of interacting with G Tasks really makes it something that is approachable, easy to find, and always there, even if you are in line at the store and need to remind yourself of something.  Further, due date integration into Google Calendar puts your tasks in yet another place to remind you what you need to get done.  

G Tasks makes organizing tasks pretty easy through task lists.  Task lists are basically little folders in which you can file individual tasks together.  I do a lot of bike projects, so I have a task list that I can file links, notes, prices, products, ideas into.  I know they are all about bikes because I filed them that way.  I really like how the task lists work for me.

So what if you are in an email, and your boss is asking you to do something?   Well, the Gmail more actions pull down offers an option to "Add to Tasks".  This feature is nice, so you don't have to copy stuff from the email, and paste it into a task item.  However, the pull down places the new task in the last task list that you were in.  This is a little clunky, because you may not want to go into the task list right then and organize it.  It would be nice to see a feature that lets you decide what task list you want to add the email into.  

What about collaboration?  This is one of the weak spots with G Tasks.  While you can email a task list to anyone, including yourself, there is nothing built into G Tasks that makes sharing individual tasks or entire task lists possible right now.  For me, this isn't too big of a deal, since the stuff I keep in G Tasks is mainly for me to remind myself of.  

Taskforce

A lot of buzz has been going around lately about Taskforce, so I thought I would load it up and see what all the fuss is about.  First, the registration for Taskforce is easy, simply give them your email address, downoad a browser add on and refresh your Gmail.  A little hovering gadget shows up above the email pane.  There are three things you see on the little blue gadget, Tasks, Activity, and +.  Tasks shows you your list of tasks, Activity displays activity from people you have shared tasks with, and the + sign is kind of a no brainer.  When you select any of these items, the gadget pulls down to reveal the detail for each of the menu items. A second click on the active menu item closes it up again.  I like that it hangs there, not in the way, but not out of sight, while G Tasks pops up from the bottom corner of the browser window.

When in an email, the Taskforce add on inserts a few new buttons above the email pane, Convert to New Task, Add to Existing Task, and View Task (if that email has already been added to the list).  The button placement makes it a little easier to dump the email into a task than the pull down for G Tasks, and I really like being able to associate multiple emails to a single task.  

Organization of tasks in Taskforce is date based, so items with due dates are at the top of the list, and items without due dates are sorted by older on top newer below.  This may be good for people who like date organized tasks, but I am a bit more non-linear in my list making, and dates aren't the number one ordering method I use.   Another thing about organization in Taskforce is that everything goes into one long list.  Sure you can associate multiple emails into single tasks, but if you have a task that you just realized you wanted to add, you either need to add it as a new item (even though it may be related to an existing task) or send yourself an email, then associate that email with the given task item.  I can see how the integration of emails into tasks is the hierarchy being used in Taskforce, but it does limit you a bit if an idea just pops into your head, and you don't want to send an email and associate it.  Another bother with this method for me is that even though multiple emails are nested in a single task item, you still need to dig into each email to find what you put it in there for in the first place. 

Calendar integration is and isn't built into Taskforce.  Yes, you can assign a due date to a task, or defer it for later.  But the due date doesn't link to the Google Calendar, it simply shows up in the calendar that is part of the Taskforce add on.  This seems like a big oversight to me.  I am using this to organize my life a bit, but using my Google calendar for everything, then a separate calendar for tasks just doesn't do it for me.  Especially since the Taskforce calendar is tied to each task item with no global view of all task due dates.  

Collaboration is the big deal with Taskforce.  Each task gives you the ability to email collaborators and let them share in the tasking.  Like I said above, this is the big thing missing with G Tasks.  Unfortunately the full Gmail integration isn't built into Taskforce for this feature.  So you kind of need to know your collaborators email addresses, or dip into your address book to copy them out.  When collaborating with someone, it is nice that they don't have to use the app to see tasks they are part of, as Taskforce uses a web based tool to manage the back and forth commenting, but a full feature set is missing from this view.  So real collaboration can only happen with everyone on Gmail using the Taskforce add on.  

The Bottom Line

I like simplicity, so for me G Tasks is the right fit.  It integrates directly with my whole Google account, lets me organize my tasks into collected task lists and if needed I can add an email to a task list.  If a due date is needed on any of my tasks, that date goes right into my Google Calendar.  I can order the list items however I want.  And the big one for me is that I have the ability to see, add, and manage my G Tasks pretty much wherever I am, either on my computer or my phone.  G Tasks isn't perfect, as I mentioned above, but it does what I need it to do.  So for me, my tasks are going to be managed in G Tasks for the foreseeable future.  

I don't want this to seem like a slam towards Taskforce, it's not.  I think that they have hit on something with their model of getting emails out of the inbox and into tasks.  Just like any product development, improvements occur, features are added, integration with other tools is added...  I am sure the development team at Taskforce is busy improving this tool, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with.