Remember The Milk...But Forget the Work
Friday, November 30, 2007 at 08:16AM I've been using a new task list manager called Remember The Milk. I decided to check it out when I read that it was one of the first webapps outside Google to use Google Gears to allow offline access. I've been looking for that one single task list manager I could use offline and on that didn't suck like Outlook so I thought I'd give it a try.
Overall I like this little app, but it can't be my one task list tool. It has some inspired touches, but ultimately the fact that it was created on a shoestring by amateurs shows both in usability issues and product management missteps. Here are my thoughts on what works and what doesn't.
A Simple Interface
The interface is uncluttered and readableRTM is overall the most usable web-based task list manager I've come across. It has a simple interface that allows for quick entry and crisp review of task lists. It's quick to add a new task (though slow to add any details). The interface is also readable, very refreshing compared with ultra-busy Outlook.
Easy Categories
It's easy to move back and forth between categories via the tabs, unlike Backpack, OneNote or EverNote which make it harder to find and move between different lists. Tasks disappear when completed (unlike most Outlook views) but are still retrievable if needed.
You can assign priorities to tasks and also attach notes, a critical feature missing from many simple task list managers, including all of the above. These are the minimum metadata elements I think any task list manager needs, but RTM has more.
Tagging Afterthought
Tags provide an alternative navigation mechanism but access is limitedYou can assign as many custom tags as you like to any of your tasks. This allows you multiple cross-category ways of quickly finding or organizing your tasks. My tasks are categorized by venue (the place or manner in which they may be done) within categories like Seated (things I can do at my desk), Puttering (things I can do up and about the house) or Errands (things I have to go out to do). They are also tagged with more general topics like Home_Improvement, Finance, Family or Business.
This is the first time I've seen tagging used in this way and I like the idea. I have to admit, though, that the tags haven't proven as useful as I expected them to be. I think they'd be very useful for business tasks, but personal tasks seem to be easier to manage strictly by category. They would also be more useful if they were more accessible. Only in the Overview can you access the tag cloud that serves as a navigation mechanism.
Nearly There Dating
A feature RTM shares with Gootodo, Mark Hurst's online task list manager, is the ability to schedule tasks for dates in the future. This is a great way to simplify your current list because it gets things you can't work on now out of your view. Unfortunately, this feature only filters future tasks out of the Overview display, leaving them in the category displays which, you will see, one is forced to use often.
Anywhere Access
The nirvana for a productivity nut like me is to have one consolidated task list. To make that happen, you need to have access to your list wherever you are. PDA apps are too limited. Standalone desktops apps are inaccessible if you're away from you PC. Webapps are inaccessible if you're offline - except for RTM, that is, which uses Google Gears to allow access right in the browser whether you are connected to the net or not. You have to login before you go offline, but you can keep working if you then get on the train or walk out of Starbucks. This is superior to Google Reader (the first app to use Gears) which requires you to manually sync before you go offline.
Well-Intentioned Filtering
The overview is simple but mashes all categories togetherOne thing about RTM that does not work for me is the Overview UI. It's meant to be the cleanest, most minimal display in the product and it is well-intentioned. For maximum productivity, you need to focus on only what you're going to work on right now. The Overview filters out anything that's not due today. It also filters out tags and categories, leaving tasks marked by priority and sorted in priority order.
To be readable with more than 4-5 tasks, though, the Overview needs to be organized by categories and needs to allow you to check things off as you complete them. As it is with tasks in strict priority order, you have to read up and down the list to find something you can work on now, rather than just working on the first thing in a chosen category. I end up going back and forth between the overview and the category views trying to figure out what I should be doing.
Then once you've completed something, you have to click through again to the category view to check it off and get rid of it. The app is responsive, but this is too many clicks, too much switching of views.
Clunky Data Entry
Data entry requires three different sets of controlsI said that entering new tasks is quick but it could be much quicker. After you've typed in the text of your task, you're going to want to assign it a priority, put it in a category, give it a date and maybe add a tag or two. To do that you need to use a pull down menu (twice) and a side panel after you've entered the task itself. Follow me here. That's click (the Add Task button), type, click, click, click, click (to assign priority and category via the menu), click, type (to assign the date), tab, tab, type, enter (to enter a tag) - all for one task. All of this should be doable with one form, one click and typing separated by tabs.
The interface looks like it started with a simple design and got busy as successive layers of functionality were added without revisiting the basic elegance that is the best feature of the app.
Questionable Integrations
Another feature RTM shares with Gootodo is email integration. This is a great idea in concept because people so often use their email inbox as a to do list. Forwarding an email to your RTM account allows you to clean out your inbox and gives you another way to access your central task list. Well, like I said, that's the theory. You have to remember or have your email program remember for you an arcane email address unique to your account. You can't date, tag, categorize or prioritize your task via email. The task arrives in your RTM inbox with the subject line as the task name and the content of the email as an attached note. You then have to add all of the metadata to know what to do with this task.
What's really needed is not to send an email out to a separate task list, but to tag your email with a task, retaining the linkage between the two. This would allow you to complete your task and then get back to the email and let the person who sent it know you've done what they asked. The sprawling open source project Chandler is attempting something like this but they seem to be reinventing Outlook in the process.
iPhone and iPod Touch integration makes more sense than syncingRTM also syncs with Windows Mobile. I don't know why I would want this, though. Either I have a connected device that lets me access the web version of the app, or I have a stand-alone device, in which case I probably want to use the built in task manager. Having my list in two places that I sync once or twice a day would make it too easy for me to get my lists out of sync. RTM has recently added iPhone and iPod Touch integration, though, that looks very slick and makes more sense since you are essentially just accessing one instance of the webapp via a smaller browser.
There are integrations with Twitter and RSS feeds as well but I don't see a lot of utility in these things. More access modes does support the "one list" concept, but beyond web and offline access I'd rather see them focus on core usability issues.
Uncertain Business Model
Windows Mobile syncing was RTM's first paid feature. (iPod integration is the second.) RTM claims to have 300,000 registered users but they recently added a Pro subscription that costs $25 per year. A free version combined with a more sophisticated paid version is a classic business model but there is not enough differentiation here to make me want to upgrade. I imagine over time they will build more compelling features. I hope they do that (and address some of the issues I've highlighted here) so they can keep the business running. They seem to have been running it for a couple of years now with no revenue, so I give them props for perseverance.
Overall, as I said above, I like this little app. It's got a clean interface, the right basic features, and access when I need it. It's also free. So why am I not raving? Aside from some of the more basic usability issues, the lack of a properly filtered overview and the lack of effective email integration stand in the way of it becoming my one task list manager. Without those things, it just won't scale to the number and variety of tasks I manage at work.
I continue to use it at home for my personal tasks like remembering to do the bills every week or run errands. Meanwhile, I continue to search for that one app that will hold my one, universal task list with ease, integration and sophistication.
Reader Comments (3)
Hey Bruce. I see you are looking for a PIM like solution. I did comment on one of your other posts. You should checkout UberNote I think it may be able to work well for you.
Nice review. I agree that it's great in concept and mostly execution although I've never been able to consistently use it do to clunky entry/UI. Could change now-- interested to hear an update to your review after seeing the new integration with Gmail via Greasemonkey in Firefox (http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2007/12/rtm-gmail-task-management-goodness.html). In particular, this seems to make entry of tasks easier and seems to fulfill your concern about retaining a link between e-mail and task ("tag your email with a task, retaining the linkage between the two. This would allow you to complete your task and then get back to the email and let the person who sent it know you've done what they asked.")
Just a quick note on usability / "clunky input" ... if you learn the hotkeys you will no longer need your mouse to achieve anything at all within one list. I learned the basic ones in 5 minutes and was extremely pleased. Quickly, you can:
- create a new task
- move your task cursor/pointer up or down
- select or deselect the task your cursor is pointing at
- mark a task as complete
- change its due date + time
- change its name
- change its priority
Look into this, you might like RTM a lot more afterwards. Another quick point about tagging and your comment that, "[tags] would also be more useful if they were more accessible," is that I believe the power in tagged tasks is creating smart or dynamic lists out of them. RTM has some pretty useful features in this direction as well, allowing you to create such lists based on any search you can do - basically a saved search. Since RTM has an extremely flexible and powerful search, you can create very useful smart lists.