ForumsQuestionsToodleDo Needs a Project Manager


ToodleDo Needs a Project Manager
Author Message
ZachN

Posted: Dec 28, 2017
Score: 3 Reference
There are issues ToodleDo has said "are on our list" from 2011, which to this day plague usability. Like Subtasks wont filter by due date if the parent task has a due date? Come on. The calendar view is practically unusable and the 3rd party plug-ins for gmail and outlook don't work?! I've asked several questions and always gotten the same response back. "It's on the list, not sure when it will be done." Does ToodleDo even use their product? I love this product, but I have noticed small things adding up that are infuriating about it. They seem like they could be fixed with a little follow through, if someone would just take the time and be accountable for getting the issues resolved. These are the kinds of issues that seperate good from great. And right now ToodleDo is on a sharp edge, teetering either way. ToodleDo's blog posting and forums has slowly dried up... is it any wonder? Whats the point when nothing gets fixed...
If ToodleDo would want someone who would champion their product while managing these kinds of projects we should talk. I believe wholeheartedly in the value of your brand... but you all are going to fail from a death of a thousand cuts if you do not get these issues figured out.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Dec 28, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
Thanks for the feedback. We have thousands of tasks on our to-do list with estimated lengths for each one. Adding them all up and we have enough work on our to-do list to keep us busy for 10 years. And we're adding new tasks daily Every few months we go through the list and re-prioritize the tasks based on the current needs. This means that some tasks never make it to the top of the list. So something that was "on the list" 6 years ago may still be on the list, not because we have stopped working on Toodledo, and not because we don't care about Toodledo, but because 6 years worth of other tasks have been higher priority for a variety of reasons.

This message was edited Dec 28, 2017.
Highsteppin

Posted: Dec 29, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
Jake,

Thanks for sharing your update methodology. I don't have many wants and am very satisfied with TD as is. I know there are many considerations involved in determining what features get added, but there are some that the users have been asking for years that have me scratching (my now bald) head How do you determine what feature to add to the top of the list? How much does user input and feedback play in the decision making?

Thanks much,

RK
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Dec 29, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
There are a number of factors that go into our prioritizing. User feedback is definitely one of the biggest factors. Effort and impact are two addition factors, among others.

Sometimes user requested features do not fit into our system. The classic example of this is drag and drop sorting of tasks. I have commented on this many times before, so I wont go into it again, but that is something that has been on our todo list for 10 years, but we just havent found a way to do it that fits with everything else. Believe me, we have tried.

There are a lot of moving parts to consider. Something that seems simple to someone outside of Toodledo may actually be impossible with our current structure and would take a major rewrite of core systems, which is not something that we are willing to do for a feature that would benefit only a few users. With our limited resources, we try to maximize our effort to benefit the maximum number of users. Unfortunately, this means that some things that would greatly benefit a few users but takes a big effort, just dont get to the top of the list.
shelbyp

Posted: Dec 29, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by ZachN:
There are issues ToodleDo has said "are on our list" from 2011, which to this day plague usability. Like Subtasks wont filter by due date if the parent task has a due date? Come on. The calendar view is practically unusable and the 3rd party plug-ins for gmail and outlook don't work?! I've asked several questions and always gotten the same response back. "It's on the list, not sure when it will be done." Does ToodleDo even use their product? I love this product, but I have noticed small things adding up that are infuriating about it. They seem like they could be fixed with a little follow through, if someone would just take the time and be accountable for getting the issues resolved. These are the kinds of issues that seperate good from great. And right now ToodleDo is on a sharp edge, teetering either way. ToodleDo's blog posting and forums has slowly dried up... is it any wonder? Whats the point when nothing gets fixed...
If ToodleDo would want someone who would champion their product while managing these kinds of projects we should talk. I believe wholeheartedly in the value of your brand... but you all are going to fail from a death of a thousand cuts if you do not get these issues figured out.


Similar comments were made in this recent thread:
https://beta.toodledo.com/forums/2/25275/0/what-to-look-forward-to-in-toodledos-development-.html

Main concern on my side is that there has been no major new functionality in over a year. Yes there are look and feel improvements on the website but I primarily use IPad /IPhone which have very little new functionality and many people are waiting for blocking issues to be solved.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Dec 29, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
I don't think its fair to say that there has been no major new functionality in over a year. We released the new Tasks section this year, which was a major endeavor, that took us many many months. It works great in mobile browsers too, offline even, which was a big deal for us. So if the iOS app isn't working great for you, you might want to give the website a try.
M

Posted: Dec 29, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
I'm just happy to hear that I'm not the only one with thousands of tasks on my list!
mikael_be

Posted: Dec 30, 2017
Score: 3 Reference
Is there a way for us users to vote for what features we'd like prioritized?

Personally, I've been hoping for a long time that the 6 year old request (https://www.toodledo.com/forums/2/10176/0/projects-subtasks-and-due-dates.html) of having a view, where the parent task's due date is determined by the next subtask's due date, would be addressed at some point.


This message was edited Dec 30, 2017.
shelbyp

Posted: Jan 01, 2018
Score: 2 Reference
Posted by Jake:
I don't think its fair to say that there has been no major new functionality in over a year. We released the new Tasks section this year, which was a major endeavor, that took us many many months. It works great in mobile browsers too, offline even, which was a big deal for us. So if the iOS app isn't working great for you, you might want to give the website a try.


The issue here is that new Tasks and offline website are primarily UI improvements, I saw debates about this in the forums before and there were basically 2 camps, 1. UI is really important and 2. don't care that much about UI, would prefer to see core new features. The first group of users is probably really happy now. I have been a toodledo user for a long time and unfortunately some of the key missing features become blockers.

QUOTE: "Is there a way for us users to vote for what features we'd like prioritized? "

Agree with this request, Please see how for example Microsoft One Drive "Voice of the Customer" handles this.


This message was edited Jan 01, 2018.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Jan 02, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Currently, the only way to vote on a feature is to comment here in these forums or via a support ticket. We tally all the comments we receive via these methods.
fiona.c

Posted: Jan 05, 2018
Score: 4 Reference
I'm a long time user and I too get frustrated by the things I want not happening after many many years.

Perhaps... to make it more 'visible', you could publish a short list of possible upgrades for the next, say, 6 months, and USERS vote on these and the top one gets done. Even if you dont think its a 'top' priority?

I'm with the others, I'm not sure your method of 'choosing' what to work on is best reflecting/serving users. IMHO.

I'm about to go through a 'revitalised' using of Toodledo, which has in the last 1-2years dropped down to a simple 'reminder' program for periodic bills and tasks. I'm HOPING to get back to actually using it to empower my day and manage the (long) lists of things I think about doing too. But thats where this 'functionality' comes in. (I'm about to post a problem with tags I've noticed today - they're disappearing!).

regards
Fiona
greginfla_

Posted: Jan 19, 2018
Score: 2 Reference
my comment is similar to Fiona.h

I think having a published internal list, of goals and objectives for the upcoming year would be good. "here is a list of prior objectives we continue to work on this year and if possible we will add the following request to the pipeline with work capacity is available." And the new task/request could be voted on. Of course you would determine the items to vote on so you could eliminate any that were not possible.

Also this new transparency could be a money maker/subscriber benefit. To have the ability to vote, to become a stakeholder of Tooddledo, you must have a certain level of subscription.

I know I have had a paying subscription for years, not because I used any of the additional benefits of a paid subscription, but because I wanted to financially support toodledo.
boydston01

Posted: Jan 19, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Posted by Owa Dev_Greg:
my comment is similar to Fiona.h

Also this new transparency could be a money maker/subscriber benefit. To have the ability to vote, to become a stakeholder of Tooddledo, you must have a certain level of subscription.


I have always liked the idea of giving paying customers more influence over the product than non-paying customers!
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