Orientation

To make the first 15 minutes as pleasant as possible for the first-time user, we decided to supplement the registration with a short intro video that covers creating tags, adding reminders and editing tasks - everything that's not obvious right off the bat.

Here's what the page looks like:

Orientation_shot

The video itself is still in production. The day it's ready, we'll show it in here.

The problem with Remember The Milk

This is what you expect to see when you sign up:

Screen_shot_2010-03-20_at_18

Looks pretty simple, right?

And this is what you get:

Screen_shot_2010-03-20_at_18

Holy complicated interfaces, Batman!

A peek at the new UI look

It's not a redesign but more of a facelift. The look and feel is going to be a lot better.

Metal_peek

Going commando

Normal people think, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 
Engineers think, if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features.

It's been 9 months since the two of us have 'taken the road less traveled by': came up with a fresh productivity concept and started building a web app based on it. Even before we had a decent prototype we were selected for the Leweb Startup Competition finals, which is a fairly big success for a small team like ours.

By that time we had big plans, too. Time-consuming and multi-component features like full interface convergency and automated context-building around a todo - are very exciting and definitely worth the shot. But being based 6000 miles from The Valley and 1500 from London, we're having a hard time getting into the VC loop - and getting the juice to attract more great engineers. (I'll share my take on the early stage VC in a later post).

Last week, looking back at what we've accomplished product wise since we started (and at the amount of cash left in our pockets) we've come to a realisation that we either (a)scrap the project altogether and go accept one of the job offers we are getting or (b)get it done real quick. Option (a) is unexciting and would basically mean screwing over all the people who are waiting for task.ly to come out.

So, we went for 'more speed'. Basically, it would mean practicing most of the principles you find in Getting Real. Very small team, no funding, bare bones (but useful) product, charging money right from the start. We're calling it 'going commando'.

These are the decisions we made to go faster:
- We're cutting features. We're deeply sorry for doing this b/c some stuff like Evernote integration got a lot of people excited AND we wanted all that for ourselves! Again, we're sorry but we've got to focus on the core stuff to release the beta soon. The site will be updated shortly to reflect the cuts.
- We'll be updating the look and feel. Early tests show that people like our interfaces but they still need some polish to make a really good 'flow'.
- The beta period will be shorter. It's likely to be weeks rather than months. We're pretty sure we won't be adding any features during beta - just fixing bugs and talking to the users. Then the free/premium accounts will kick in. Monthly fee TBA.

In any case, the open beta will allow mobile access, task delegation, the Gtalk robot, Twitter integration and of course, task publishing. So, it's not THAT bare bones.

What will happen next:
1. We get the beta out the door in shortest time possible, while making sure it's stable and not too buggy. The early access code holders will be the first people to kick the tires for one or two weeks.
2. A full-fledged closed beta starts. We hope we'll have the horsepower to invite everyone who signs up for the beta through the form on the teaser page. That will go for about a month, depending on users' feedback.
3. Open beta. Scalability tests, polishing, billing system implementation. Two to four weeks.
4. Commercial version is a go.


We're stoked about this opportunity to get task.ly to you guys faster. And we hope you're, too.
I'll stop typing now and go prototype a couple of interface screens. :-)

A poster for early stage startups

I spent an hour last week making a poster based on the famous 'Keep calm' posters used in the UK during the WWII.
It's mostly influenced by the advice I got from Jack Dorsey when he visited Moscow last month.

Traction

Like it? Grab a PSD here: http://task.ly/traction.psd

Think it's not that good? Suggest an alternative motto in the comments.

New feedback forum

After some thinking, we decided to switch our feedback forum from Uservoice to GetSatisfaction. Although Uservoice is deliciously simple, and there are quite a few examples of vibrant communities based on it, we still think it's a bit too restrictive. The thing with a infant startup is that its number one job is listening to customers. And asking just for 'ideas' is not the best way to do it. Sure, we answer lots of questions via email, but we really want to be more transparent than that. This is why we really like the Question-Idea-Problem-etc. structure of GetSatisfaction.

So, welcome to our new feedback forum! Everyone on the team will be there and we are thrilled to hear from you.

Hello world

Hey everyone!
Welcome, this is our blog. Starting one was long overdue. :-)
We're having just a small break for the holidays and soon we'll be populating it with some history of the project, our approach to product design and some numbers. Maybe we'll throw in some office photos and videos.

Hope you'll enjoy the ride.