I do like how GTD seems to really take off this year, not just judging by the amount of GTD blogs/sites (including my own!) but especially judging by the incredible amount of new GTD applications (online and offline alike) that seem to pop up daily!
I am also forever tweaking and tuning my own GTD setup. This seems to be inherent to the GTD process, though I’ve been sticking to the same hybrid GTD system for a few months now. However, I am happy to let new GTD tools inspire me so I can constantly optimize my own GTD system. I thought I’d give Nozbe a quick spin and let you know what I think about it!
I confess that deep down I am really a high-tech geek, so slick Web 2.0 applications do have a special place in my heart. However, you may have read on my blog here that regarding GTD I am really an analog guy (well, hybrid for now). Besides that, I have at least two general “problems” with online GTD applications (like Nozbe for instance):
- Portability - I need my GTD system everywhere, not just when I’m online (which is often, I admit
). - Security - I am really hesitant about putting my personal (sometimes private) and client related projects, next actions and so on on somebody else’s server.
Keeping this in the back of your mind, and realizing that it is just my 2 cents and really only a quick-and-dirty review, let me tell you what I think about Nozbe.
What I like about Nozbe
- Simple, clear interface
- General responsiveness, look-and-feel
- The “star” system - tagging your next action in a project
- The ability to mark a next action with the estimated amount of time required to finish it
- The ability to focus on just your set of “real” next actions for all projects
What I do not like about Nozbe
- No custom contexts (coming soon though)
- Limit on number of projects (free version:
15; pro version: 100) - Next actions must be part of a project
- No someday/maybe list (just a special context type, and must be bound to project)
- No way to tag next actions as “waiting for” (just a special context type)
- No visible way to sync with mobile gear
- No obvious way to print your lists if need be
- No way (?) to keep track of task/project creation and finished dates
- Not possible to set your own default context; is always “Just do it”?
Conclusion
Nozbe is still in beta and new features like customized contexts seem very promising. The interface and responsiveness of Nozbe are very appealing to me. However, at this point in time I would not make Nozbe a vital part of my own GTD system, because of my personal requirements for any GTD system. That being said, I wonder if I will ever trust my GTD stuff to reside on somebody else’s server!
Be sure to let me know what you think about Nozbe, and what makes it better/worse than other (online) GTD applications!
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As someone building a GTD web application, I’m curious what it would take to get you to trust your data with an online service?
Are your concerns about privacy? If so, aside from encrypting the data server-side (which is complicated for a number of reasons,) I’m not sure we could make you happy.
Are your concerns about getting stuck in the system? If so, would an XML export of your data be enough to ease your mind?
If you could easily print the important parts of your data as needed, would that take care of the need for always having it with you, or is something still missing?
@Jeff:
My “problem” is that I have more than average knowledge on the subject and I frequently give my clients advice on the matter of cybercrime and digital security. There are technical issues involved but also legal issues (privacy laws) and so on. And as a former (web) developer I know about the implementation difficulties, and what can go wrong!
Some of my concerns:
- is my data encrypted (if at all) with a strong cipher?
- is my data frequently stored elsewhere (backup)?
- has privacy law been enforced correctly?
- did you implement a secure login?
- do I legally own my own data?
- which guarantees are made about security, availability, etc. (Service Level Agreement)
- who is responsible or accountable is case of theft, data loss, etc.
- can I easily migrate my data to another system (export, sync)?
I’m not talking about next actions or projects like “get car fixed”, or “call mom about diner”. I wouldn’t care about what happened with these. I am talking about hundreds of GTD projects and a huge number of associated next actions that are very client specific which may contain sensitive information. I would not like to explain to any of my clients that some of their sensitive company information has just been leaked on the internet!
Then again, maybe I’m just paranoid!
And please, continue to make the best GTD web app you can! I’m sure many people are waiting for the online GTD killer app! At the moment, and I stress at the moment, I am just more of an offline GTD guy… that may change however… keep me informed what’s happening with your GTD web app!
It’s 5, not 1 project in the free version. And all plans are free as for now.
If you don’t trust to put your data into the cloud (in an online web app), my arguments about secure server, ssl certificate, etc. won’t help you really…
In our terms of service all of the above mentioned is guaranteed, but as I said… you just need to be comfortable with putting your data out there… and I understand totally that not everyone is.
Anyway, thanks for this review and hope future enhancements of Nozbe coming this month will get more people convinced to take my app for a spin.
As for the drawbacks you mentioned… most are being worked on
Nozbe is about productivity - it makes me productive and makes thousands of other users productive too
Thanks and keep up the great work.
[...] Nozbe, for getting things done. Of of these reviews that is worth reading is the review from the Getting Things Done Blog. The official Nozbe blog is also worth a [...]
Just a quick update regarding some of the drawbacks you mentioned:
- you can now define your own contexts and assign cool icons to them
- you can re-arrange contexts to define your own “default” context
- you can share projects with other people
… and more features coming very soon!
Thanks for your blog post and keep up the good work!
Analog, baby, analog!
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