My thoughts on Nirvana and GTD services in general
I wanted to share some of my thoughts on GTD software purely from the perspective of a GTD consumer. Much of what I'll discuss in this post are things that I'm sure are on the minds of most Nirvana users when considering GTD software but that most of us have never taken the time to articulate. I'm curious to hear other Nirvana users' thoughts on these things and perhaps the Nirvana staff, should they feel like responding.
In my survey of the GTD software available to us consumers (e.g., Nirvana, Omnifocus, Things, etc. ad seemingly infinitum), I find that there are only really a handful of factors that make or break my interest in and commitment to a particular product. These are, in no particular order:
- Adherence of the software to David Allen's GTD principles
- Cross-platform availability (namely Mac and Windows)
- Mobile apps (namely iOS and Android)
- Cloud sync across all clients
- User interface / User experience (which includes ease of use, joy of use, and the beauty of anything the user interacts with)
- Social/collaboration features
- Price
I may be forgetting a few, but those at least are the big factors. Below, I'll discuss why I think each of this factors is important and where I think Nirvana stands on each relative to the competition. Then, I'll close with what I see as the area where Nirvana has the most room for improvement.
The 1st factor, adherence to GTD, is a deal breaker for me. I simply will not even consider a service like Nozbe or Remember the Milk that is not designed for GTD. I am sure that all of you feel the same way. You wouldn't be reading these forums if you didn't. For those few services that are designed for GTD, I find that I watch them like a hawk and haunt their forums and blogs weekly in the hopes that they will eventually get the other factors right. Nirvana is one of the services that does GTD right. Omnifocus and Things are two others.
The 2nd factor, cross-platform availability, is also a deal breaker for me. I love my Mac and would never use a Windows machine for the rest of my life if I had the choice. Sadly however, my day job requires me to use Windows (XP!), and so I need a service to be available on Mac and Windows. Again, I do not think that I am unique in this regard. If the developers of a particular service are ambitious enough to develop a native app for the Mac and Windows, well that's great. But an equally satisfactory solution for me is a web app. Once again, Nirvana is doing this right by providing cross-platform availability via the web. Few other services cover this factor as well as Nirvana, but some are hinting that they will launch a web app (i.e., Things). For now, Nirvana is top dog for factor 2.
The 3rd factor, mobile apps, is important to me but is by no means a deal breaker. I know that this is where I will differ from a greater number of users. I absolutely would love to have native mobile apps from whatever GTD service I use; however, I'd personally prefer the service to spend development resources on getting some of the other factors right first. As it stands, Nirvana is fairing well enough in this regard. Their mobile web app is certainly functional but nowhere near the ease and usability of the native apps available from Things and Omnifocus. Nirvana has room for improvement here, but I am more patient on this factor.
The 4th factor, cloud sync across all clients, is a no brainer. By that, I mean it is essential for any GTD service that I will use. If I am going to use your service across different clients, it had better be in sync automatically across all clients at all times without me ever having to think about it. It should just work. Some of the competition (i.e., Things) have failed spectacularly at this by promising such functionality to their users for 2 1/2 years and still failing to deliver. Omnifocus, by most accounts, appears to be doing this well. I don't think that Nirvana has yet been put to the test on this, as all of their apps exist on the web. That being said, they are doing it right so far as my tasks are always in sync across the desktop and mobile web apps. Hopefully, the sync is just as robust when they launch their native mobile apps.
The 5th factor, user interface / user experience, is probably the most important of all, at least for me. Have you ever used Nozbe? It looks like a pile of shit. Have you ever used Things? It is pixel perfect. Really, it is indescribably gorgeous. A user delights to be in the Things environment. Good user interface brings people into the tent. Good user experience keeps them from leaving. Admittedly, there is some subjectivity to all of this, but I would honestly rank Nirvana somewhere in the middle of Nozbe and Things. Nirvana is pretty, but it also has a kind of generic look and feel. Right now my greatest wish for GTD software is that Things deploys a web app or that Nirvana becomes as beautiful as things.
The 6th factor, social/collaboration features, is something that I really couldn't care less about. I just included it here because I've seen enough people ask for this across the various forums I frequent that there seems to be a sizable market for it. Obviously, Nirvana doesn't offer this functionality as of today, but that's irrelevant to me. If this is a feature that is important to you, then you may want to give Flow a look or Wunderkit when it launches.
The 7th and final factor, price, is also pretty important. And again, this is an issue with some subjectivity that not everyone will agree on. I can only say that across the forums of different services that I've read, most users seem to think that $10 a month (e.g., Nozbe or Flow) is just too much. So less than $10 a month is preferable. That being said, if there were a service that excelled at all of these other factors, I would gladly pay $10 a month for it. That is, I would probably pay $10 a month for a Things web app or a pixel perfect Nirvana app. As it stands, I think that Nirvana may be hitting the sweet spot with their $7 monthly offering. Another important thing to consider here is offering a basic service to users free of charge and making users pay for premium features (e.g., sync). Evernote should be the role model here as they have apparently had great success in converting free users to loyal paying customers. I know that Nirvana is trying to find the right balance here. Hopefully they get it right. Finally, it might make sense to offer a discounted price to students (anyone registering with a .edu email) since students typically don't have as much disposable income as the 9 to 5 folks.
Well, that is it. If you've made it this far, I thank you for tolerating my long winded assessment of the most important features that users want in a GTD service. In my opinion, there are a few services that do a few of these things well. There are currently no services that do all of these things well. The first service to do so could potentially run away with the entire market. If Things or Omnifocus releases a web app, I would put my money on them. I think that Nirvana has the next best chance if they would hire a first class designer to bring their user interface up to the level of these other two services. I hope that one of these scenarios happens soon so I can finally end my search.
P.S. - One of the most important factors of any service is their customer service and the quality of the user community. These are areas where I feel Nirvana currently excels. :-)
-Phil
2 Posted by Chris Webb on 27 Oct, 2011 08:02 AM
@Phil - That was an excellent post and one I agree with (almost) in it's entirety......and the only points I'm unsure about are the ones in areas where I have no direct experience, so they don't count!
Top drawer!
:-)
3 Posted by AgentCooper on 27 Oct, 2011 10:09 AM
@Phil: Great overview and reflections.
I have been an OmniFocus user since it came out and have been playing with/testing Nirvana for the last months. I am still not completely sure if I want to switch.
I have come to the conclusion that Nirvana is as good as OmniFocus but with different strength and weaknesses. So right now I am asking myself, if 7 $ a month is worth paying, for having an app like OmniFocus in the cloud instead of having it only on my MacBook.
4 Posted by Proximo on 31 Oct, 2011 02:51 AM
@Phil,
I read your entire post and had to scroll back up to make sure I did not write it. :-)
It was obvious that I did not write it because I can't write as good as you, but your thoughts line up with mine perfectly.
Great post.
5 Posted by Phil on 31 Oct, 2011 03:17 AM
@Proximo
You cannot write as well as I can.
Just kidding. ;-)
To hear that we are in agreement is the highest compliment.
6 Posted by Proximo on 01 Nov, 2011 02:34 AM
@Phil
From now on, I am going to share my thoughts with you and have you write it up.
ROFL
7 Posted by gmtom1 on 01 Nov, 2011 07:39 AM
@Phil
Agreed 1000%. Thanks for taking the time to express and share your thoughts. Hope the Nirvana dev team sees this and takes some of the advice to heart.
I really like Things, except that I too have a Win machine (Win 7) at work and macs at home, along with an android phone & ipad, so I definitely am firmly in the web app requirement category, and multi-platform support is icing on the cake.
8 Posted by Fischer on 14 Dec, 2011 08:58 PM
This comment was split into a new private discussion: My thoughts on Nirvana and GTD services in general
I am an avid Things user and find the iPhone aspect very handy for checking tasks off. I have a new job and (gasp) have to use a Windows machine. I am literally reeling as my head is full of tasks and I simply want to put them into Things. I've tried to bend Evernote to work as well as OneNote combined with Outlook. These are all abysmal!
I concur that Things really needs a web application or there needs to be a development for a Windows environment. Is Nirvana really the only go between? It appears it takes some time for them to set up your account.
9 Posted by Proximo on 15 Dec, 2011 06:57 PM
@Fischer
There are many options for Windows and many more that are Web Apps which are platform independent.
Nirvana happens to be one of the best implementations of core GTD, it's easy to use and looks great. The development is moving slower than some others but the team behind it are passionate about providing a great product.
The application will come out of Beta sometime soon and many great features are in the works. While it's OK to check what's available out there, I think Nirvana would work just fine for you, even in the beta state.
good luck.
P.S. If you don't have an invite. Just ask David nicely and he may be able to hook you up.
Support Staff 10 Posted by David McLaughlin on 15 Dec, 2011 10:51 PM
... and so I did. :-)
11 Posted by AJS on 15 Dec, 2011 11:44 PM
Good post, and this is one of the reasons why I believe Nirvana can be a success as a business model. It does GTD better than any other bar none. Personally I feel even the mobile web app is done as well as most and is definitely usable for those who don't use it heavily. There is a big community of GTD enthusiasts and for the purist I don't think you'll find much better. Doit.im would probably be my preferenc on the strength of their native android app.
Personally I find my own flow works better without having to add too many considerations like projects, areas or energy so I find all I really want is a good web app married to a native phone app. Functionality like drag and drop, recurring tasks and a nice UI are far more important. But still surprisingly hard to find!
12 Posted by Fischer on 16 Dec, 2011 12:08 AM
Im sold. Perfect for what I was so desperately needing! Thank you Nirvana and David!
13 Posted by Folke on 16 Dec, 2011 07:50 AM
I also concur with Phil's summary and what others here have said. I have checked out more apps recently than I would have wanted to, and I have not found anything that suits me better.
There may be many bells and whistles you might have liked to have in an app, but the fact is that no app has them all, and what most apps have is at least a few really serious flaws, real dealbreakers that make you unable to use them. The unique thing about Nirvana is that it has the complete and rock solid basic GTD functionality, There are no major significant flaws that makes it unusable. It is well thought through and worked out. And there is till room for further improvement - all kinds of nice-to-have's that may come later..
14 Posted by Travis P Fischer on 16 Dec, 2011 01:28 PM
Travis Fischer with an iPhone.
15 Posted by Mike on 06 Mar, 2012 08:16 PM
Hello Phil, My needs are exactly the same as yours in terms of needing a service that's available on Mac and Windows. Many of my other thoughts and needs match yours too. Have you done any further research on this topic of GTD services? It's now March 2012 and maybe there have been updates. I'm so confused as to which service to use. What are your thoughts on Wunderkit? THANKS!!!
16 Posted by Phil on 06 Mar, 2012 08:59 PM
@Mike
I occasionally do a web search to see if there are any new competitors or if the existing competitors have stepped up their services to better meet my needs. No service has yet emerged that has satisfactorily met all of my preferences outlined in the original post.
That being said, Nirvana still comes the closest to meeting my needs. And they are constantly pushing the service forward. With each update to the web app, they cobble on more features and squash bugs. The iPhone app is progressing through beta testing and becoming more refined along the way. A native Android app is next on their development list.
So now in March of 2012, I am still with Nirvana, and have really come to depend on it and love it as a service. I expect to be using Nirvana into the forseeable future. The web app in particular is really well designed and intuitive to use (I love the keyboard shortcuts and how tasks can be dragged around to places). And if the development teams' past behavior is any indication of what to expect for the future, you can expect a steady and persistent pace of development that makes the service work even better over time. You can also expect clear lines of communication from the developers, which is more than can be said for other services.
I took a look at Wunderkit, but it really didn't seem possible to do GTD with it. I found it to be confusing. Others on these forums, such as Proximo, have shared their thoughts on Wunderkit, and I am in general agreement with those posts.
If you are on the fence at all, I would throw in with Nirvana. They're building something great, and the people here are nice.
17 Posted by Mike on 06 Mar, 2012 09:28 PM
Thank you so much for responding!!!
I will check it out, and probably go with your suggestion. It's just so hard to figure some of these things out with the amount of products available, and the sheer quantity of different opinions to hear and read. Your scenario just matched mine so closely and you sounded so reasonable that I had to e-mail my question to you.
Thank you again and I really really appreciate your thoughts and feedback.
All the best organization to you.
Regards,
Mike
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18 Posted by Mike on 06 Mar, 2012 09:56 PM
You're right. Nirvana looks great!!! I'm definitely going for it.
One more question if I may. Have you heard about when an iPhone and/or an iPad App may be released?
Thanks,
Mike
19 Posted by Phil on 06 Mar, 2012 10:10 PM
Great to hear you're liking it so far. Take the time to explore these forums. There are some great discussions and updates on the service.
The team has not given any firm dates for release of the apps.
The iPhone app is progressing through beta. I'd speculate it would be available to the public in the next 1 to 2 months. Android app will come next. Then iPad app. So, I would realistically expect a formal iPad app later in the year.
These threads will be of interest to you.
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/nirvana-mobile/122-iphone-and...
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/nirvana-mobile/127-join-the-n...
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/nirvana-mobile/135-ios-beta-t...
20 Posted by Mike Z on 06 Mar, 2012 10:19 PM
PERFECT! Thank you again!!!
Mike
21 Posted by AJS on 06 Mar, 2012 11:47 PM
Hi Phil,
I think Nirvana is probably the most impressive web app I've come across for GTD implementation as far as web apps go. $40/yr for just a task manager seems quite expensive though. I use Google mail, Google calendar, Google contacts etc, all of which are free. Since Nirvana doesn't seem to integrate with Google products as well as I'd hoped I think I'll just stick with Google tasks/email/calendar/contacts as there are plenty of native task apps for the android community available which integrate nicely.