Macro now has Tasks, Updates, and Threads - all the core features to run successful async projects. But (!) thereās something missing - users have no way to know where to focus.
Key problems related to this:
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I want to know when an update is posted
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I want to know when someone comments in a task/thread/update I care about
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I want to ask someone for input on this task/thread/update
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I want to know if person X has seen this task/thread/update
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I want to know when Iāve been assigned a task
In most cases, we want to avoid users sending e.g. a slack message to their colleagues - āhave you seen this?ā etc. The main exception to this is for urgent actions, which is a good use case for sync comms, and thus outside the scope of Macro.
Constraints
Needs to be fully implementable (including design) within 2 weeks.
A bad solution
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Spammy - e.g. send an email for every point above (š¤®)
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Stateless - e.g. notifications that are out of date by the time I click on them
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Complex - goes against our simple product pillar
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Inconsistent - would be confusing if tasks/threads/updates handle this in different ways
Possible solutions
All solutions have the following in common:
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You need to be able to signal your interest/disinterest in a particular item
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You need to know when that item has changed
In addition, solutions may be event based or state based. Event based = notifications, state based = inbox style solutions.
Notifications/subscriptions: Created and added to a queue when key events occur, then marked as āseenā when viewed and removed from queue. These will often send associated emails. I hate this. Itās spammy, does not fit the stateless requirement, and feels complex. Most of the time I ignore notifications in these kind of systems.
Unread styling: Style unread items, or items with new comments, so you know that thereās something new. E.g. Gmail bolds unread/updated messages to make them stand out. This is a nice baseline approach which is easy to understand and use across tasks/threads/updates.
Audiences: This allows you to add āparticipantsā to an item. Audience members can then be prompted for responses, and you can see whether each participant is up-to-date. E.g. Threads.com.
Mentions: Standard way to directly mention/get feedback from a particular user. One downside is that this can create noise for other users. e.g. if you post a comment @āing a single user for feedback.
Inbox/personal home page: A single place to view your focus ātodosā. i.e. All items that require your attention grouped by type. Works well in tandem with the audiences feature and the unread styling. i.e. you only see items you are participating in and you can see if they are changed or not.
Soā¦what are your thoughts/preferences? And are there any approaches in this area that Iāve missed? How do your favourite products handle this problem?
Let me know. š
Macro now has Tasks, Updates, and Threads - all the core features to run successful async projects. But (!) thereās something missing - users have no way to know where to focus.
Key problems related to this:
In most cases, we want to avoid users sending e.g. a slack message to their colleagues - āhave you seen this?ā etc. The main exception to this is for urgent actions, which is a good use case for sync comms, and thus outside the scope of Macro.
Constraints
Needs to be fully implementable (including design) within 2 weeks.
A bad solution
Possible solutions
All solutions have the following in common:
In addition, solutions may be event based or state based. Event based = notifications, state based = inbox style solutions.
Notifications/subscriptions: Created and added to a queue when key events occur, then marked as āseenā when viewed and removed from queue. These will often send associated emails. I hate this. Itās spammy, does not fit the stateless requirement, and feels complex. Most of the time I ignore notifications in these kind of systems.
Unread styling: Style unread items, or items with new comments, so you know that thereās something new. E.g. Gmail bolds unread/updated messages to make them stand out. This is a nice baseline approach which is easy to understand and use across tasks/threads/updates.
Audiences: This allows you to add āparticipantsā to an item. Audience members can then be prompted for responses, and you can see whether each participant is up-to-date. E.g. Threads.com.
Mentions: Standard way to directly mention/get feedback from a particular user. One downside is that this can create noise for other users. e.g. if you post a comment @āing a single user for feedback.
Inbox/personal home page: A single place to view your focus ātodosā. i.e. All items that require your attention grouped by type. Works well in tandem with the audiences feature and the unread styling. i.e. you only see items you are participating in and you can see if they are changed or not.
Soā¦what are your thoughts/preferences? And are there any approaches in this area that Iāve missed? How do your favourite products handle this problem?
Let me know. š
Ok, so Iāve had some thoughts on this and had feedback from several people. Apparently Iām not alone in disliking (email) notifications! Currently Iām looking into solving this problem via a combo of:
Audiences / followers
Each item (task/update/thread) will have a set of followers who are kept updated when the item changes or new comments are added. Anyone can opt in to become a follower of a particular item, but there will also be specific defaults for project followers (aka stakeholders) and project team members.
Project followers - automatically added to the follower list for all new project updates.
Project team members - automatically added to the follower list for all new project updates and threads.
NB. No one will be auto-added to the follower list for new tasks - unless they are assigned to work on the task. Tasks are treated a bit differently here as they are micro detail and there are more of them.