Show HN again: My new spec list app, Speckle - now with a homepage.

by elliottkember • 16 years ago

13 32 16 years ago

Sorry for the re-post - last time I forgot to add a homepage and the response was justifiably poor!

DTrejo• 16 years ago

You might want to have the notifications appear above the bar at the top of the page, gmail style. That way you won't rejigger the content when the notification disappears.

Also, I see you're using sass :)

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

I certainly am! The notification idea is a good one - thanks :)

radu_floricica• 16 years ago

I think it's the first time I start using a productivity app instantly. It's simply beautiful!

A couple of suggestions/bug reports:

- the Manage users button is hard to find and nearly invisible

- After 5 minutes of clicking around looking for the button the project completion percentage went from 18% (correct) to 0%. It seems to be 18% when the page is loading and then immediately goes to 0%

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Glad you like it! Thanks for the feedback too - I'm working on the project completion stuff at the moment, trying to do a bit of caching here and there.

I'll up the opacity on the manage users and edit links - that should help a bit. I guess there needs to be an actions pane somewhere.

bgnm20002• 16 years ago

Same here, I also started using it instantly. Great job!!

whats it written in if you don't mind me asking?

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Rails :)

jcdreads• 16 years ago

May we have a "try it out without first signing up" space where one can create and play with a list that only lasts for the session or something?

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

That's a really good idea - thanks! I'll see what I can do.

jasonlotito3• 16 years ago

You should put this idea into a todo list.

Here's a good place: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/tasks/

...

What!? =)

sync• 16 years ago

Yep, this. And this trial should be the homepage, with some kind of explanation, i.e. "Speckle lets you manage your to-dos with multiple check-boxes per item!"

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Just wanted to let you know I've just done this - you can sign up with a randomly-generated account now :)

FreeRadical• 16 years ago

It doesn't work too well in IE7, particularly the drag functionality.

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Oops - I'll look into that for you. I'm sorry to say that IE testing hasn't been a priority up til now - but I'll work on it :)

OmarIsmail• 16 years ago

Great app!

This actually fits a real need that I have. More functionality than Google Tasks, but not so intense/overburdened as Basecamp, or even Google spreadsheets.

For my specific needs, what would make this app a real killer:

* saving lists as templates, creating lists from templates. We often run through the same checklist while doing regression testing, or a site launch, so would be nice to have templates. There is the "import tasks" function, which is sufficient for now, but would be nice.

* comment box per task, or maybe just one for a list. This doesn't have to be some complicated system, just literally one textbox per tasks that everyone can view/edit.

* who's responsible for the task. Just literally being able to assign a task to an individual.

I tried to make my suggestions not be too feature creep and not just features for the sake of it. The last two shouldn't be difficult at all... templating system is a lot more intense, and probably overkill at this time.

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Thanks for the reply - glad to hear it fits a need, it fit one for me and that's why I built it.

Assigning users to tasks is a possible feature, as are comments - I'm thinking I might save some things for the paid version of the app.

As for templated lists, that's a possiblity too. It wouldn't be too intense technically, but fitting it into the UI without straining things might be fiddly. I'll keep it in mind though!

tomlin• 16 years ago

It is pretty cool. The email has a broken link in it (They've added you to a project called "XXX"), but you're probably aware of that by now :)

I like its simplicity. I would say you could benefit from a few borders surrounding specific tasks, but nothing major.

Thanks for sharing.

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Fixed the email issue - thanks :) The design is still a bit work-in-progress (developer, trying my best) but it's safe to say it won't get any more complicated.

jasonlotito3• 16 years ago

Initial thoughts:

* Keyboard shortcuts. Just some ideas:

  - n for "New <ContextItem>"

  - t for "New task"

  - j/k navigation for list items

  - space bar for checking

* Intelligent defaults

  - A page should do something.  A new project page should set my cursor to the new project name

  - Anything not required shouldn't be on the "new page" by default. Email list, stages are probably useless.

* Usability

  - Allowing someone to just start creating tasks without a project.

  - Checking off a task takes a long time.  To check off the task completely, I have to click 4 times!  The look of the other 4 areas are fine, but allowing someone to click a checkbox further in would be handy.

  - I can't edit a list item.  Allow me to do that in place.

  - "All Lists" area doesn't show percentage done easily.  Make it a visual graph with a percentage value.

* Functionality None of this functionality should really impact the usability and sparseness of the design. Most of this can be hidden away, easily found, and not required.

  - Allow me to email a list to someone.  Click button to email, allow me to enter an email address, and book, click send.  That's it!

  - Allow me to create due-dates if I want for lists and items.

  - Allow for list reminders ("Hey, you forgot about me!")

  - Allow for list importance ranking. ("This is really important and needs to get done")

I know it's a lot, but I actually like the app. Take my criticisms as a compliment. If I didn't think it was worth it, I wouldn't have wasted my time. =)

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Whoa, there's a bunch here - thanks! All excellent ideas, I'll get started ASAP.

I'm thinking that some of the ideas that people have suggested will be implemented as paid-user features, though. The idea is that the free version is totally usable and useful, and the paid version has a few extra tools here and there. The usual model, I'm sure!

Anyway, big thanks for the list - that's exactly the kind of feedback I was after.

jasonlotito3• 16 years ago

To give you further insight into how I would use the tool:

I'd most likely pull up Chrome, and make the site an application. This means I'd want the UI to assume it was being used as an application, not a website. It would be a little window I'd switch back to. A little window, probably the size of a normal chat window or something like it.

Keyboard shortcuts would make switching to the list easy as I could go from coding to using the tool without slowing down. Intelligent defaults should focus on my main task: Am I entering information in, or am I updating existing information. If I'm entering tasks, assume that's what I want to do, and let me keep doing it without slowing me down.

Note: Filter your input! Try entering </div> as a task. =)

wmeredith2• 16 years ago

This is FANTASTIC. So easy to use and gorgeous. Careful with that feature bloat, the killer feature here is the lack of a ton of crap I don't need. Is this a hobby or are their plans to monetize it?

jonespen• 16 years ago

Lovely usage of the font Rockwell, but you should specify some fall back fonts.

CSS example:

h1,h2 { Rockwell, "Courier New", Courier, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; }

elliottkember13• 16 years ago

Oops! Great advice - I've added a stack. Thanks for the heads-up!

gkoberger• 16 years ago

Great todo list; I love the idea and simplicity.

I'm sure you hate these, but small feature request. Is there any way you can add a "view everything" view?

I know I'm horrible at checking each of the separate projects (not just on your todo list; all todo lists), and I'm yet to find a todo list that has an overview that shows everything.

dhardy• 16 years ago

I found it difficult to visualize the relationships between projects -> lists -> task. I think this could be easily fixed with some design polish. Perhaps move the overall look to more of an application feel by defining the left sidebar. I like the sparseness just need to firm up the frame some.

Finally I want an API so I can make my own applications that plugin to this... for example a Thunderbird plug-in that converts an email to a task... or perhaps I could tweet a task update (this would give you quick and dirty mobile access)

Either way nice work!

jqm0• 16 years ago

We're going to use this for a small project nearing launch - will drop comments here (or anywhere else that you might prefer!).

A couple here from people on the team:

Be good to be able to add comments to lists/list items, just in case there's a dispute or more information is required to complete the task.

Be good to be able to ‘contract’ Lists, so you only see the title. Click on it to expand.

Show HN again: My new spec list app, Speckle - now with a homepage.

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