FacileThings Goals for 2023

Hi everyone!

In these first weeks of the year we have been going over everything that we have left unfinished in previous plans and the suggestions most frequently requested by our users. We have also been reflecting on all the new things we would like to do in the future, which are quite a few. We have an extensive Someday/Maybe list!

The goal of this process was to have a clear inventory of all the things we can do and prioritize those that we think will have the most positive impact on our users’ lives. Our purpose continues to be to offer a personal management platform that helps people make progress in their lives, achieving a productive, calm and fulfilling lifestyle.

In general terms, these are the projects on which we will focus this year, grouped into blocks of different types:

1. Develop new features to help implement the GTD methodology in a more complete and simple way: Mind Sweep, Natural Project Planning, and Project Templates.
2. Improve existing features to make them more complete and robust, and allow for a more dynamic workflow. We will improve calendar integration with read-only calendars, calendars associated with Focus Areas, and color assignment to distinguish calendars; improve the design and usability of the Clarify and Engage sections; introduce improvements that facilitate workflow (undo last change, advanced search options, etc.).
3. Complete the functionality of the mobile apps and improve their usability. New features we expect to add during the year are Agendas and collaborators, Routines, and Perspective.
4. Improve integration with other systems. We will integrate FacileThings with Zapier or Make, which will allow connecting the app with hundreds of widely used apps. The goal is that people who want to use FacileThings for a comprehensive personal management can do it, even if they have to use other applications in their company. We will create beautiful PDF reports that the user can take to their meetings or export to other systems. We will create a public API that will allow developers to integrate FacileThings with their company’s IT systems.
5. Technology enhancements. We will upgrade all systems and programming libraries to avoid security holes and improve overall system performance. We will also upgrade servers to improve response speed.
6. Educate. GTD and FacileThings do not have an easy learning curve. We have been able to observe that those users who have a basic knowledge of the methodology have a much better experience and get more out of using the application. It is therefore important to help our users understand the productive principles on which the system is based, especially when they are starting out. We are preparing a Getting Started Guide to get you started with FacileThings in the most effective way possible. We will also create an educational portal with all the necessary content to learn GTD and get the most out of FacileThings.
7. Innovate. We are always working on side projects that we think will be useful in the future. This year we will start developing a new alternative web application, with a technology that allows working on any device, with or without internet connection (we will publish a Beta version as soon as a minimum functionality is available). We are researching and analyzing artificial intelligence algorithms that would generate valuable information and allow any user to improve their personal effectiveness, regardless of their GTD level of implementation.

Specifically, these are the projects we will be working on during the first months of the year:

• Upgrade the servers to achieve better performance and higher processing speed.
• Update the versions of all the libraries and software packages we use, in order to avoid security problems and facilitate the continuous improvement of both the web application and the mobile apps.
• Improve and redesign the Account section. There will be a new billing section for the user to manage their own invoices and a new utility to clean the account data.
• Launch a new version of the mobile app that will include the Collaborators option, so that you can always have the Agenda of issues to track at hand when you meet someone.
• Develop a new “Mind Sweep” option that will allow to perform, in a guided way, a massive capture of to-dos. This is something that should be done when starting to implement a GTD system and, afterwards, whenever necessary.
• Create a FacileThings/GTD Startup Guide. The first version will be in ebook format.
• Design and implement a new onboarding process for new users.
• Create a set of PDF reports that allow to visualize, with an appropriate design and in one place, comprehensive information about lists, projects, collaborators, etc.

I will let you know every month (or every two months, depending on our progress) where we are at, what improvements have been completed and published, and what others we will work on in the next period.

That’s all for now. Once again, I want to thank you all for your willingness to point out needs and suggest improvements that make FacileThings a better personal productivity system.

Originally published at https://facilethings.com on January 31, 2023.