A Buyer’s Dilemma
April 23rd, 2009 by bensauer
Dave Stone recently recommended that I try Action Method Online, as a way of managing tasks/projects. The suggestion was timely: its been on my mind to try things other than basecamp, and another project tool I was trying got lost in the ether due to an ‘unfortunate database incident’.
Additionally, I know that my GTD has definitely been slipping. I liked the idea of trying something a bit more action driven: tying in a nag system with target dates for tasks might be just the trick (which is what AMO does).
So I’ve been trying in for a couple of months now, and its been an agnostic experience: plenty of WIN, plenty of FAIL. I’ll start with the FAIL, so that we end on an optimistic note.
The FAIL
- Buggy as HELL! Tasks not being added when I pressed ‘add’, same for projects. Very frustrating at first.
- Preferences not being saved. My oh my, do I not need US style dates, very confusing. But the app ignored my chosen date format, over and over again (same for timezone). Support were responsive, but didn’t actually fix anything as far as I can tell.
- Discussions: I would not feel remotely comfortable collaborating with a client using it. The discussion feature is badly presented, and although you can get emails when someone starts a discussion, generally you don’t. This is REALLY important when you are dealing with people who don’t know ways other than email to converse, and aren’t really sold (yet) on the concept of using a project tool online. The system should email the recipient all the time by default.
- It utilises a facebook style notification popup (little red icon) for things it wants to remind me about: potentially useful. Problem being, the notifications were generally fairly useless, e.g. ‘Do you want to share that project that you just added’? Well, no. That’s a pretty low priority and if I wanted to do that, I would. Its the hidden/forgotten stuff that’s more important (e.g. ‘you haven’t touched that task/project for weeks!’)
The WIN
- Task reminders are more proactive than good ole basecamp, the system reminds me by email summaries about what I haven’t done
- I can tie in task deadlines to project dates
- I can delegate tasks (with nags) much more easily
- I can set up ‘mini projects’ much more easily than other systems - there’s nothing heavy about adding a project (unlike basecamp)
- iphone app! Joy of joys, a project tool that allows me to review/add tasks (or ‘action steps’ as the app calls it) while I’m away from my desk.
The Dilemma
As noted in my previous article, I generally find most online tools to be overpriced: the owners are overvaluing what they’re offering, and I’m buying too many of these different hosted services to pay what they’re asking.
This is yet again true of Action Method Online, with a special twist. Despite the awful drawbacks, I want to carry on using it, as I know its early days for them. But…. I’ve hit the limit on tasks on the free account, and I don’t wish to pay what they’re asking ($12 p/m or $99 p/a) given the drawbacks/exchange rate.
What should I do? Any ideas? Suggestions please!




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