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Cyborganize launched - the ultimate outliner productivity system
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Posted by JBfromBrainStormWFO
Jul 19, 2011 at 08:58 PM
I’ve just posted a 5-minute video that walks you through the unified Cyborganize graphic.
Basically, the magic is in the interplay between the scratch sessions, the snippet loop, and the longform loop.
Graham:
I am not pompous in person… for what it’s worth.
It’s just the nature of the product. Think about the ambition and scope of comprehensive info management systems like GTD, or what the creator of Supermemo attempted to accomplish. In this space, the goals we are attempting to realize are grandiose. If any system achieves those goals, it will deserve the superlatives I’ve used to describe Cyborganize. The relevant question is, does Cyborganize achieves what it aims at? If it does, then there’s no bragging, just a straightforward description.
I am not claiming to be a genius… just a very persistent person forced by circumstances to focus on a single issue for a very long time, resulting in a very large number of costly failures and one success.
If you’re willing to watch the 5 minute video, I think you’ll be drawn in. If not, then wait for more social proof before investing your time.
I am definitely aiming at hyper organized people… they’re the ones who feel the strongest need for eliminating mental fragmentation.
The “facebook or twitter” quote was from a person who views social networks as inherently useless, which is clear if you read the full quote. It’s being taken the wrong way… he has a wry sense of humor.
Dana:
Lossless refers to the chronological tapes which preserve a permanent record of all info captured.
Frictionless refers to the multiple methods by which Cyborganize prevents you from ever feeling “stuck”.
The links are in the “recommended reading order” section.
As for “don’t get overwhelmed,” I mean both. Cyborganize is incredibly simple and easy to use, which is why it can be represented in a single sparse graphic. However, if you only implement part of it, you are very likely to be susceptible to overhead creep, because you will be over-relying on certain portions. Cyborganize’s elements work together to reduce workload. The “don’t get overwhelmed” article shows you how to start with the piece that is least dependent on the others - tasks.
Cyborganize does have a steep learning curve right now, just as GTD did when it was completely unfamiliar to everyone. That’s because it’s radically different.
If you want to skip straight to the core workflow, it’s clearly marked under “Core Workflow”.
The website has just been put together and I expect to continue to improve it.
Noteliner is not a substitute for BrainStormWFO. Noteliner is a standard outliner. BrainStormWFO has several unique design features that render it irreplaceable for Cyborganize. E.g., forced focus and mark sorting.
Graham#2:
Only 3 of 18 of my posts are about BrainStormWFO. The focus is the information system. Maybe you missed the recommended reading order section?
dan:
Evernote is selling a much simpler product. A better comparison would be GTD.
And when I actually describe what it does, apparently it sounds like pompous bragging!
Posted by JBfromBrainStormWFO
Jul 19, 2011 at 09:34 PM
Anyway…
You guys are tough, but I appreciate the feedback!
All I’m looking for is a few good first users. Two or three people are interested so far, that I know about. Interesting times ahead…
Posted by dan7000
Jul 19, 2011 at 10:03 PM
OK, GTD.
First, GTD is a book, not a software product. Maybe that’s the issue—if your goal is to write a book, then a website is not the place to do it. Maybe a blog would be better?
But if we’re talking about GTD software then what I said about marketing on your website still applies. You have to list concrete examples of what people get get out of your software
For example, here are 3 things a user can get out of GTD software, stated simply:
1. keep your email inbox cleaned out
2. know what task to do next
3. make sure no tasks fall through the cracks.
A website listing those 3 features would sell a ton of software. That’s why GTD software is popular. If you can list 3 concrete benefits like that, in that many words or less (using active verbs), you can get people to download your software. Here’s an example of GTD software (recommended by David Allen) that is marketed like this - in fact the main focus of the webpage is 6 active verbs, under which is lists concrete examples of what users can DO with the software (e.g. “Quickly and easily record all your miscellaneous to-dos and store items in your inbox until you’re ready to process and organize them.”): http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/features/
In contrast, looking at your website now, I don’t see even one user benefit. There is a section called “benefits” but it doesn’t explain any concrete benefits: “cyberorganize is a chaos engine” does not sound like a benefit to me. “A general solution to procrastination and laziness” is not concrete and is frankly unbelievable unless you’re selling meth. :)
Like others, I’m not trying to be hypercritical: I actually want to know what your software is useful for—so I’m challenging you to produce 3 statements like the ones above.
Posted by JBfromBrainStormWFO
Jul 19, 2011 at 10:13 PM
I do like the Omnifocus home page, that’s a good example.
However, it’s not a software product… it’s more like a GTD book, with certain specific software requirements.
It will eventually turn into a book, this is just my way of releasing it to the public early.
Here are my three benefit statements:
1. Eliminate mental fragmentation and resistance
2. Discover your true identity and mentally evolve
3. Execute optimally
Sounds hokey but that’s exactly what Cyborganize was designed to do.
“?A general solution to procrastination and laziness? is not concrete and is frankly unbelievable unless you?re selling meth. :)”
That’s my problem… nobody would believe my benefits.
Believe me, I WISH I were selling something like “clear your inbox” or “capture anywhere.”
And I’m giving it away free!
Posted by Chris Murtland
Jul 19, 2011 at 10:39 PM
I see the merits of BrainStorm (forced focus and quick rearranging) and keeping things segmented based on source (internal/external) and level of polish or completeness. But perhaps the system is too abstract and seemingly convoluted (there is a lot of copying and pasting, and things live in multiple places) to be immediately useful to someone first reading about it - it would be nice to see some specific examples or scenarios like taking an incoming client email that contains 10 tasks of varying complexity and timeframes and processing that through the system. The system seems rather introspective, which is not bad - but work is often full of competing, external demands.
Also, BrainStorm does have unique affordances, but I get a little lost on the need for two blogs and a wiki… couldn’t these just be three folders of text files, for example?
Do you use namesakes at all? It seems like that might be a way to preserve the chronological order within BrainStorm while still sorting the same entries conceptually in another part of the model.
Anyway, it’s always interesting to read about very detailed workflows.
Chris