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Task Management Interfaces: Outlines, "Contexts", Tags, and Areas
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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 25, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Cassius wrote:
>Projects and, indeed, much problem solving, requires simultaneous tasks and
>feedback. I don’t see how a “flat” view supports this.
I don’t think I follow your reasoning, but perhaps I don’t know what you mean by “feedback.” A flat view is essentially a spreadsheet, and the spreadsheet is one of the long-standing planning tools. And I don’t see how a hierarchical view is more conducive to feedback. Perhaps you can explain a little more.
Steve Z.
Posted by Cassius
Jan 26, 2009 at 01:50 AM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>
>
>Cassius wrote:
>>Projects and, indeed, much problem solving, requires simultaneous tasks and feedback. I don’t see how a “flat” view supports this.
>
>I don’t think I follow your reasoning, but perhaps I don’t know what you mean by “feedback.” A flat view is essentially a spreadsheet, and the spreadsheet is one of the long-standing planning tools. And I don’t see how a hierarchical view is more conducive to feedback. Perhaps you can explain a little more.
>
>Steve Z.
———-
1. Here’s a “feedback” example: One has a project, part of which is to build a predictive statistical model of, say, boating fatalities. One starts with some data that “should” be useful, such as annual boat sales. One discovers that this data has NO relationship to boating fatalities. (Perhaps because the industry “fudges” the sales numbers.) This knowledge is then used to “restart” the model building process, this time testing other data. The process is repeated until one (hopefully) finds a data set that can be used to build a robust model. In this case, such data was found—unlikely as it appeared to be: Annual boating fatalities on boats of age 2 years through 20 years turned out to be almost perfectly described by a declining exponential curve with boat age as the explanatory (x-) variable.*
This is precisely what the scientific method does. One tests a theory, obtains results, modifies (or rejects) the theory, and begins again.
2. Steve Z said, “And I don’t see how a hierarchical view is more conducive to feedback.”
He’s right, it isn’t. But what I had said was, “While I am not particularly fond of flow charts, I think a graphical view of processes is often needed. And, while Inspiration is not the easiest to use, its ability to (at least partially) link an outline and a graph can be useful.” When I said, “...at least partially…,” I was thinking about feedback, which does not fit into the hierarchical structure of an Inspiration Outline.
* For those curious about the boating fatality example, I did the research in the middle ‘70s. For boat ages over 20 years, the data were too sparse to obtain any statistical significance. For boats of ages one year or less, fatalities were less than predicted by the exponential, possibly because some boats are purchased after the beginning of the boating season, or because people are more careful in a new boat. For boats of age one to two years, fatalities were greater than predicted by the exponential curve, possibly because of the “sophomore effect,” which appears to apply to many situations, including, I have been told, private piloting.
-c
Posted by Ike Washington
Feb 1, 2009 at 01:55 PM
Great news if Palm is back. Though since it’s a new OS, limited interest to me and my palm e2.
Yes, it’s the third party software which really makes a difference. All those hobyists and small developers who extended what the basic palm could do. I’ve just bought a new palm tungsten e2. My old one’s battery gave out. But since I’ve stretched its capabilities via third party software to what’s exactly right for me, I was quite loath to give up on it, switch to a new smartphone and have to figure out a whole new system. This might have appealed a few years ago, but I just don’t have the time or energy to get caught up with tweaking on a grand scale again.
So I carry an antique unit around.
Perhaps I’ll be still be raving about my Palm E2 in years to come rather like you MORE and Grandview fans out there…
Ike
—————————
Jan wrote:
Hmmmm. Wonder about Palm Pre?getting great reviews. Designed by former iPhoner
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/palm-pre-in-depth-impressions-video-and-huge-hands-on-gallery/
http://www.palm.com/us/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aC2I.kb1DIjo&refer=us
With the Best Buy development, it may get a wider play, create more purchases, interest & 3rd part software
—
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA
Posted by Ike Washington
Feb 1, 2009 at 02:05 PM
Since I have a licence for it (free from Giveaway of the day, I think), I’ll look at ListPro again. Both ListPro and Bonsai are excellent for keeping track of items. It’s just that Bonsai got to me first, I think. Once a system gets set up and works, others generally don’t look quite right, require a steep unlearning curve as much as a learning curve. Hence my reluctance to get to grips with ListPro and InfoQube.
Ike
——————————————————
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
Ike Washington wrote:
>I?m surprised at the lack of interest in Bonsai. Doesn?t anybody else use
>it? Doesn?t it fit your requirements, Steve?
I had been a long time user of ListPro, which is very similar to Bonsai, so I mostly have not looked into Bonsai before. Because I no longer use a handheld device?I have had both a Pocket PC and a Palm?I have not really used ListPro much recently. I will look again at Bonsai, and reassess using the ListPro desktop application.
Steve Z.