I have used github project boards so far for technical projects and simple google docs for non-technical projects.
Want to combine these two as our team grows.
curious about peoples experience with linear, trello or jira (though not a big fan of Jira)
My current most hated bug: it somehow enables an filter shirtcut and the only way to remove it, is to edit the url. If i click on the shortcut then it appears twice in the url and clicking it again only remove one.
Then there are all the fields in the story that nobody ever fills out, but are always visible,
- I used jira for work from 2021-2023
- I have used trello for several smaller, non-work projects for many years
- I have not yet used github projects in anger though I have spent a few hours playing with them
If you want a single tool that can combine tech project management with docs, trello won't work. The other 3 do work, for some definition of "work"
1. Linear's docs are inherently tied to a project: https://linear.app/docs/project-documents. You will eventually run into the question, "which project does this doc belong to."
2. Jira's docs are Confluence, which is like an Atlassian version of Notion that inherently integrates into other Atlassian tools. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it is 2024 and Jira has come a long way, but I prefer Jira over Linear or just about anything else these days.
3. GitHub Projects' docs are... gists? I don't know what, if any, inherent integrations exist between gists and GH Projects (ie being able to tag a Project, Issue, etc from a gist with an `@-mention`)
I would recommend you try out each of these for a couple of hours, re-create whatever project(s) you currently have running, and see how it feels.
I will warn you, however, that I have grown to hate Linear. It has a lot going for it, but it's filtering behavior and information density cause bad confusion.
There are 2 different ways to filter what you see: `filter` and `display`. If I open the built-in Cycles view, add a filter, close the tab, then return to the Cycles view the next day, that filter is still applied. If you and I both click on a link for the Cycles view, we'll see different things because of that filter. On top of that, the `display` button provides other ways to change what is visible, such as completed issues. Do you want to display all completed issues for the current view, only ones completed within the past day, or week, or month? And this `display` button seems to apply across all views as a set of defaults or something. But this creates another way for you and I to click on the same link and see different information.
Linear's information density is very high, to a confusing degree. There are a total of 4 collapsible sidebars (I'm working from memory so maybe it's only 3). There's one of the left with the usual nav, but then there are 3 on the right depending on which view you're in. I believe any view that contains issues will have all 3. Those right sidebars (named project overview, cycle graph, insights iirc) contain a lot of helpful information, but it feels shoehorned into these sidebars. I get that it's convenient to be able to see that information alongside the list of issues, but it's just too much.
This has created far, far more friction and confusion on my teams than I ever would have thought. I manage 2 engineering teams that are each part of their separate product teams. A total of 9 engineers, 2 project managers, and 2 designers across 2 product teams. Not a single person feels comfortable in Linear after _months_ of usage. I regularly have to hand-hold people, even my engineers who are otherwise very technically smart and capable computer users. The PMs and designers are hardly tech-illiterate, they are very comfortable with computers and technically savvy, and it's still confusing to them.