Why I built my latest project, pat.io

Hi there, here are my thoughts:

Overall very good. I like the URL recognition. Here're my nitpicks:

General: * If we select the time zone, let us know whether you've taken into account DST. * I would prefer an e-mail-less signup process as I don't feel there's a need for it. AFAICS password retrieval is the only use and I can't see any evidence you've implemented that. Why do I have to give an email address if I don't even need it to log-in? For the free service, I think you should consider ditching the need for email addresses. * To-do, unless a branding decision, should not be capitalised unless grammar dictates otherwise. c.f. 'Add this To-do' button. * Consider moving the 'Add this To-do' button to the side of the to-do entry box. * Consider changing OS-native buttons to graphic/css buttons which fit in with the style/colouring of your site.

Ease of use: * Whenever I can see the to-do list, any typing whatever should go into the text box. You can do this with a javascript key bind. Why should I have to deal with clicks and focus when the only point of that page is to jot down items and tick them off? * Personally, I would advocate a log-in boxes on the front page as well as signup boxes, but I guess that's a design choice. * Why insist on alphanumeric only usernames particularly as this isn't a restriction for passwords? As a minimalist site, I shouldn't have to worry about what I type in, or be informed about the rules until I break them. The rules should be (as far as possible - and this is where the 'art' of design comes in) the same as I assume. Therefore, unless you have a technical issue, I suggest you allow as many punctuation and non latin characters as possible for both passwords and usernames. Only when I try and use one that's not possible to use due to technical limitations do you apologise and give me the rules. * It's difficult to delete many items. I don't mind hitting delete myself many times, but the delete button only comes up when you go over the main part of the to-do list meaning there's a lot of mouse movement to delete. If that's a design choice/attempt to stop accidental deletions, fair enough, otherwise it would be good to have it changed.

Bug: * If you manage to click/select the input box before the page has loaded you can end up with the wrong font and no 'Add this To-do' button. Additionally, pressing return doesn't actually add the to-do although it still brings up the 'Hang tight' box.

As I said, good site!

Admittedly, I'm somewhat confused why you posted this here.

You're not accepting new accounts, and the blog post is a couple of paragraphs saying that you wanted to re-invent the to-do app, but there is nothing concrete.

I wish you luck, it sounds like there is a lot of potential, just nothing verifiable yet.

I like the SMS integration, here's a suggestion: use twitter for free SMS. Basically create a Twitter bot, ask users to follow your Twitter bot. Then all they need to do is to tweet their Todos, DM or @, both ways should work just the same.

This saves you on paying for SMS while adding a really cool feature - adding todos using Twitter.

The personal organizer software problem is a tricky one. It is unique in that even the slightest inconvenience or diversion in the workflow can render the application unusable, because the very purpose of the app is to offload that sort of trivia from your mind.

Because everyone has different habits and thought patterns, there is no one workflow that suits everyone and the cognitive overhead introduced by a flexible workflow, while tolerable in other kinds of applications, is show stopping in a PIM app. Workflow for a particular person may also vary between contexts e.g. work, home, hobbies, socializing, etc.

As such, I fully encourage the proliferation of todo apps with slight variations in design. However, I believe that we will ultimately need something highly adaptable that can be "programmed" to the detailed specifications of each user. What sort of "programming" would be both remedial enough for the layperson and flexible enough to cover the entire domain remains a mystery.

FYI, I use this: http://todoist.com

I dig this actually and I am going to try it out for a week or two. The shift feature and stats page are definitely cool features. Maybe add a simple #tagging option so you can color code or filter your lists? I don't know if that is breaking too far away from your minimalist approach - but as it would just be "extra text" you can add "if you want" rather than more interface/gui I figured it would be a nice addition.

You should give me a better reason to sign up than just saying it's a minimalistic to-do app. A screenshot, a tour, anything.

Oh, I see you have a link to a nice screenshot buried under "Help". If you were to bring this link out into an introductory sentence before the sign-up form, it's look much better.

the "Shift" feature seems like a good idea. I often find myself shifting a task into another day.

I like how simple it is. Well done.

Out of curiosity, why did you limit sign ups?

Other than that, I like your approach. I find a lot of to-do apps out there have a lot more in mind than just keep track of what you want to get done.

You probably should have titled this with the traditional "Ask HN: Review my startup ____" ... since I was expecting something different.

Anyway, seems like a nice, simple to-do list app. The shifts are a neat idea, but I'd be concerned that once they're hidden from view, I'd forget about them. Might be cool to have a ticker on the bottom that randomly displays something from the shifts page every time I load up the to-do list. That way I might be "accidentally" reminded of something I shifted a month ago and then forgot about.

It'd be nice if it saved old to-dos so you can retrieve your history and remember what you've done.

the description of how you handle your written/paper to-dos is the same as how I do it normally.

i will try this out for a bit