Using Trello to Keep Track of Ideas | Hacker News Reader

Using Trello to Keep Track of Ideas

feint.me

34 pointsfeint18 comments

Personally, I've found Workflowy [https://workflowy.com] to be indispensable not just for keeping track of ideas, but for then turning those ideas into something real.

Loads in any browser, has a (barebones) mobile app, and it's great for collaboration. I just hope their business model is enough to keep them afloat :/

I LOVE this app, but it's run by 2 guys with a paid base that I question is large enough to sustain them in the long run. I can't trust my data (my life?) to a web-app like this, when you have stable systems like Evernote, Asana, or even Trello that are going nowhere for the next few years.

Will Workflowy be there a year from now? Can you trust that if hacked your data is secure? I'm not 100% sure. Still, I hope they can create a stable business with sustained growth because it's such a great great idea.

They do have an export feature, which you can use to backup your data.

Workflowy is great. All the updates get emailed to me and this is sufficient backup for how I use the app.

I couldn't agree more. I subscribed as soon as the guys from Workflowy offered a paid version. It's a tool I have open every day.

i love workflowy too although I find myself using Trello more often. I keep my weekly schedule on workflowy.

I've been using Trello for a few weeks now. Is there a resource out there that can show me how power users are using it so I can really max it out?

Good use of Trello.

If I can give you feedback on your lists, I would say you are approaching markets in way that will likely have you paddling upstream for years to come.

Here's the thing: You don't have to come up with the problem to be an entrepreneur. Other people have problems. Lots of problems.

Your job is to create their solution.

I mean no disrespect--on the contrary, I'm trying to help.

Now, I can't see the details of your board, but how many people are trying to combine a pen and music? Sure, they might want to flaunt your awesome solution after they see it, but more than likely, they'll continue along with their life and not give your idea the time of day. Even it it's awesome and you execute flawlessly. Brookstone isn't even a big retailer in the scope of things.

Alternatively, talk to someone in any job. Really, any job will do.

Ask them about their challenges. Their problems. What sucks. What they wish they could do. I'll bet more people have complaints about their jobs&processes than want to combine pens and music.

So go ask people about what they don't like. And even if your impromptu focus group of 1 isn't forthcoming, this is where you lead. Wave your hands and invent solutions on the fly. Double credit if you can make these solutions with computers. Do any of your ideas strike their fancy?

Congratulations, hone in on it, then go talk to more people with that same job and see if the problem exists...repeat and tweak, you might have a real thing.

I've found that understanding, and then solving other people's problems is remarkably powerful and lucrative. You don't need to invent problems since people have enough big ones already.

Put a few on Trello, and solve one.

thanks for the feedback - all my ideas are to solve problems that I have come across. All my apps past and present have been built because I couldn't find a solution that worked for me. And luckily other people seem to have the same problems and I've managed to attract awesome investors.

p.s - penmusic is nothing to with a pen, rather its a feature i was toying with to integrate music streaming on my pen.io product

The fact that you see "Pen Music" and for some reason think you know what it's about makes me think you're not really in a position to decide what's a good startup idea or not. Learn to think outside the box and don't presume things. Else you will fail even harder than people trying to create problems.

I am writing a book on how to find problems and turn them into SaaSes: http://howtofindsaasideas.com/ (yes, I know it's buggy - new landing page coming soon!)

Anyway, would be cool if I could interview you for the book? Can I email you? :)

I track my ideas using Trello too. If that list in the screenshot is all you got so far, I have a bit more, and I have ordered them differently. In my case, 99% of the ideas I will probably never take action on, so it's a bit weird to track their phase. Instead I have separate lists for how big the idea is, how much time/energy it would take to implement.

Then the order in the list defines how attracted I am to actually doing the idea at the moment. So for example, making a Facebook competitor would be in my 'big ideas' list, but all the way at the bottom, because I think it's not very likely to end well.

I browse over my ideas every now and then, and update the ideas with information about how I would go about implementing them if I chose to. I usually move ideas up the lists when they come back in dreams or I find myself thinking about them during the day.

I have a few ideas I am actually doing work on (architecting, exploring, programming) and I move them to a separate 'doing' list. They also have their own Trello boards of course.

This is exactly what I do - I also add label colours to differentiate categories. I've also made "Stupid/abandoned" list, so that I don't just delete my ideas, but put them there just in case. I find it helpful to review it every now and then. Then I access them on my mobile too! It's a great tool.

I do much the same thing with two Evernote notebooks called "App ideas" and "App ideas feasible". Every new idea, no matter how silly, goes first into "App ideas" and later into "App ideas feasible". It's also interesting when something moves from the feasible list to the former.

How about org-mode:

http://orgmode.org/

Emacs extension = is this hacker news or what?

Despite being an Org Mode lover, I have to add:Trello has a bit better multi user support.

I started using Trello for this a couple of months ago. My "project" board has 4 lists: Ideas, Queue, Work-in-progress (It was "building" until I read your post), and Launched.

I like "work-in-progress" better than "building" because I use this board for more than just product-type ideas; I also use it for things like "learn about X" or "try Y."

My ideas board has Ideas, Up next, Doing and Launch. I also add colored labels to help organize cards better

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