This summer I decided that I needed a better organization system. I chose to try the Getting Things Done (GTD) system. Next I needed software and that wasn’t simple, there are a hundred different GTD systems to choose from. I’m primarily on a Mac and I need something that will work with iCal and Mail.app. I followed Merlin Mann’s lead and chose Kinkless GTD (KGTD). The product is developed by Ethan J. A. Schoonover. It is a series of scripts that sits on top of the OmniGroup’s Omni Outliner Pro. I really like the flow that the software provides, but the system takes some geek know-how to setup and is definitely in Beta.
That’s why I was thrilled to find out that OmniGroup had paid attention to KGTD and was going to make a dedicated GTD-style product named OmniFocus. I found out about this on the KGTD website. The OmniGroup had brought Ethan and Merlin out to discuss their new product and get feedback. After hearing this story i went to meet the OmniGroup — who are near one of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle (Zoka).
This is an example of a company doing it right. OmniGroup found an unexpected use of one of their products. They made changes to their original product to assist him (and hosted KGTD forums on their site). When they decided that it might be a place for them to move into they brought the developer in. This allowed OmniGroup to get feedback on their idea and avoid alienating their potential customers (all the existing KGTDers). This isn’t possible to do every time, but it certainly is great when it happens.