Clutterpad is a full-featured project management app that considers itself “a way of doing things-not just a tool.”
Clutterpad operates on 5 principles:
- Sheer Beauty
- Ease and Simplicity
- Define Productivity
- Complete Mobility
- Security
Sheer Beauty
Clutterpad believes that to want to use something, you have to like the way it looks — and I completely agree. Clutterpad manages to achieve this with a sleek look where all features are easily accessible, without the interface looking cluttered.
Ease and Simplicity
Clutterpad thinks that “software should be as intuitive and easy to use as switching on a light.” While I still recommend that you always read all the features (and a product’s blog) — Clutterpad does do a pretty good job of having an intuitive interface.
Productivity Redefined
While I wouldn’t go as far as Clutterpad does in referring to using it as fun — it does offer a slew of features that can significantly help small teams stay organized, on track, and in touch all in one place.
Mobility
As a web-based app, Clutterpad is available from anywhere. (However, I didn’t see any mention of a mobile-optimized version.)
Security
Security is always concern — especially with cloud based apps — and Clutterpad lets it be know that they are super-serious about security.
Dashboard
The Dashboard is clean looking and when your first log in, the focus is a log of all recent activity across the team. You can view projects individually or as a group. The top box is an “At-A-Glance” section that shows your outstanding tasks, upcoming events, and how much file storage is being used.
To-Dos
The most impressive thing is that to-do items are color-coded: Red for Overdue, Orange for Due Today, and Green for Due in the Future — allowing you to see at a glance what’s due when. You can create to-do items for yourself or assign them to a team mate. You have the option to upload and attach a file, comment, or re-arrange the order of tasks. As an added bonus, you can filter to-do items by teammate as well.
Contacts
Contacts is a pretty straightforward feature: it allows you to input all your business contacts into one central location and track conversations with them.
Chatrooms
Something you don’t see in many project management apps is an honest-to-God-Campfire-style-chatroom — but Clutterpad has one! There’s even a private chat option.
Calendar
Another fairly straightforward feature, the calendar allows you to create events, set reminders, and color-code the calendars for your convenience.
Files
The files section allows you to easily upload, share, and re-download all project-related files.
WritePad
Writepad is a convenient way to easily start and share documents. You can also track each document’s revision history.
Messages
Messages allows you to help cut back on email clutter and keep all your communications in one place by posting a message and letting others comment on it. It’s not an email replacement, but it can help cut back on all those short 3 sentence emails that tend to wind up in your inbox when you’re collaborating on a project.
If you’re looking for a user-friendly, all-inclusive project management app for your team, Clutterpad is a great way to go. There are few barriers to entry, and its feature set has pretty much everything you’d be looking for in this type of software solution.
For More on Clutterpad:
- Lifehacker: Clutterpad Project Manager Updates; Now with Time Saving To-Do Templates
- Lifehacker: Clutterpad Puts Group Calendars, Contacts, To-Do Lists, and More in a User-Friendly Interface
project management apps, lifehacker project management, clutterpad
With all the projects I am involved in, this is a great tool I will have to check out!
Another great tool one can also try out is Brightpod ( http://brightpod.com ), a project , task management app specifically for marketing teams. It takes the entire campaign planning & collaboration online so you don’t miss anything.