10 ms·

Show HN: Lanes – a minimalist week-planner and Pomodoro timer

65 points by welanes 11y ago

jordanlev 11y ago
I think I might know what this is attempting to do, but can't actually tell for sure. I briefly saw some "action" links or nav menu in the top-right (day, week, poms), but then the "what is lanes" green bar at the top covers up the action menu. The "what is lanes" thing didn't explain anything to me. And when I forcibly deleted the bar using web inspector, then the action buttons didn't work (day / week / poms). Very confusing. (But a big fan of pomodoro technique so looking forward to seeing what exactly it is you've created once it gets explained better and the UI gets cleaned up.)
- welanes 11y ago
  All solid points. The 'what is Lanes' tutorial is being improved right now, as a little too sparse on the detail. Thanks for the comment.
  - dhagz 11y ago
    Sparse implies that there is something there. When I click on any of the features to get an explanation, it just becomes bold and gets a strikethrough. After I click on all three, a button shows up saying "Start Accomplishing". That's not much in the way of a tutorial. I apologize for sounding harsh, but I don't really want to learn how to use your product by trial and error or without at least some idea of what it will look like when I am using it.
    - welanes 11y ago
      Not harsh at all. Each clicked link should result in a gif showing the feature in action. If that's not showing at all then looks like I've a browser incompatibility to fix.
schwarzrules 11y ago
Also, did you want us to login / create an account? I show up and get a timer, but couldn't really tell what was supposed to happen other than immediately signing up for an account.
- wmeredith 11y ago
  Same here. Could not figure out how to add a task.
- welanes 11y ago
  Yeah, that's the idea. I think the consensus is better onboarding so will improve it.
welanes 11y ago
Hey HN. This is the latest version of a task management app I've been building since mid-last year. Since then I've turned about 100 pieces of feedback* into incremental improvements/changes. Still much to do so before I dig into the next set of updates I figured I'd share here and get your take. Cheers. *A good chunk of which were around improving drag and drop, which turned out to be easier said than done.
- welanes 11y ago
  Update: I'm actually wowed this post got any traction, let alone time on the front page as I'm sure many people here could make a task manager in their sleep. Thanks, HN. That said, the hard part isn't the tech, it's making something people want to use and use again. That's key. So excuse the app being rough around the edges - it will be refined - and thanks for the advice.
- rjbwork 11y ago
  I was unable to try using it. I tried to type my name to no reaction. Then i clicked it and it asked me to sign up. There's not even a demo or any third party login support. Not ready to create an account and password for something that isn't even explained or demoed.
- sooheon 11y ago
  The green bar which drops down when you try interacting with menu items seems to be a sign-up wall under the guise of helpfulness. I have to click though fluff about how a week view or pomodoro timer works, only to be prompted to sign up with my email before I can proceed. I wanted to check out your ux, not hand over my email.
senko 11y ago
Looks interesting, great work! Suggestion: If you allow custom background, think carefully about the font colors. On the default background (tree & blue/gray sky) it was very hard to notice "up next" and "later" lablels - I wouldn't notice them were it not for your intro video in which they were more visible). Also, a simple way to get back to "today" in the week view. I was surprised to find out it wasn't in the leftmost page.
- welanes 11y ago
  Thanks, Senko. The custom list section is going to be improved in the next update. Right now it's two uneditable labels which is kinda weak. A more visible, more customizable version coming soon. Will look at a 'jump to today' option too.
jsherer 11y ago
Would be good to start off your landing page with a headline and some copy explaining your product. I didn't quite get it at first. You need something like... Lanes is a simple to-do list with a built in pomodoro tracker designed to help you stay focused during your day. -- Insert screenshot of Lanes in action -- Here's how it works: 1. Build your to-do list for each day 2. When you're ready to work, start a pomodoro tracker. The top task for the day is what you should be working on. 3. Once your pomodoro is up... stand up, stretch, and if you've completed your task, mark it as done. 4. After your short pomodoro break, goto 2. -- Insert testimonials about how lanes helped your customers save X amount of time or get N things done or achieve 100% increase in tasks completed -- What are you waiting for... you should sign up for Lanes and start getting things done!"
- pedalpete 11y ago
  Basically what you have in the 'what is lanes' page, make that your home page. Why hide it and risk people leaving because they don't know what it is.
  - dhagz 11y ago
    The issue is, I went to the "What is Lanes" page, clicked on each of the features to see a description and got...nothing of value. The feature became bolded and crossed-out, and that's it. No video loaded, no text appeared.
- welanes 11y ago
  Yes it needs work. Solid feedback, will yoink some ideas from your comment (if you don't mind).
- michaelZejoop 11y ago
  ...seems like pretty basic advice, but I find it very helpful - thanks for making this comment; my own project, zejoop dot com would benefit from a landing page makeover along these lines. I have struggled with this (a clear landing page and CTA) so, a straightforward, easy-to-implement formula helps. Thanks! (edit for clarity)
hiq 11y ago
When I saw the title I expected an application, i.e. something I could run offline. What are the benefits of using an online website? Why would I use this website instead of my offline pomodoro timer?
- anexprogrammer 11y ago
  I was hoping for offline too. The trouble with online is I spend >50% of my waking hours with no signal or when I do have signal I don't have data. Even at home signal is intermittent at best. e.g. I pick up the phone to answer a call and phone loses signal between table and ear. Current apps always seem to be built in the expectation of perfect always on data and cope terribly (if at all) with intermittent or poor conditions. It's frustrating to say the least
Slix 11y ago
I love the weekly planner idea. Of all the to-do lists I've looked at, none of them seem to support that critical feature. Are there any other weekly planner apps like this?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- prawn 11y ago
  I used this one for a while: https://teuxdeux.com/ https://teuxdeux.com/
eecks 11y ago
I signed up but this is really something I will never use again. I like the idea of a week-planner but this doesn't click with me at all.
erichurkman 11y ago
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_11_3) AppleWebKit/601.4.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/9.0.3 Safari/601.4.4 Clicking the 'what is lanes' thing, I get this: [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_settings> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_connect> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_bgt> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_imagegal> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <bgtab> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) Works fine in Chrome.
ApolloRising 11y ago
Not sure if you know this but after you go through the process to create a task and you don't seem to have a way to edit it. You also may need to streamline your sign up screen as it defaults to login without clear messaging. Seems like a good start but you may have to work on your actual use cases and step through it with a few brand new users.
mataug 11y ago
I would love to see some solution that integrates time blocking and pomodoro. After trying various todo lists and kanban boards I finally settled on using my google calendar which works perfectly as both my todo list and scheduler. More on this http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/12/03/monday-master-class-dont-plan-your-day-with-a-to-do-list/ http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/12/03/monday-master-class-do...
vetrom 11y ago
A landing page that doesn't peg CPU via javascript loops on the opening page would be nice.
Zyst 11y ago
This looks pretty nice, a bit ago my preferred planner/pomodoro app broke so I might use this. A caveat would be having the top right menu be a bit more distinguishable, it can get lost very easily with some backgrounds: http://puu.sh/n19Fx/b34d4c217f.jpg http://puu.sh/n19Fx/b34d4c217f.jpg (With POM :Hovered) However, this can be fixed using your favorite CSS injector so it isn't that problematic. I just added: .view_item { color: white; } .view_item_active { color: #191919; } I have a concern, how do you plan to monetize?
- welanes 11y ago
  Looks good, will make the menu more distinguishable in the next release. Monetizing: focus is on creating a great user experience now. Once that's achieved and the app adds value there’s a few ideas
bribri 11y ago
Awesome concept, I want something exactly like this. As others have said, improve your onboarding!

65 points by welanes 11y ago

I think I might know what this is attempting to do, but can't actually tell for sure. I briefly saw some "action" links or nav menu in the top-right (day, week, poms), but then the "what is lanes" green bar at the top covers up the action menu. The "what is lanes" thing didn't explain anything to me. And when I forcibly deleted the bar using web inspector, then the action buttons didn't work (day / week / poms). Very confusing. (But a big fan of pomodoro technique so looking forward to seeing what exactly it is you've created once it gets explained better and the UI gets cleaned up.)

welanes 11y ago
All solid points. The 'what is Lanes' tutorial is being improved right now, as a little too sparse on the detail. Thanks for the comment.
- dhagz 11y ago
  Sparse implies that there is something there. When I click on any of the features to get an explanation, it just becomes bold and gets a strikethrough. After I click on all three, a button shows up saying "Start Accomplishing". That's not much in the way of a tutorial. I apologize for sounding harsh, but I don't really want to learn how to use your product by trial and error or without at least some idea of what it will look like when I am using it.
  - welanes 11y ago
    Not harsh at all. Each clicked link should result in a gif showing the feature in action. If that's not showing at all then looks like I've a browser incompatibility to fix.

schwarzrules 11y ago

Also, did you want us to login / create an account? I show up and get a timer, but couldn't really tell what was supposed to happen other than immediately signing up for an account.

wmeredith 11y ago
Same here. Could not figure out how to add a task.
welanes 11y ago
Yeah, that's the idea. I think the consensus is better onboarding so will improve it.

welanes 11y ago

Hey HN. This is the latest version of a task management app I've been building since mid-last year. Since then I've turned about 100 pieces of feedback* into incremental improvements/changes. Still much to do so before I dig into the next set of updates I figured I'd share here and get your take. Cheers. *A good chunk of which were around improving drag and drop, which turned out to be easier said than done.

welanes 11y ago
Update: I'm actually wowed this post got any traction, let alone time on the front page as I'm sure many people here could make a task manager in their sleep. Thanks, HN. That said, the hard part isn't the tech, it's making something people want to use and use again. That's key. So excuse the app being rough around the edges - it will be refined - and thanks for the advice.
rjbwork 11y ago
I was unable to try using it. I tried to type my name to no reaction. Then i clicked it and it asked me to sign up. There's not even a demo or any third party login support. Not ready to create an account and password for something that isn't even explained or demoed.
sooheon 11y ago
The green bar which drops down when you try interacting with menu items seems to be a sign-up wall under the guise of helpfulness. I have to click though fluff about how a week view or pomodoro timer works, only to be prompted to sign up with my email before I can proceed. I wanted to check out your ux, not hand over my email.

senko 11y ago

Looks interesting, great work! Suggestion: If you allow custom background, think carefully about the font colors. On the default background (tree & blue/gray sky) it was very hard to notice "up next" and "later" lablels - I wouldn't notice them were it not for your intro video in which they were more visible). Also, a simple way to get back to "today" in the week view. I was surprised to find out it wasn't in the leftmost page.

welanes 11y ago
Thanks, Senko. The custom list section is going to be improved in the next update. Right now it's two uneditable labels which is kinda weak. A more visible, more customizable version coming soon. Will look at a 'jump to today' option too.

jsherer 11y ago

Would be good to start off your landing page with a headline and some copy explaining your product. I didn't quite get it at first. You need something like... Lanes is a simple to-do list with a built in pomodoro tracker designed to help you stay focused during your day. -- Insert screenshot of Lanes in action -- Here's how it works: 1. Build your to-do list for each day 2. When you're ready to work, start a pomodoro tracker. The top task for the day is what you should be working on. 3. Once your pomodoro is up... stand up, stretch, and if you've completed your task, mark it as done. 4. After your short pomodoro break, goto 2. -- Insert testimonials about how lanes helped your customers save X amount of time or get N things done or achieve 100% increase in tasks completed -- What are you waiting for... you should sign up for Lanes and start getting things done!"

pedalpete 11y ago
Basically what you have in the 'what is lanes' page, make that your home page. Why hide it and risk people leaving because they don't know what it is.
- dhagz 11y ago
  The issue is, I went to the "What is Lanes" page, clicked on each of the features to see a description and got...nothing of value. The feature became bolded and crossed-out, and that's it. No video loaded, no text appeared.
welanes 11y ago
Yes it needs work. Solid feedback, will yoink some ideas from your comment (if you don't mind).
michaelZejoop 11y ago
...seems like pretty basic advice, but I find it very helpful - thanks for making this comment; my own project, zejoop dot com would benefit from a landing page makeover along these lines. I have struggled with this (a clear landing page and CTA) so, a straightforward, easy-to-implement formula helps. Thanks! (edit for clarity)

hiq 11y ago

When I saw the title I expected an application, i.e. something I could run offline. What are the benefits of using an online website? Why would I use this website instead of my offline pomodoro timer?

anexprogrammer 11y ago
I was hoping for offline too. The trouble with online is I spend >50% of my waking hours with no signal or when I do have signal I don't have data. Even at home signal is intermittent at best. e.g. I pick up the phone to answer a call and phone loses signal between table and ear. Current apps always seem to be built in the expectation of perfect always on data and cope terribly (if at all) with intermittent or poor conditions. It's frustrating to say the least

Slix 11y ago

I love the weekly planner idea. Of all the to-do lists I've looked at, none of them seem to support that critical feature. Are there any other weekly planner apps like this?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
prawn 11y ago
I used this one for a while: https://teuxdeux.com/ https://teuxdeux.com/

eecks 11y ago

I signed up but this is really something I will never use again. I like the idea of a week-planner but this doesn't click with me at all.

erichurkman 11y ago

Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_11_3) AppleWebKit/601.4.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/9.0.3 Safari/601.4.4 Clicking the 'what is lanes' thing, I get this: [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_settings> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_connect> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_bgt> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <v_imagegal> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) [Warning] [Vue warn]: Unknown custom element: <bgtab> - did you register the component correctly? (bundle.js, line 13) Works fine in Chrome.

ApolloRising 11y ago

Not sure if you know this but after you go through the process to create a task and you don't seem to have a way to edit it. You also may need to streamline your sign up screen as it defaults to login without clear messaging. Seems like a good start but you may have to work on your actual use cases and step through it with a few brand new users.

mataug 11y ago

I would love to see some solution that integrates time blocking and pomodoro. After trying various todo lists and kanban boards I finally settled on using my google calendar which works perfectly as both my todo list and scheduler. More on this http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/12/03/monday-master-class-dont-plan-your-day-with-a-to-do-list/ http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/12/03/monday-master-class-do...

vetrom 11y ago

A landing page that doesn't peg CPU via javascript loops on the opening page would be nice.

Zyst 11y ago

This looks pretty nice, a bit ago my preferred planner/pomodoro app broke so I might use this. A caveat would be having the top right menu be a bit more distinguishable, it can get lost very easily with some backgrounds: http://puu.sh/n19Fx/b34d4c217f.jpg http://puu.sh/n19Fx/b34d4c217f.jpg (With POM :Hovered) However, this can be fixed using your favorite CSS injector so it isn't that problematic. I just added: .view_item { color: white; } .view_item_active { color: #191919; } I have a concern, how do you plan to monetize?

welanes 11y ago
Looks good, will make the menu more distinguishable in the next release. Monetizing: focus is on creating a great user experience now. Once that's achieved and the app adds value there’s a few ideas

bribri 11y ago

Awesome concept, I want something exactly like this. As others have said, improve your onboarding!