Behance, a New York-based company with a range of services for creative professionals, has always had a thing for keeping people organized. Its Behance Network enables designers to upload and assemble their work into online portfolios that can be shared with both potential clients and the larger creative community. And Behance’s stylish Outfitter line of paper products, which includes notebooks, cards and stickers, helps people keep track of tasks the old fashioned way.
Behance has now debuted an excellent new product called Action Method that will appeal to creative and non-creative individuals alike who wish to organize and collaborate on projects more effectively. Action Method is partly a new stab at solving the same problems addressed by Basecamp and several other project managers, and it’s partly another online to-do list.
The beauty of Action Method lies in the flexibility it affords each of its users to organize his or her tasks. The central component is the “action step”, the virtual equivalent of a Post-it note that can be used to jot down a description of something that needs to get done. Each action step is assigned to a project, where it will be displayed alongside all other steps in the project. The steps can be labeled with one of three colors (blue, red, or silver) and prioritized based on when they’re due.
When you want to delegate a task to someone else, you simply enter that person’s email address and they will get a notification about it. If they accept, they’ll have the opportunity to file the task away into the project of their choosing (collaborators are not forced to organize tasks into the same project buckets). They can also choose to decline a task, sending it back to the original delegator with a short explanation.
While tasks (er, steps) are central, Action Method comes with a suite of other ways to communicate and keep track of projects. So-called “reference” sheets are like wikis that can be used to share notes, links and attachments. A “backburner” area lets you post notes that aren’t necessarily tasks that need to get done. You can participate with others in a forum-like area called “discussions”. And you can put down simple events that serve as larger milestones for your projects (launch dates, meetings, etc).
All of your activity across these tools is recorded and displayed in an activity feed area. You can choose to share your activity on Action Method with others or simply use the feed as a way to track your progress (see when you finished or delegated tasks, for example).
Action Method doesn’t really have an internal messaging system (which is a little unfortunate) but you can send others little “nags” that reminds them of what you need done in less than 125 characters. Conversely, you can send little “appreciate” notes that inform others that you dig their work ethic.
This is a new product so there are a number of things that I’d like to see improved or added. Each step/task could use a greater range of formatting options (bullets, italics, etc). It would also be helpful if steps could be displayed in list format as opposed to their default Post-it note grid format. And it would be useful if users could delegate tasks that need ongoing action, share in the responsibility of fulfilling certain tasks, or put a task up-for-grabs within particular groups.
For those who start using Action Method to organize their lives (which includes myself), Behance has an iPhone app in the works and has already released an AIR version that basically reduces the amount of browser chrome. It would be helpful if the AIR app also came in a smaller form factor a la Twhirl or Yammer.
Action Method is free for up to 50 action steps, after which you need to sign up for the premium version that costs $12/month or $99/year.
I’m personally addicted to basecamp, but I’d be interested to try this one out. I’ve found that no matter what PM tool I try, I’ll never find one that perfectly suits me. I usually have to bend my own routines to fit the limitation of the service unfortunately.
Yea same here. Although Deskaway comes close. Its a step up from Basecamp in my opinion. Ofcourse, its also about what didn’t perfectly suit you with Basecamp.
As I write this comment, right between me and my keyboard is one of Behance’s notebooks. These people have my heart, even if they’re building a competitor product (to Goplan) now
fred — keep up the good goplan work, though. i dig it!
I currently use Deskaway – works perfectly. Its Basecamp’s price/ 2 and more powerpacked in my opinion. A perfect enterprise solution without too many frills – focusing on the essentials. The only thing it lacks in my opinion is the ability to figure out how much time an employee spends on a task and converting that into a value automatically. So everything becomes clear in terms of the numbers. Anyone know of a tool that does that? Apart from that DeskAway has solid reporting and analytics and an extremely extremely neat workflow. I know that invoicing is on its way and in the last 4 months i can remember atleast 40 updates – so they are making the tool super good super quick – something that i love.
Hi Harsha,
Might be worth having a quick look over our website, the points that you mention above in terms of converting time into actual costs and invoicing are included in our software.
Many thanks,
Barry
i tried to sign up to see how it works but got “failed signing up” error message instead. another techcrunch effect?
Hey DK, shoot me what info you tried to sign up with and I can take a look into it. dave [at] behance [dot] com. We haven’t received any other bugs like that so let us know to help you and future users.
“let us know to help you and future users”
i think he just wants his problem solved not future users. deal with the matter, don’t be so ingratiating
perfect, thanks for this! I’ve been looking for a project management tool for a school project and was about to settle on Basecamp for my 2 team members and I – now I’m considering action method instead (is that the best name they could come up with, though?!)
eager to see what other people’s experiences with action method have been like…
I think I’ll stick with ProWorkflow (http://www.proworkflow.com), I don’t like not beign able to specifically set the order in which things should be completed etc.
We’ve been using Action Method Online for a few months now, and I’ve got to tell you, the online PM world had better look out. This tool is crazy flexible, sexy, and easy to use. If you’re like me, and you value accountability in task/step delegation, you’ll love this. Do yourself a favor and give it a try…
That’s one of the best designed sales pages I’ve seen in a while. Well done.
I actually have a review up of the Action Method online that I posted last Friday (was one of the early beta testers.)
http://lifedev....-method-online/
The thing I love most is that there is a place for putting everything. Any idea, any discussion, everything.
The other thing I REALLY love is that I can use *my* system for organization, as opposed to being locked into how Joe Schmo organizes his project.
Powerful and Versatile.
similar to vitalist – w/o the social aspect of team communication
At kluster, we were fortunate to beta AMO too. It’s pretty amazing. Bottom-up approach to project management is a much more natural and intuitive process. Great product for making ideas happen.
http://kluster.com
I was trying out the service until I was blocked from uploading files because I didn’t have a premium account. All my projects revolve around these assets so the “trial” was worthless to me.
I was one of the early beta testers of Actionmenthod online, and since then I’ve been addicted to it. It makes it easy for me to see my tasks and stuff that goes with it It’s good for coordinating with a team, and it also works really well for stuff you need to do by yourself too. I’ve been a long time user of Basecamp but I think I’m switching to this.
AM team, you’re definitely on to something, but you have some bugs to work out. For example, here’s an error I experienced when canceling my account:
http://img29.pi...e1m_33b2907.png
Hey thanks for letting us know. The fix will be up in the next version coming tonight. Your account should have been canceled, despite the message.
I’m a big fan of Basecamp and use it judiciously with my team for my startup. We’re just not going to jump to anything else.
But as an artist, I’ve been a fan of Behance for a while. I’ll definitely take a look at Action Method for some other projects I have going on.
The logic behind action method worth looking: http://www.acti...method.com/Tour
I loved the way they group and organize the work to do. This is a very good start to organize the teams which have to deal with variety such as creative professionals, new product teams and start ups.
You may not use the tool but I strongly recommend to explore their approach.
Will it be able to threat Basecamp?
basecamp is so 2004…
If you start feeling frustrated with Basecamp, then try Planzone for managing your projects on a “Basecamp-mode”..but with a far more up-to-date style!^^
Techcrunch FR just released a post about us today, following an article on web worker daily.
http://fr.techc...l-collaboratif/
I’ve commented somewhere else about ActionMethod. It has a sleek interface, and it’s very well designed. But what differentiates it from the other tools (increasing by the day).
I was reading an article at myintervals today about this exact point (what can differentiate your PM tool), and I’ve suggested intelligence. Right now these tools are just taking your data, saving it, and then presenting it in different formats. So it’s more or less of a database.
Intelligence, eg learning from you, knowing what you want to do, fixing your mistakes, etc… will add huge value to such applications (and it can be done).
It’s very painfull to learn a new tool everytime it is released as the one.
I totally agree with you. An intelligence app can be done and would be great.
If you know anything (methodology. application) with this aproach please let me know.
Cheers.
Action Method is pretty cool, but Behance’s designer portfolios and job site aren’t quite as comprehensive as Coroflot’s.
This seems to work pretty well for teams. For personal use and GTD, I still prefer http://www.vitalist.com
I use HighRise, BackPack and Chandler (on my Mac.) And MobileMe. And outlines, and Curio.
I still haven’t found one single tool which does everything I want. Maybe it doesn’t exist. As someone else mentioned, I’m looking for a “smart” database. Something which says: “HEY — you entered this three weeks ago, what progress have you made since then?”
I’ve signed up for the free trial, so I have high hopes that Action Method may help me to tie everything together. Or at least some of them.
I am addicted to DeskAway (http://www.deskaway.com). It is an excellent pm tool.It provides a number of features & services & above all a very good customer service. I do not feel to switch to any other product because of its simplicity.
It seems that everyone commenting here is in love or is addicted to ActionMethod… Come on…
I tested ActionMethod, and I need to say that it’s pretty neat, it’s gonna be part of the new PM web apps coming out this year.
We are way more social though, it’s more about teams than individuals
We’re one of those with Producteev.com (TC50 demopit), and launching quite soon, I have to say that ActionMethod is the real competitor, and I like it
Good luck to all of us
ActionMethod looks slick, that is for sure. But I don’t see how it is project management? It looks like a task management app with very clever category names to help you stay organized. Project management is about so much more than task lists.
I’m running an editorial team. I need to share the editorial calendar online plus some document submission and tracking function to keep manage incoming documents from freelancers. Was thinking of using Basecamp in tandem with FreshBooks, so we can keep monitor how much we owe the freelancers. Any suggestions?
Frankly, i’m not thrilled. Often its not about the tool being snazzy, but dependable, so that it just gets the job done. I use HyperOffice Collaboration Suite because they’ve been around a bit serving SMBs, and know what a small company wants.
I would not compare Action Steps to a task management app, rather to a collaborative mindmap without the links.
There are scores of online Project Management tools but very few focus on the first stages of project management.
In that respect, Action Steps is a welcome innovation : it focuses on the creative steps of project creation – no calendar integration, no email integration, on purpose they say – with light scheduling options.
It’s actually pretty good: way too often people don’t fully define all the tasks that must be done (right brain stage) and tend to jump right away on the scheduling bandwagon (left brain stage), assigning arbitrary times to unpolished tasks, putting all their faith in a Project Management solution to sort it out.
Of course it just never works that way. What looked like the Holy Grail turns into a rotten apple, and the result is a mess (late delivery, over budget, grey hair).
(Same thing happens with business plans and PowerPoint presentations, if you ask me… you just can’t organize what isn’t well thought out.)
This is my current set-up for project management – running a company (25+ collaborators) and handling product development – software – as well as all the various aspects of a company’s operations planning :
1. Organizing ideas
I did try Wrike, found it way too expensive for what it really helps you achieve, despite a clever approach.)
Tool : PersonalBrain
2. Defining tasks
Tool: PersonalBrain
3. Scheduling tasks
Tool: SmartDraw (lighter than MS Project)
4. Managing tasks collaboratively (this is when iterations take place, not before.)
Tool: VeoProject (online tool. Ugly but done by smart people for smart people, call it a niche market
5. Hands on management (for software development, on the developers’ side).
Tool : TRAC + Subversion
I’m willing to give Action Steps a try, as a way to gather ideas at the beginning of a project – should be better then email.
Remember: use your right brain first, then your left brain. Don’t rush. Otherwise you’re bound to fail and no tool will help you prevent that.
Also: no single tool will ever cover all aspects of project management. Don’t believe marketing fluff.