Using Trello even as a solo founder
I have previously seen the value of Trello or any Kanban-style boards when collaborating among teams but decided to give it a try when working on my latest project.
I have come up with lists such as "To do", "Currently", and "Completed" which have helped me stay organized throughout my current work. It has also been keeping me motivated by allowing me to see how much progress I been making and what I'm working towards.
I came up with the labels "feature", "refactor", "testing", "bug" to categorize the cards on my board.
Adding comments and resources on each card that are related to the card has also been very helpful. For example: when I have a "bug" card, then I can include the resource that helped me fix the issue in case I need it later down the road.
Trello is great for solo and small teams.
I have backlog - todo - next on list - doing now - test - done - detail
I usually add way too much to next on list and doing now.
+1 to this.
Trello is such a great tool. I use it to manage all complex project. For smaller Dev stuff I usually just keep a Todo.txt inside my codebase :D
Found Trello to be a bit expensive after upgrading it for more features. Currently using Restyaboard. It's free, has a Kanban board, Gantt chart..etc.
I use projects in Github so I don't have to bounce back and forth between Trello and Github. Added bonus is easy links just by writing "#12". Same thing, but less friction!
Yes! A thousand times yes! I am a solo dev as well and I Created a trello board mostly to structure my work. BUT! And this is my best tip for everyone, is that I put time into finding fun engaging photos to make it all look good. That way, you start to treat your glorified todo list as something you like to watch and engage with.
It really cheered me up. Hard to say why.
https://trello.com/b/JqCUWGGN/phojo-roadmap
I like Trello too, I like it's simplicity - but I also wanted somewhere to track my habits/goals and put my tasks on a calendar so I made Yourganize - if you're ever trying to decide what to build, just make something for yourself!
Trello is imo best tool for a solo founder. What is missing from Trello's free plan are task/board permissions, therefore if you are a bigger team on a feel plan, things might accidentally disappear and you might not even know.
Personally I use Notion, just for sanity of using as little tools as possible. I have couple of kanban boards, as well as notes, journal, knowledge base, and more stuff in there!
I use Notion as well. It's just the best resource if you want to have all your stuff in one place. I still haven't figured out a way to efficiently coordinate tasks between my Notion Kanban and my GitHub Issues, though.
I use a tool I built called Retrospect Team (https://www.retrospect.team/), for personal use I have a board that has 3 columns (Today, This Week and This Month) and organize my tasks accordingly.
My all my side projects, I have a separate board for each which I share with my developer and we have various columns we drop tasks onto.
It's very similar to Trello but just a simpler UI.
I tried using Trello/Asana for solo projects a while back. Honestly, I didn't get a sense of it providing a lot of value for me, but maybe that's because of the stage I was at. When you have product market fit, then project management tools make a lot of sense since your roadmap is fairly stable. When you are looking for product market fit, the roadmap is a lot more chaotic. I found it easier just running off a simple bulleted list in Google docs (and now Dynomantle) so that I could edit quickly or just throw out old lists and start new lists when I get a slew of important feedback.