Wishlist: Easier to add issues as tasks; Progressive disclosure of advanced options

This is about my experience of using other PM/task tracking tools. I am adding info about my experience using Asana and Trello, which feel lightweight.

tl;dr:

• Easy to add tasks
• Progressive disclosure for advanced options
• At a glance overview of tasks (better in trello in "Kanban" style)
• Easy to sort/prioritize

Tasks are trivial; Issues are not.

My post here is focusing on the UI, but there is a difference to make note of. Part of this is in the UI, but it’s also relates a bit to the culture around the tools, and might be dependent on the culture of the project.

• Before I make an issue, I feel compelled to check first: Does this issue exist already? Is it related to something existing? Someone might be annoyed if I make a duplicate issue without checking first. (Is this just me? It's been my experience in other projects.) An issue is loaded. Unaddressed issues in a "backlog" need to be closed at some point.
• When I make a task I am following the GTD principles of “get it out of my head” so it can be followed up again, sorted and assigned. It might just sit in my backlog ("Someday" in GTD verbiage) forever and that doesn’t bother me.

Quick to make a task

In the UI of various task tracking Apps and services, it’s trivial to make a task.

• Click enter/return on keyboard/tap on mobile.
• New field appears
• Type one line of text
• Enter to save /return on keyboard/click away on mobile.

This becomes the “title” of the task. Clicking that task then open up options with a principle of progressive disclosure.

Configuration options? Later!

Progressive disclosure means when I have to add a new task, I don’t have to make a lot of decisions, and I can think freely. It does mean I need easier ways to weight, sort, assign and move tasks however, at some point.

It also means that to add a task I don’t go into a different UI or screen to add a new item.

• Trello uses a modal window on the web UI.
• Asana changes the layout on the web UI. I prefer that.

At a glance overview of tasks

A quick overview of tasks moving through stages of completion.

• Backlog / Todo
• In progress
• Review
• Complete

These should be arbitrary, as each project/board might need its own flow.

Jira's Kanban always seems clunky and over complex. Asana has no native Kanban AFAIK. There's a 3rd party Kanban "view" which depends on "Sections" you set up in a project. Sections are like headers between chunks of tasks in the task list.

Trello is probably my favorite implementation of Kanban. Also - Delightful animation of dragging cards, it feels like a card, harkens back to the "yellow stickies" origins of this process.

Easy sorting

In both Trello and Asana tasks can be ordered by dragging and dropping items.

Trello exposes this "position" in the UI when you move a task from the modal window. Otherwise it's relative visual positioning in the UI.