.KEYWORD trackinhand
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Keep your projects from derailing with TrackInHand
.OTHER
.SUMMARY There are a variety of project management products available for the Palm OS to help you organize and track projects using just your Palm device. Chris Phillips reviews of TrackInHand, one of the newer, more inexpensive project trackers to hit the market.
.AUTHOR Chris Phillips
"What’s the status of the XYZ project?" your boss asks. The XYZ project is only one of the eighteen projects you’re currently managing, and you can feel your face start to flush as your mind goes blank. It sure would be nice if you had that information on your Palm device so you could reference it quickly and assure your boss you have everything under control. TrackInHand (at http://www.PalmInHand.com/TrackInHand.htm) is a new project management tool that may help you do just that.
There are a variety of project management products available for the Palm OS ranging from free databases for ThinkDB and HanDbase to commercial products that cost as much as $50. TrackInHand is one of the newest products in this market and was developed so Palm device users could organize and track a variety of projects using just their Palm computers. TrackInHand allows you to organize your projects by category and then track the individual tasks associated with each project. The current and only release is v1.0, which the author freely admits needs to be expanded. As such, he’s soliciting requests for additional features from the user community.
.H1 Installation and configuration
Installation of TrackInHand is performed in the traditional manner of adding TrackInHand.prc to the Install Tool and then performing a HotSync operation.
TakeInHand sports an interface very similar to the built-in To Do application included with the Palm OS, and it functions in very much the same manner. When you open the program, you’ll arrive at the blank TaskInHand main screen pictured in Figure A.
.FIG A When you begin, TaskInHand shows a blank slate.
Projects are created by tapping the New button. The dialogue box pictured in Figure B will open to get you on your way.
.FIG B It’s time to create a new project.
The only thing you have to enter here is a unique project name. You can also assign your project to a category at this point. If you check the "Go To Tasks For This Project" box, you’ll see the Tasks screen once you tap the Done button.
When you tap the New button, you’ll see the screen shown in Figure C.
.FIG C Add tasks to your project here.
The only information you have to enter is a description of the task. You also have the option of assigning the status, open date, due date, and priority, and you have the ability to add three sets of notes. If you’re ready to enter multiple tasks for this project, you can put a check in the "Add Another Task" box. Once you tap the Done button, you’ll see another blank task form so you can add the next task. Otherwise, once you tap Done, you’ll return to the task list for this project. Tapping Done again will return you to the main screen where you’ll see the title of your new project.
To view the list of tasks for any project, simply tap on the title of the project. You can choose to display the tasks in several different ways, by task number, status, or priority, as shown in Figure D.
.FIG D You can choose to display the tasks in several different ways.
There’s also an option for dynamic priority. I found this option somewhat confusing. The help text says this option automatically promotes tasks that have a target completion date. However, when I put in two tasks with different priorities and assigned a target completion date to the one with the lower priority, it wasn’t promoted above the one with a higher priority.
You can also define which tasks show up on this list using the Show Preferences screen pictured in Figure E.
.FIG E You can define the Show Preferences.
.H1 My experiences
TaskInHand is a simple program to use. In fact, it doesn’t even come with a manual. There’s some information at the Web site that you can reference if you need to. I found it very easy to create projects and add tasks. The program is logically arranged, and the screens work well together.
However, the simplicity of TaskInHand is also its biggest drawback, and I immediately ran into limitations. The first thing I noticed is that TrackInHand seems geared toward the software developer. The task categories included in the program are: Bug, Enhancement, Question, and Research. This isn’t such a big deal because I can edit the categories to suit my own needs, but I was very frustrated to find I had to edit the categories for each and every project. I would have preferred to be able to edit the categories once and then have the revised version available for all current and future projects.
There’s also no view that shows when the tasks are due (or overdue). Being able to see when tasks are due for each project helps me determine which project I need to work on right now. In fact, what I was really looking for was a view that would show all tasks from all projects along with the corresponding due dates so that I could quickly determine which project needed my attention most.
I also found myself wishing I could create subtasks. TrackInHand keeps all tasks for a project at one level, but in many of the projects I manage, I need to create a high level task and then a list of subtasks required to complete the main task. Then I can associate the subtasks as interdependent, assign due dates to each one, and automatically find out how long the main task should take to complete. This set of functions was completely missing from TrackInHand.
Having said all that, I would remind you that the author admits this program needs to be developed further, and he appears very eager for input that will enable him to improve this application.
.H1 Overall impression
TrackInHand is clearly a work in progress. I can see where it would be useful for anyone who has limited project management responsibilities and a need for a quick and simple tool to track these projects. TrackInHand’s price is only $9.95, which is significantly cheaper than the other commercial applications. If you’re willing to work with the author to develop the program so that it meets your needs, this may be a good choice for you. However, it has a long way to go before it can be considered a serious tool for professional project managers.
TrackInHand should run on any Palm device running Palm OS 2.0 or better. TrackInHand is a commercial product that sells for $9.95, but the author encourages you to download and try the product before you purchase it. Other than a few "nag" screens, there’s no functional difference between the demo and registered versions. TrackInHand can be downloaded from http://www.PalmInHand.com/TrackInHand.htm.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on TrackInHand, visit http://www.PalmInHand.com/TrackInHand.htm.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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.BIO Chris Phillips is a Senior Project Manager for UMB Bank in Kansas City, MO.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6f265
