Default My tasks list view to group by due date

English Forum Product Feedback
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I generally advise everyone to:

  • group their My tasks list view by due date (ascending)
  • hide empty groups

Defaulting to this might have several benefits:

  • People get a more useful/dynamic view of their tasks as with the current default, which I believe are non-dynamic sections: Recently Assigned, Do today, Do next week, and Do later.
  • It’s a subtle introduction to what grouping can do.
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Agreed! The current default requires retraining, especially since variable due dates aren’t available in rules for auto-promoting in sections (as discussed in this thread)

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I’m surprised to see this, @Jan-Rienk, and would vote -1 if I could :slight_smile:

I’m all for having an available second tab “List: Due Date” as you describe, but not as the default.

I think there would be much confusion and frustration if Asana’s default to-do list prevented users from ordering items as they wished and only permitted due-date ordering.

Any task that takes a little time to do may need to appear at the top of your list, not lower down.

Thanks,

Larry

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Well that’s food for thought.

I’m going to let that sit for a bit and come back to it. Thanks for the input!

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@lpb After some reflection you’ve convinced me this indeed isn’t a good idea.

I’m still not a fan of the current default sections, but I’m removing my vote for this.

Strong opinions, loosely held. :wink:

@Paul_Congdon What do you think about Larry’s arguments? If you agree it’s not as good an idea as we initially thought I’m moving this topic out of English Forum > Product Feedback

If you still want this I will leave the topic open for you and others.

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We are in violent agreement, @Jan-Rienk! I admire your ability to follow this maxim, because I’m not always as successful with this as I’d like to be.

Thanks,

Larry

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I also have my default My tasks tab Grouped by Due date, but I also have a tab with Sections, another grouped by my task types, another with just tasks Due Today (for more focus).

I would love for My tasks to default to be grouped by due date but I agree that it is better for users to realise that Sections are just ‘labels of text’ that say simply Today, This Week, Next Week (nothing smart/dynamic about them) and eventually discover the wonders of the Group by button :slight_smile:

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I’m not certain. Perhaps the recommendation should be that Asana provide this as one of their default views.

This is an issue that comes up in nearly every support session I hold—“This section says, ‘Do today’ but all of my tasks that are due today are showing up in ’ Recently Assigned’. What’s going on?”

From there, I either give them an overview of auto-promotion via rules (which is limited because of the nature of the ‘due date is approaching - due date is today’ trigger) or show them how to set up the ‘grouped by due date’ view, which, I’ve found, most users prefer. I’d venture to say most folks would benefit from being presented this early on.

One new idea just came to mind: view templates (akin to the other templates in Asana—project, rules, etc.). Is this an idea that’s been thrown out there yet @Jan-Rienk @Richard_Sather @lpb?

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@Paul_Congdon,

In my experience, once an Asana user is exposed to the notion that the tasks on today’s to-do list may have varying due dates, they understand this distinction and the value of such sections in My Tasks.

Part of my standard “Asana Citizen Training” includes this:

which is well understood, I’ve found, based on feedback with thousands of users.

I’m not sure what you have in mind with view templates, so it’s hard to comment on that.

Thanks,

Larry