Last year around this time, I started using WorkFlowy. I wrote a short little intro, and review for it too. Since then, I have been using, and loving what WorkFlowy has had to offer as a GTD tool, and as a tool that helps me organise my chaotic, all-over-the-place brain.
About a couple of weeks back, I stumbled upon Moo.do. It seemed interesting; I decided to use it for a week, and see if I would shift over from WorkFlowy over to Moo.do. I wanted to see if it offered anything more or anything different than WorkFlowy, to help me keep myself organised, and get things done — one thing that WorkFlowy excels at, and something I swear by.
Here’s what I think of Moo.do, and WorkFlowy.
Moo.do — Almost as good as WorkFlowy
Moo.do extends the same concept that WorkFlowy does — that is, it offers you to the ability to create indefinitely nested lists of items, whatever they might be. Who would’ve thought that by just offering the ability to create lists that would enable you to nest other lists indefinitely, would be an awesome way of organising the brain, especially for someone like me.
Back to Moo.do; the only notable difference that I experienced, and liked, while using Moo.do was that it stores your list in your Google drive, as a Google doc. Naturally so, Moo.do has placed itself as a Google / Chrome app. But don’t let that fool you, it’s a fully fletched, web app that helps you get things done, while staying organised by using nested lists — just like WorkFlowy does.
Moo.do desktop: Minimalistic, and simple. Personally, I think WorkFlowy's interface is more minimal, and less distracting for me.
Coming to the UI of Moo.do, it’s organised; well thought of, with respect to its desktop version. Both, the desktop version, and the mobile app exhibit more features in comparison to WorkFlowy. Which, might suit someone who loves their GTD apps built with a full feature set. The desktop version of the UI, is more cleaner (if I may), as compared to Moo.do’s UI on the iOS app — which, makes UX distracting for me.
Moo.do’s iOS app
It’s a no brainier that any GTD tool made available, should have a companion mobile app. As is with the case with WorkFlowy, mobile apps for popular mobile devices, exist for Moo.do too.
Moo.do iOS: I felt distracted, while using the mobile app. Again, it's a personal experience. Try it out yourself, to know if it works for you.
The Moo.do iOS app is simple to use. You can add items easily, check them off easily, delete them, move them, and attach actionable meta data like deadlines, and contacts to each of the items, from within the mobile app as well as the desktop version.
WorkFlowy to the rescue, again
After using Moo.do exclusively for a week, coming back to WorkFlowy made me realise how much I had missed its simpler, non-feature cramped interface. This is not to say that WorkFlowy is featureless. On the contrary, it does sport a minimal feature set — something that I appreciate, and have come to love; even more so, after returning back to WorkFlowy, from Moo.do.
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WorkFlowy’s iOS app
WorkFlowy on iOS: I love how WorkFlowy manages to keep the interface the same. I love how there's not much to do, except for your todo (ok, ok may be I am biased towards workflowy).
WorkFlowy’s mobile app, in comparison to Moo.do’s iOS app, is simpler. It’s cleaner, and the UI is super minimalistic. It takes away all the distractions, and presents your items/todo list to you — front, and center. It completely makes you aware of things that are on your plate, thus affecting, and even limiting your interactions with the items within your lists. There’s not much to do, except add items, delete them, move them, tag them or tick them off — unlike Moo.do, which lets you do a host of other things; something that felt distracting to me.
Moo.do vs WorkFlowy: The Verdict
When you have other tasks on your plate that need your attention, then you know you’ve limited time to spare to quickly add an item to a list, update a list, etc. You don’t want to be distracted while you’re using your GTD tool of choice. Something that I learned, once I moved back to using WorkFlowy, from Moo.do.
Personally, I felt that Moo.do whether used on the desktop or on my smartphone, had a distracting feel to it. I would often navigate to other lists, update todo-dates, etc. when the only thing I wanted to do, may have been to update a single item, or mark an item off of my list(s). This may not be a bad thing for you; not at all a bad thing, but for someone like me this does get distracting over a period of time.
As I mention above, Moo.do is feature filled. It offers more in terms of a richer (fuller) feature set compared to WorkFlowy. But, at the same time this is also the reason I got distracted more often than not when I only wanted to jot an item down, mark something off, or update something on a list or two. I would often find myself fiddling around with other items, lists, etc.
WorkFlowy, is simple. There’s just so much you can do with it — add, update, mark off, tag, delete, and move items. You can add tags, and other meta data within WorkFlowy too, but the UI doesn’t get distracting when doing so. More often than not, you wouldn’t need to use anything but tags with WorkFlowy. Maybe it’s just me, but I love the interface that WorkFlowy extends on the desktop as well as on its mobile apps. No matter where you use WorkFlowy from, you will be quick about adding, or updating your items within your lists.
The one thing I loved about Moo.do is that the shortcuts it extends on the desktop version, are far easier to use, and remember as compared to WorkFlowy. I got up, and hit the ground running while using simple shortcuts — that, just after adding my first item. Moo.do also has a small help panel, visible on the desktop version that comes in super-duper handy while using it. Another point of note, with respect to Moo.do, would be that it stores your entire list within your Google drive, as a Google doc — which I think is awesome. Incase you plan to move from any other GTD tool, over to Moo.do, it’s got you covered — Moo.do has an awesomely impressive import tool. You can import from WorkFlowy, Wunderlist, etc. very easily.
What will I be using, from this day forward? I am a sucker for how WorkFlowy does things, so I am going to stick to using WorkFlowy for organising this ol’ brain of mine.
But, if WorkFlowy did not have a mobile app — I would’ve have shifted over to Moo.do without much thought.
If I were you, and was stumbling on either or both of these tools just today or was on the fence about them, then I would use both, and see what works for me.
Do note, that Moo.do is still nascent — I mean it’s new, and still improving.
What did you end up using?
I would love to know what did you end up using, Moo.do or WorkFlowy?
