Visual Brainstorming with iCardSort

I am one of those people who find the iPad to be more of a novelty than a real productivity tool. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having one and use it on a daily basis. But my use is generally restricted to three activities: (A) reading email; (B) checking facebook; and (C) reading electronic books. Even the first two examples are limited activities for me, in that I tend to use them in “read only” mode and almost never generate any content. As soon as I need any “real” online interaction, I walk across the house and sit down at my trusty desktop.

Given my usage pattern, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I don’t usually seek out new iPad apps. Today, however, I was introduced to an interesting app called iCardSort. It allows you to define a set of “note cards” and then drag them around the screen as you work through a brainstorming exercise. My first reaction was along the lines of “well, OK, that’s a cute idea”. But then I started to experiment with it and found it to be extremely useful. In fact, I’ll go one step farther and suggest that this app is perfectly suited for the iPad! The visual manipulation wouldn’t appeal to me on a smart phone (not enough screen real estate), a desktop would not offer any portability, and a laptop would be overly cumbersome to use for this kind of task (at least the way I envision it).

It turns out that I am currently looking to have a bit of landscaping work performed at my house. As the bids began to arrive, I started to feel overwhelmed with the prices being quoted (it seems that no matter how large of a number you have in your head, contractors always seem to have something larger in theirs). It made me think about all of the other projects I would like to do around the house in the next couple of years, and such a large outlay of cash might make some of those difficult to accomplish. Unfortunately, even though I had some loose thoughts in my head, I didn’t really have a “full list” of projects written down anywhere, and I certainly hadn’t prioritized things in any kind of formal sense. After all, none of these projects are necessarily urgent.

I can usually think through these things easily, but this time was more complicated than I had anticipated. I often have a clear priority in my head for large projects. And for smaller ones, cost isn’t usually an issue. When you have fifteen smaller ones, though, the cost does start to become a relevant consideration. Prioritization can be difficult, especially when some projects depend on others taking place at the same time.

The arrival of iCardSort was timely, as I had an obvious use for it. I walked around the house and created a card for each project I would like to accomplish in the next three years. Master Bedroom Carpeting. Duct Addition For Cooler. New Kitchen Countertop. Remove Hideous Bathroom Wallpaper. (Don’t ask…) I ended up with sixteen interior projects to consider.

The beauty of this process was that I could carry the iPad from room to room, make judgments about how I would like to prioritize things, and move the cards around on the screen as I worked through the process. I ended up making four passes through the house, changing my mind from time to time, and trying to find an equilibrium point at which to stop. Which I did.

Could I have done my planning another way? Sure. But I’m a visual kind of person, and it helped to have everything laid out in front of me on an interactive screen. Of course, it didn’t solve the problems related to me changing my mind repeatedly. I guess that app hasn’t been created yet.