Asana Review

I've never written and published a review article before, for several reasons, but I'm taking that step today and doing a breakdown on a powerful web application called Asana. Before we start, here's a little background to hopefully lend some credibility to my opinion.

I've worked on several teams in the last few years doing game development, software development, and now curriculum development. In nearly all of these teams I have, at one point or another, assumed the role of project manager or team lead. In this capacity I've been given the chance to work with and learn various tools to assist in scheduling and management. Granted, many people aren't as enthusiastic about task management as I am, but to those that are, read on!

Asana is the latest tool I've added to my arsenal, and what a marvelous tool it is. For anyone that is familiar with Assembla (which I'm currently using to do curriculum development at UAT), they know it's a complicated but powerful resource that tracks and organizes long-term projects. It does its job well, but since starting our Real Dedicated initiative (making smaller games in shorter time-frames) we felt it was too cumbersome. Assembla offers too many features - it wasn't a good fit for us.

Enter Asana. With an interface that is remarkably sleek and sexy, Asana boasts little but does exactly what we need. I don't want to downplay the number of features in the software, but rather emphasize how refreshingly simple it is to use. You add users, create a work-space, and then start creating tasks. Tasks can be assigned to members, and offer spaces for notes and comments. When a new task is needed, you just hit Enter and type away. No fuss or drop-down menus. There's even a little activity feed, tagging options, and a space for attachments.

Best of all, Asana is free.

The purpose of this article was to illustrate how less can be more. After piloting Asana internally, I've noticed a drastic increase in participation among our developers (in comparison to Assembla). Granted, it isn't for everyone; there are hundreds of project management tools, and finding one that fits your needs is important. But if you're an indie game developer or working with a small group of people and need a straightforward task management application, I highly recommend this little tool.

Check it out yourself at www.asana.com.