Project Management

For my Foundations for Graduate Studies course, we were assigned to make a project management board for the entirety of the course. Of the options provided, I chose to use Trello.com. Personally, Trello was the most user-friendly option for someone who operates more visually. Other options were unique but the Trello designs were overall better for functionality. As you can see above, there are multiple lists for notes, tasks to be done, pending tasks, and completed tasks. There were more columns, but I enjoyed the minimalistic approach of only having those four key columns of information. 

Initially, I listed each "task" individually, breaking down the assignments and blog posts into individual tasks. This tactic made me feel extremely overwhelmed, but I discovered the checklist feature on the task cards. Using the checklist feature, I was able to group readings and then use the checklist to confirm I completed each reading of the chapter, booklet, and an additional article. I did the same for blog posts, using the checklist to check off each task for creating blogs: the writing process, image creation, and uploading. Honestly, moving the tasks from to-do to pending to completed was a bit more complicated than I would have liked but it was nonetheless satisfying to scroll the compilation of completed tasks. 

The Trello Project Management template I used came with colored labels, which I customized to identify and categorize writing tasks, repeating tasks, and design tasks, and kept the template copy and priority task labels. Organizing the task lists by the due date was also extremely helpful for identifying which particular tasks should be prioritized over others. The list of yet-to-be-started tasks is organized by due date, as is the pending task list.  I would like for the sort function to allow me to sort the completed tasks by completion date, but I have them sorted instead by date created (which is today for all of them). 

Once satisfied with the columns and task organization, I focused on the design layout. Having notes available and accessible on the far left ensured I would be able to create and read notes quickly. The flow from tasks to be started to pending tasks, then to completed tasks allows me to focus on what is already in the works compared to what needs to be started soon. Of course, the completed task list is more motivational as it keeps me inspired to complete tasks and move them over. The layout is somewhat similar to a written planner, however, I might like to add a calendar to visually note when assignments are due rather than read them in list form. Additionally, I would want to see the individual checklists in each task without clicking on each card for better functionality. Clicking on each card to view each checklist-ed task requires unnecessary time, especially when only viewing each card to read the smaller tasks. Perhaps the paid version of Trello includes timelines and calendars.