WUNDERKIT REVIEW

I've been using Wunderkit for a few weeks now, and I think I'm in love.  I know that's probably pretty strong language for a piece of software, but no kidding - it's changed the way I work.  It's helped keep me more organized, made me more efficient, and made it simple to collaborate across multiple projects.  Sure, it's still a beta, so there's a few things that I'd like to see better integrated - but I want to share with you my thoughts on using it in a photography business.

Before I get into a review of Wunderkit, let me give you a little background.  First - Wunderkit is more than just a task manager, it's really a project management application.  I've used a lot of different applications, trying to find something that offered flexibility, collaboration, and a robust task manager.  I've used "Things," "BaseCamp," and even the task manager in iCal.  As a tool for collaborative task management, Wunderkit is a powerful solution for individuals, or groups of any size. 

Workspaces

Thought, certainly not unique to Wunderkit, I really like the way workspaces are organized.  The idea is that you can create a workspace for every project, job, or area of your life.  I spend my time leading and managing 4 completely different business areas, and Wunderkit makes it easy for me to manage them all.  Each workspace contains all of the tasks, notes, and collaborators relevant to that project.  

On the home screen (above), you see a sort of dashboard that features each of your workspaces on the left, a center section with all of the activity happening in your workspaces, and upcoming tasks.  This high level overview makes it easy to quickly see what's happening, and what you need to do next.

COLLABORATION

Certainly BaseCamp is the gold standard of collaborative project management, but WunderKit has made it much easier for individuals and organizations that are looking for a slightly less prohibitive solution.  I can share workspaces and delegate tasks to anyone I add in my network.  I can have an entire team on a project, and they all have access to the tasks, notes and information they need.  In addition, I'm able to see the activity of each individual as they add and complete tasks and notes.

For me, this is huge.  I was a big fan of THINGS for a long time, but one of its biggest drawbacks was that it didn't allow delegation of tasks to other team members in any meaningful way.  Now, I can keep track of what's happening with my teams, and keep our project coordinated across groups of 5-50.  I simply invite team members to my workspace, and am able to keep track of everything we're doing.

Another unique feature is the ability to make a workspace public, so that people can follow you.  Though this has less practical purpose, it's a fun way to let people see what you're doing.

SYNC

The other major drawback of THINGS was that there was no cloud sync.  Wunderkit is available as a web application, and as a native app on your Mac, iPhone or iPad.  I'm sure it will be available on other platforms as well, but for now I'm covered!  It just doesn't make sense to have an app exist in multiple places without seamless sync, and WunderKit has it down. 

The mobile, web, and desktop apps all have the same feel, and are super simple to use (though notifications don't seem to work on the iPhone quite yet).  I love that I now have a project management tool that syncs across all of my devices.  That was easily the biggest frustration with THINGS, and quite honestly, it was unacceptable in today's world of cloud technology.

USER INTERFACE/EXPERIENCE

The entire user interface is beautiful, and very Mac-like.  Running the native app in fullscreen mode on OSX Lion is gorgeous.  It has custom backgrounds, and I found that it works really well to set a different background for each workspace.  This gives an instant visual cue as to what I'm looking at, and what I should be doing.

I love when a technology company has a passion for the user experience, and creates something both beautiful and functional.  In fact, one of the things I've come to appreciate the most, is that the folks at 6Wunderkinder seem to really get it.  They've shown this by the features they plan to implement in the future (like file sharing - which is a must have for a true project management tool), AND by the fact that they've made WunderKit completely FREE to use!

That's right, it's free.  You can use it on your devices, your Mac, and the web for free.  You can collaborate for free.  You can create as many workspaces as you want for FREE.  There is a PRO level that allows premium support, and additional access to some of the apps, but you can use all of the core functionality for free.  

Ready to take advantage?  Head over to www.wunderkit.com to download and sign up for FREE!  

Have you used WunderKit?  Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

(I'm not affiliated in anyway with Wunderkit or 6Wunderkinder, and no one asked me to say anything nice or otherwise.  I'm just sharing my opinion on a piece of software that has totally changed the level of productivity in my businesses and my life)