Re: [Evolution-hackers] Calendars and Tasks integration

[Ettore Perazzoli <ettore ximian com>]

On Mon, 2003-08-18 at 18:37, Anna Marie Dirks wrote:
> And it isn't just a zoom, is it? The summary doesn't include the preview
> pane... So this control would have to change the view more than just
> zooming in on the summary list -- is that correct? It would change
> everything except for the left nav bar? 

Yes.

Well it's just an idea.  :)

We can still have the task button as a separate thing, but then the
question is: should the task component show the same list of "sources"
as the calendar, or not?

> > But you want to see all the tasks, or just the work tasks?  If you have
> > lots of both, you probably want to have your task view only include the
> > subset that makes sense for the calendar you are looking at.  So the
> > integrated setting would make your life easier.
>  
> Hmm.
> 
> If I want to see everything that I have to do on Tuesday, then I imagine
> that I would : 
> 
> 1. Switch my calendar view to Tuesday's date
> 2. Select the calendars I am interested in, let's say "Evo Planning",
> "Desktop Planning", "Veterinary Visits", and "Red Carpet Meetings".
> 3. Switch my tasks filter to "Tasks Due Today". This way I would get all
> of my tasks, whether or not they correspond to the folders I am looking
> at. 

What if you have tasks like "do laundry" that have nothing to do with
your work tasks?  Wouldn't it be nicer if you could avoid seeing them?

> > > 3. I want to be prepared for the next Evo team meeting, so I'm trying to
> > > figure out what designs I'm supposed to have prepared by that time. 
> > 
> > Also in this case you really want to just see the Evolution tasks, not
> > all the tasks you have.  So how would you do it?
> 
> In this case, I would:
> 
> 1. Switch my calendar to "week view" mode. 
> 2. Select my "Evolution Planning" calendar.
> 3. Switch my tasks' filter to be the tasks folder corresponding to my
> Evo work. In this case, "Evolution Design Stuff".

3. would not be necessary if you had an Evolution calendar which is
where you have your meeting.

> See, so I think you've hit upon the main thing that I do not understand
> about your proposal. You seem to be convinced that having a one to one
> correlation between calendar folders and task folders is the way to go.
> Can you explain a bit about how you arrived at this conclusion?

I am not saying that it's the way to go, it's an option that is worth
considering though.

My observations are:

      * Tasks and calendars tend to be strictly related.  (If they were
        not, we would not be showing them together in the first place. 
        ;-))

      * Because of the previous point, it makes sense that calendar and
        tasks share the same categories.

      * If they don't share the same categories, the user model and the
        UI become more complicated.  (More widgets and selections to
        do.)

      * There are successful apps out there that integrate the two
        things, and users seem to like it a lot.  (iCal)

> 1. I am planning a wedding. I create a calendar called "Wedding
> Planning" in which I schedule all of the flower-selection meetings,
> cake-tasting appointments, dress fittings, etc. All of my appointments
> and meetings go in this folder. 
> 
> 2. There are literally thousands of tasks associated with planning a
> wedding, so I make a few different related tasks folders --
> "Invitations" (where I keep track of who all I've sent invites to),
> "Bridesmaids" (where I keep track of getting dresses, shoes, bouquets,
> etc to all of the bridesmaids) 
> "Honeymoon" (where I keep track of booking hotels, finding flights,
> etc.)  

I think in this case you don't want different categories, you want a
"Wedding" Calendar and organize things in there using subtasks.  (For
which we have no support at present, but it's an often requested feature
so it will be implemented at some point...)

> But on the flip side, if you go the integrated route and you start out
> working in your inbox, then you have to do a bit more work to get the
> point of being able to view your complete task list + preview pane. In
> other words, it seems like that path involves an ease-of-use tradeoff
> too.

If that's an issue (I am not sure it is), then we can still use the task
button instead of the "zoom tasks" button within the calendar.

The thing that we need to figure out now is whether calendar and tasks
should be integrated or not, how you switch views is a separate issue.

(Calendar people, any opinions?)

-- Ettore