Asana is a task and project management web application that’s been around for a couple of years and managed to become one of the favorite applications for teams.
The application comes from an experienced team -something anyone can realize in the first few minutes- and it provides users and teams a silk and easy way to work.
The first thing that made quite an impression on me was the design of the user interface which while using a very minimal approach it is very easy to use right from the start. The application as a whole is fast and responsive and -as always- I loved the big number of shortcut keys for almost every function.
Working with Asana
Asana divides itself from a standard GTD application or a classic task manager. We could classify it as a project management solution for teams, but single users juggling with lots of projects could benefit from its simple workflow.
The main approach is project-centered. There are no contexts or tags, and tasks cannot be managed without a project assigned. To cover this gap, Asana introduces priority headings (not just for priorities) which can be created anywhere between your tasks with any name you give them and group them together. So if you think you need the power of contexts to one of your lists you can create those dividers and move around your tasks to group them.
There is a very useful sidebar containing a list of projects and a workspace switcher (a workspace can have many projects as usual), the Inbox where your new tasks are arriving, or updates to those you are subscribed, and the My tasks section where the assigned tasks to you are listed.
Any task can have subtasks, so there is a big flexibility for lists, due dates and file attachments are supported. Each task should be assigned to a team member or to you. Once a task is assigned to you, it moves to your inbox and you can schedule it or mark it as upcoming. This is a very good feature for teams of users, but it can be tiring for a single user, since all tasks should sooner or later be assigned to himself for managing them.
As for extra functionality, there is the ability to sync your due dates with calendar applications using a standard feed so you can plug it to Google Calendar or Outlook, add tasks through a special email address and of course printing.
In General
To sum things up, Asana is a great and stable environment for project management and its main focus are teams. Having an easy to use workflow and a light user interface, it manages to stand out from other applications of this type.
Asana is free for teams up to 30 members and with subscription above that number. There is an iPhone version available and an HTML5 mobile site for other mobiles. If you have an Android phone you can check out a couple of unofficial solutions available.
There is also a guide that you could check-out: Click here to visit Asana Guide.
There is also a guide that you could check-out: Click here to visit Asana Guide.