As the old saying goes, a good start is half the work done. Which is precisely why developers have saturated the web with full of project management apps. Sadly, most of them are merely copycats of the industry giants and leaving the users frustrated. Moreover, these applications are built with larger teams in mind and a single user is often left stranded.
Solo is an artistic project management app that is specially crafted with freelancers in mind. It uses a drastically different approach and the interface is unique. We’ve covered its first version already, but now its second version is now in beta. Here’s what’s new.
Another project manager, eh?
If you have worked with project management apps before, you would definitely have noticed a striking resemblance. Everything just looks the same, except for color and a few other non essential stuff. Solo completely turned this around with their one of a kind typography driven design. All the navigation tabs, lame check boxes, and pretty much anything ordinary is gone. Instead the focus rests where it should: your projects.
Tooltips are irritating!
When you first signup for Solo, the application pops up quick tips on getting started. Personally found this really annoying. I tried dismissing the prompt several times but it couldn’t stop yapping, until I finally went on to disable it from all the pages.
Trade the help bubbles for sanity
Normally, this where I would curse out aloud, pop open a soda and kiss the app goodbye. But the app had already gotten into me and I wanted to see where it goes. So, did it live up to the expectation? Read on.
Covering the Bases, and More
First time I saw the dashboard I was really stunned for a moment. There were no headers, no navigation menus, or in short nothing normal. Much of the navigation is neatly concealed under the arrow buttons on either sides of the screen. Alternatively you can cycle through these views simply with the direction keys from your keyboard.
Right on money
The message area, on the home page, alerts you on the all the key events coming up. I found it pretty useful to keep a tab on my priorities. The dashboard also houses a list of your projects and brings you upto speed on the most relevant information
Author’s Note: If you are new you might feel a little out of place, but don’t worry. Once you get a hang of it, you can accomplish your tasks with apparent ease.
Most project managers focus on your tasks but if you are looking to manage your contacts or invoices, you will have to keep looking. As a freelancer there is nothing more frustrating than having to work with myriad of tools at once. The best part about Solo is, it includes everything to keep up with your work. You can manage your contacts, clients, and projects, make invoices, send quotations, track time, plan your schedule, and even keep up with your personal to-do list.
Adding all of the info you need about projects, meetings, clients, and more is simple in Solo. Rather than limiting you to a small amount of contact or project info, Solo has full-featured options to include almost any detail you can think of. Another interesting feature that might come in handy is Solo’s ability to create and send quotations to your clients out of the box.
Sublime!
My favourite part about Solo is their unique Planner. It is a cocktail of a simple calender and a Gantt Chart. The design is so gorgeous and shows a nice overview of what you need to do for a month. To add new tasks, hit anywhere on the calender and enter the task description. You can also quickly add new tasks, meetings, and more right from this view, or drill down into work for specific clients or projects.
The Quirks
The best part about Solo is also their tripping point. The application is so unique enough that would seem to drive away as many people as it attracts. The learning curve is a little steep and might get in your way, especially in the beginning.
I would have loved to see a much deeper keyboard integration. Although I find their new approach to navigation interesting, it takes a few more clicks to get there than I would like. It would have been better if I could add or view information at the whim of my keyboard.
Wrapping Up
All together, Solo makes a nice, streamlined app that has plenty of features for managing your personal and professional projects as a freelancer. The unique design and nice touches make it fun to use, and once you’ve used to using it, you’ll likely find yourself saving time with all of your business tools right on the same page.
With a free 14 day trial, I would strongly recommend you to check them out today. If you’re already using Solo, we’d love to hear how you’re putting it to use in your business, and why you chose it over competing apps!