To -> done is a Todo app with no "todo list"

I am very impressed with To -> done. Web 2.0 is not easy to get right; I see so many Web apps that either oversimplify or go overboard with visual flair or needless AJAX. Also, "todo lists" are a dime a dozen these days. It's an extremely competitive market, starting with the big boys like Google Tasks and Remember The Milk, and going all the way to the smaller (but still excellent) guys like Todoist.

So how do you stand out? Well, how about removing the "list" aspect of the "todo list?" That's basically what To -> done does. It fits a very specific use, but it's so good at what it does, it's almost art. The workflow is simple: (1) Feed the application with "stuff you need to get done," along with a rough estimate of the time needed for each task. (2) Tell it, "I have an hour (or 15 minutes, etc), give me something to do."

To -> done will then spit one of your tasks at you, and tell you to get to it. You can then come back and mark it as done or incomplete. Once you do that, you go back to the screen where you can specify new tasks, or ask for one.
Some of the more notable aspects are:

• You never actually see a list. It's just one thing at a time, both when entering tasks and when getting them back. Lists can be scary.
• There are no priorities, no "contexts," nothing. The only thing you specify is how long it's going to take you. That's an incredible way for a Web app to stand out -- by doing less, but doing it very well.
• The task you are assigned is completely random. It's obviously not the most important one you have to do (since there is no way to specify priorities), and it may not be the newest (or oldest), but what's even more interesting is that it may take less time than what you said you have. Tell To -> done that you have one hour, and it may give you a 15-minute task (assuming you will come back for more).
• The design is stark and extremely simple. It's like a 37signals Web app, but it's stripped even barer. The only thing remotely graphical about it is the bar at the bottom.
• The URLs are human-readable. Once you're logged on, you can just go to http://todoneapp.com/do and get something to do.

And most importantly, it's really, really not for everyone. It's for people who don't work well with tightly-scheduled projects, multiple contexts, and productivity "systems," and just need to get "stuff" done for their job.

Tags: productivity, todo, todolist, web2.0, webapps