Basecamp vs. Doodle

Basecamp is a wonderful tool for teams of varying degrees of technical knowledge, teams managing lots of different types of "agifall" and waterfall projects, and teams that are remotely distributed. It's probably less useful for more strictly agile-focused development teams, compared to other more flexible software applications like Jira and Asana.

Incentivized

Doodle is great when you need to coordinate dates among a group and don't want to send a bunch of group emails or texts. It allows a number of dates to be proposed and the group can easily see those dates that are most preferred. If you need to do something more complex than that it may not be your tool.

Incentivized

• Task management - It is very easy to add, organize and discuss tasks within Basecamp's interface.
• The "Campfire" function is great for communicating when you just have a quick question for someone on the team.
• Notifications - Basecamp lets you decide how often and about what you'd like to be notified. The ability to respond to messages in Basecamp directly via email saves a lot of time.

Incentivized

• Doodle allows you to view multiple meeting times simultaneously. I may never have 100% of my team available, but I can see that I have three other options with 90% availability.
• Doodle is a free resource that doesn't require users to create an account or exist in a network. I simply send the link and see the responses.
• Doodle notifies you as people respond, making the scheduling process quick and easy. Also, you can confirm a time through the software!

Incentivized

• High Learning Curve. It's true that it can be easy to use, but to use well and effectively takes some time to learn. It's recommended to have an agreed-upon system in your team of what tools to use and when.
• Notification Overload. If people aren't careful they could send a notification to everyone when only a couple people were meant to be prompted. And since emails are sent by default, you could have your mailbox overloaded with unnecessary updates. This is where it takes a bit of training in your team to have an agreed-upon system.
• Lack of organization with Archived Projects. I will often need to reference an archived project to make a new one, but there is only a list of archived projects in alphabetical order, with no way to organize by archive date, or even search.

Incentivized

• I wish that it offered more options in backgrounds, characters and props without having an additional cost, but that is to be expected.
• I would like an easier way to add my own fonts, characters , props etc, because I am a new learner this may not be an issue as I get more familiar with the software.
• I don't like all the sales emails I received trying to upgrade or add to my purchase.

Incentivized

When I bring new people onto a project, it's immediately obvious how to use Basecamp. I don't have to worry about teaching them the features or walking them through it, it's just incredibly user-friendly. For this reason, I'll continue to renew my subscription even as new people are brought onto production jobs or the client changes.

Easy to use and basically free.

Incentivized

It is easy to use, even for clients who have no experience with the platform. It can only get a little cumbersome to ensure that a client can't see certain documents you might want to keep in the Docs & Files folders. And sometimes, getting a client to actually use an unfamiliar platform can be a challenge.

Incentivized

Very simple journey with the few important questions/fields

Incentivized

I've never experienced downtime while using Basecamp, or been unable to access it when I needed it. That's not to say they've never had downtime, but I've been lucky enough not to encounter any, and I work odd hours, including late nights when maintenance is often undertaken.

Incentivized

For the many reasons I've given, Basecamp is a very strong program. There are a few features I can imagine that might make it even better, but I don't have a basis for comparison to be able to say that there is definitely a better one out there. I've noticed that Basecamp has evolved a bit from the time I started using it until now, so that makes me think that the producer of this program values it and believes in continuous improvement. If you could use the features offered by Basecamp, I would think you could use it with confidence.

Incentivized

Doodle has customer service support available as needed, but honestly, it is so easy to use that I have rarely had to seek support. They are always a click away and responsive to resolving any need or to clarify the next best step to using Doodle to meet my needs.

Incentivized

Decide the process before implementation - i.e. when it's due 8/9 does that mean 8am, noon, 5pm, 11:59pm? Check your to-do list frequently Set-up templates - just not with the dates (they can be funky)

Pretty good, but [Basecamp] has its drawbacks. Honestly I find the interface non-intuitive and sometimes have trouble figuring out how to change the status of a task. Perhaps it has something to do with the way it was originally set up by the admin, but I'm not sure. I liked Jira's drag and drop obvious functionality, but the project management side of the software was lacking. Smartsheet has excellent project management functionality, but the task management isn't as good.

Incentivized

For the same reasons noted previously, Doodle allows for the organizer to ultimately select/accept the time that works for them. Many competitors only allow you to show available times and the appointment goes directly into the organizer's calendar. I typically prefer to have a bit more control over that. Also, visually Doodle is more intuitive in how you schedule appointments than Calendly. I think Calendly tries to get a bit too cute with their interface instead of sticking to a more standard, familiar calendar interface when setting an appointment.

Incentivized

• It has saved me time when having to get the same message out to multiple restaurants
• It has helped us make smarter operational decisions because we can all collaborate on an answer in a shorter amount of time (instead of calling a meeting!!!)
• The calendar function allows us to plot out our marketing agenda for the month and add/change it together as needed. The chef will post his recipe, the managers will cost it out, the social media manager will post pictures on it, and ultimately we will get that information out on an info sheet to the staff by printing the page.

Incentivized

• Improved efficiency by avoiding the slow and inefficient process of emailing back and forth to set meeting dates and times.
• Allows for more informed decisions regarding meetings or making decisions, as all options can be laid out visually in a way that isn't possible in an email.

Incentivized