Item: Workflowy
Rating: 10
Author: Jack Edward Heald

Overall Satisfaction with Workflowy

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use it for a myriad of things. I brainstorm with it, mindmap with it, take notes in meetings, create outlines for my larger documents and presentations. I even keep lyrics for songs in it. I’ve been using Workflowy now for going on 13 years, so it would not be exaggerating to say I love it.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Outlining like the old ThinkTank used to do.
Brainstorming - I can just dump my thoughts into it without worrying about organizing, and then sort and organize later
Categorizing - I use it for so many functions that it could be wildly confusing. But because it makes it so easy to sort, organize, expand and contract, it makes it phenomenally useful.

Cons

One of my favorite things about Workflowy is that it doesn’t try to be more than it is.
I love it the way it is. I don’t want it to change AT ALL!
Simple is good.

Return on Investment

My work output is creative words. Workflowy provides the perfect canvas for brainstorming, outlining and non-linear thinking. It doesn’t try to do too much, and it doesn’t shortcut the things it must do.

Usability

I now have 12+ years of notes stored in Workflowy - everything from song lyrics to book outlines to classroom notes. It makes it VERY easy to find, VERY easy to sort, and VERY easy to organize.

Key Insights

Do you think Workflowy delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Workflowy's feature set?

Yes

Did Workflowy live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Workflowy go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Workflowy again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

It is one of the few apps I’ve ever found that handles outlining as well as the ancient program called “ThinkTank” did. It’s better in that it’s accessible anywhere I have web access.

Anyway, to address the specific question: I think better if I can just pour my thoughts out onto the screen, and then worry about sorting, editing, and outlining afterwords.

Before Workflowy, I was stuck trying everything else. But all the outlining programs were too complex, and all the word processors that offered outlining SUCKED at outlining.

Workflowy hits that sweet spot.

Workflowy Feature Ratings

Comments

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Workflowy does what it does better than anything else and doesnt try to do too much