A Look At Threddie: Review & First Thoughts

Threddie.com - Brainstorming For Busy People

Well today I came across (via @smashingmag) a new productivity tool called Threddie.

Whilst calling this a fully fledged Threddie review is probably overstating it a touch, I did have a few thoughts after using it for an hour or two.

First though, for those of you looking for a quick “is it any good or not”, let me save you some reading:

It’s brilliant.

Threddie Review: What Is It?!

Allow me to quote the Threddie.com website, they say it exactly as it needs to be said:

Threddie lets you brainstorm with people using a post-and-comment system everyone’s familiar with. Just start a brainstorm, add a briefing and some topics, then invite people to discuss. It’s better than email, yet much more intuitive and lightweight than the mind mapping and diagram drawing alternatives. And it’s free.

Think of it as a conversation tool for jotting ideas down – but jotting them down in a place where everyone involved in your project can see them, from anywhere you can access the net – .

On a train and get a flash of inspiration or an idea?

Threddit.

Been mulling over a developer’s ideas whilst waiting for your girl to try on (oh so many) clothes at the shopping centre?

Threddit.

Got a problem that you need some input from your SEO guy on?

Threddit.

Threddie – A Tasty Alternative To Quick Fire Emails

We end up in this situation alot:

“Ok, we’ve got to deliver a website to Client X. We have the account manager involved, the designer, the devloper, the SEO guy and the acounts fella. Now what?”

Of course, you normally sit around a table with a briefing and work up some ideas, form a strategy prior to moving forward and off you go.

And this won’t change – but, invariably you get the scenario once everyone is back at their desks where someone remembers a critical point that never came up in the meeting.

Trouble is, the SEO guy is now out of the office and the accounts team aren’t interested…

In comes the email…

And then the emails start – and you end up bearing the brunt of the dreaded “Reply To All”, resulting in 40 emails that you have to sift through to find the snippet of information that concerns your portion of the job.

Threddie + Brains = Less Email Junk & More Productivity

Now, instead of sending this first “oh, and guys I forgot to mention” as an email to everyone – just hop on over to Threddie.com and threddit.

Create a new brainstorm with its own unique URL, drop in a briefing, secure with a password and then send those details to everyone involved via email, or better still stick the URL on your CRM system so it’s actually part of the project.

Why Bother With Threddie?

Simple – everyone now has secure access to the brainstorm, yet they aren’t bombarded with emails everytime John from accounts says “actually guys, I don’t like that idea”.

Instead they can just log on to Threddie, check out the updates and even start new discussions based on the single brief – it’s a fantastic way to keep your project ideas in check without cluttering up everyones inboxes.

Simplicity (Almost) Perfected

It’s at this point that I’d start saying things like: “it’d be great if you could be notified if someone replies to your brainstorm Thred” – but you know what; Threddie.com has only been live for a couple of months.

So, I’m willing to forget the minor things that I’d like to see in the Threddie workflow for that reason – and for the reason that the Thredders are working hard on a pro version aimed at us small businses owners.

I’ll hold on for a full Threddie review until then, and for now just say that on first use: Threddie really delivers. It’s such a simple idea that it works so so well.

Give it a shot at www.threddie.com and I guarantee you’ll find it useful, and if they ever Thred their way into an iPhone app – the revolution shall begin.

Have you used Threddie yet? Let me know!