I can’t get into Pinterest. It’s fun and all. But I need ways to do my work better, get my posts done and make sure I am not forgetting anything.

But I want to have fun too. But how do you have fun with a to do app and make it something you use every day?

Kanban2go is one of the most simple to-do apps I have used. I avoid to-do apps for the most part as the UI is often cluttered and they just don’t seem to work as well a plain old .txt file.

But I agree with Kanban2go’s creator, Prabhakar Gopalan, that the app has a zen aspect to it that makes it simple to add to do items and move them around. It’s not a battle that overwhelms. It’s fluid. Calming. No great energy expended.

Gopalan created the app in his spare time.  He works at Dell as a corporate strategist.  For now, the app is an experiment. He is not building a business plan for it. He just wants to see what it becomes. He is thinking about new features such as an activity stream.

Gopalan felt he just had to make the app. Kanban is a Japanese method for managing work. It means billboard. He saw lots of kanban style apps available but none that he felt were truly compelling.

Kanban2go works like this. You create a to do item. You can add it to Google Calendar, tweet it or share it with a friend via email.  You can add it to Evernote and tag it. Once you get started with the to do item, you can drag and drop it to the “in progress,” column. Complete the task and move it to done. Items can be dragged between the three columns interchangeably.  Kanban2go mobile version is built in HTML5.

Here’s a quick screencast I made:

Kanban2go has uses as a personal to do list. Michael Cote started a to do list for SXSW. I am creating one for my vacation next month.

Services Angle

Kanban2go is in its first generation but I like what Gopolan and his team have created.  It reminds  me of services that can come in handy for conferences, getting my stories done. or coordinating with the kids. In that respect, I am reminded of a service like Group.me.

Kanban2go needs deeper collaboration capabilities and I am seeing some issues in sharing lists. But again the beauty is in its simplicity.

This is the kind of app the modern worker will demand.  It’s simple and effective. Can you see this from one of the large, established service providers? Possibly, but it would require a wholesale shift in their approach.