Buckets, a Seattle-Based Productivity Company, Releases Major Update

Buckets, the four-year-old productivity company based out of Seattle, recently released a significant update to Buckets 2.0 that brings new meaning to the phrase “simple elegance.”

“We listened intently to the needs of our users for about a year, and executed on a wish list that amounted to a sort of spiritual UI exercise,” said Mike Smutka, co-founder of Buckets. “Buckets emerged from the experience with an update wrapped in beautiful minimalism, carried out deftly by the hands of our design and engineering teams. In the end, we delivered at a very high level, while honoring our promise of a clean and simplistic approach to productivity flow.”

In the end, we delivered at a very high level, while honoring our promise of a clean and simplistic approach to productivity flow.

Mike Smutka, Buckets Co-Founder

The new Buckets UI presents projects and cards in an intuitive layout and a concise display of information attributes in one overarching view. The color schemes blend smartly with the combination of linearism and subtle softness, all of which draws in the user and offers the promise of a clean, dynamic experience. “It’s amazing how much information can be presented on the canvas now. It requires such little effort to differentiate quickly between what’s important to the user and what’s not at any given time,” says Eric Greninger, Creative Director and Buckets co-founder. “I’m completely proud of what we’ve accomplished after studying and testing countless design iterations, for now the canvas is an open and enticing invitation to engage.”

User engagement has been enhanced by an intelligently designed project filtering tool that quickly allows card identification based on keyword, reminder status, and labels. For power users and novices alike, it’s a real leap forward in organization and efficiency. But one couldn’t mention this without highlighting the Activity Shelf, where global activity can be drilled down to the user’s particular needs in the new Notifications area. Here, special filters, notification rules, and custom notifications can be set to capture the most valued information running through Buckets projects. Says Dane Hofbauer, “As Director of Operations at Buckets, I receive thousands of notifications each week from a myriad of team members. Without a way to smartly funnel and parse this information, I’d probably pull my hair out. What’s really cool about the Activity Shelf, is that I can regulate my responses by priority, as well as respond from the notification itself without having to wander deep into cards to do so. I find this to be invaluable.”

For many Buckets users, the addition of the Sandbox has been a notable and effective tool when it comes to staging information on the fly. To further promote the broad collection of information, the new release includes the “Sandbox Relay”, which effectively allows the user to receive pertinent emails into the Sandbox for future staging. “We used to see it all the time where users plateau and hesitate to make that next card and fill it with content,” says Smutka. “The Sandbox has been instrumental in allowing users to take a breather before formalizing information in projects and cards. Giving users the ability to selectively place emails into their Sandbox for future migration into projects has increased engagement significantly. We love this.”

When asked about the next series of Buckets releases planned for the near future, Smutka replied, “We’re being very thoughtful and deliberate about the next steps. We respect our user base and their evolving needs, so we listen carefully. We are all about community, and will be working to enhance that sense of community through enriching workflow solutions.”

About Buckets

Buckets is a free online productivity platform that focuses on personal organization and team collaboration. Buckets makes it easy to keep track of your work and personal life, all within one visually fun environment! Buckets is available for free on both iOS and Android-supported devices. For more information about Buckets, visit www.buckets.co and follow @bucketsdotco.

Contact

Buckets.co​
​Paul Huddleston, Media Relations​
​Phone: 206-271-5861​
​Email: paul@buckets.co

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Source: Buckets

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