Kanban App For Mac
Ardith Alterio
Kanban software allows project managers to apply kanban principles to facilitate the visualization, management and optimization of workflows.Compare the best Kanban software for Mac currently available using the table below.
I'm a big fan of kanban boards. If you've never used or been introduced to kanban boards, they are a way to easily visualize all the tasks related to a project and allow you to drag and drop tasks along a timeline so you can see exactly how close that task is to being completed.
You can use a similar system for any type of project and having the right software to make it easy is key. On macOS, there's the free Kanbanier application which is a very basic kanban board anyone can use. Kanbanier can be used on both macOS and iOS and fits in seamlessly to the look and feel of both environments. This application is completely localized, so you don't have to worry that your data is being shared with a server or a service. You can also share your boards via email messages, AirDrop, or Notes. And, if the free version doesn't offer you enough in the feature department, you can upgrade ($14.00 one time fee) and add the likes of:
Recently, I came across a kanban tool on macOS called TidyCards, which does a fantastic job of helping me keep track of my projects. With this tool, you can create and work with multiple projects, add as many cards as you need, attach files and emails to cards, get desktop notifications and more.
TidyCards offers a Free and Pro version of the app. The Free version is pretty basic, but the Pro version adds attachments, due date alerts, background images, printing and the ability to filter by tags. For basic kanban functionality, the Free version will probably do for most individual and small projects.
Even if you don't know what the kanban productivity technique is, you've probably seen it in action. You create a set of columns, each with its own tasks, with the objective of moving the tasks from one column to the next. Over the years, kanban has evolved into various ways of using the system. But at its core, it's a visual way to organize your to-do list and get things done.
In an office, a section of a whiteboard often acts as a kanban board. But then you get all that extra white space to jot notes, sticky notes on top of what's written on a card, keep cards nearby that don't deserve a spot on the board yet, and implement other ideas. Yo Kanban finally recreates this for the web, giving you more space than Trello and other kanban boards.
Yo Kanban is a pleasant escape from the rigid structures of most kanban boards. By allowing you to interact with the space around the columns, and to resize and restructure the columns, it fundamentally changes how you use the kanban board. It feels more like real life, and it's worth a try even if you're already a kanban user. If you like it, there's an easy ability to import your existing kanban boards to the app.
FocalBoard is one of the newest kanban apps offered by the makers behind MatterMost, the open-source Slack alternative. This is a slick offline desktop app that's perfect for kanban beginners, as well as power users who need to switch between multiple kanban boards.
The app offers readymade templates for Meeting Notes, Personal Goals, Personal Tasks, Project Tasks, and Roadmaps for developers. Each comes with common columns for these, like ad hoc, standup, and weekly sync boards in Meeting Notes. You can create as many "mother kanban boards" as you want, all appearing in the sidebar.
Google Tasks is a reliable and robust to-do list app favored by millions of users. It works great both on desktop and mobile. Kanbanly is a browser extension that turns the powerful Google Tasks app into a classic kanban board to manage your tasks.
At its best, the Kanban productivity technique is a simple visual board. Not everyone needs the bells and whistles of deadlines, sub-tasks, assigning to teammates, and other such features in every card. If all you want is a fast kanban board in your browser, then you're in luck.
KanbanTab is a Chrome extension that opens a kanban board in a new tab. You can add unlimited columns and cards and move the cards between columns, but that's about it. You won't find color codes, extensive notes, or other frills here. It's a simple visual board that works in your browser and is a productive new tab extension for Chrome.
You can even use specialized kanban tools. Profile Hunt is a kanban board designed specifically to organize your job hunt. Use it for five minutes and you'll realize it makes so much sense to use the classical Kanban system to organize and manage the stressful process of looking for a new job.
The kanban board is an excellent visual dashboard in itself, but if you prefer to generate statistical reports, Profile Hunt has that option too. Honestly, it's a great app that offers everything you'll want. The only thing missing is the ever-so-satisfying experience of dragging and dropping a card to the next column; the app has you click and choose which column to move it to.
As you've probably noticed, all of the kanban apps in this list are meant for desktop browsers or operating systems. That's because the kanban method primarily depends on seeing all your tasks visually rather than on a tiny phone screen. Yes, you can still use mobile apps, but the best experience of kanban is on a big screen, so make sure that's how you primarily make your task list.
Kanban, which means billboard or signboard in Japanese, is a work management system developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota. The kanban method is executed with a board and a collection of cards that move across a series of columns, which indicate progress and state.
The kanban methodology is a great way to manage workflow. It helps to define, manage and improve how work is delivered. By visualizing the workflow, efficiencies are discovered and the production process can be optimized. The effectiveness of kanban boards is baked into its process: the ability to constantly be looking at how to improve the workflow. Kanban is ultimately about productivity and continuous improvement. As a lean manufacturing tool, it seeks to eliminate waste and bottlenecks to keep the work flowing steadily.
Using kanban software visualizes your workflow clearly and offers transparency in an online setting. Traditional, scrum and agile teams can use it to manage their work, and managers get a window into that work. Depending on how robust the kanban software is, they can use this clarity to catch issues and reallocate resources to keep them from becoming problems.
The kanban board is only one of multiple project management views letting you work how you want. What really makes ProjectManager great is how its kanban tool works hand-in-glove with the rest of the software. For example, one of the other project views is a Gantt chart, which is the workhorse of project management. Managers prefer to plan their projects on Gantt charts, which can link dependencies, set milestones, fiter for the critical path, set a baseline to track project variance and provide a visual timeline of the entire project. All that data is reflected on the kanban board view, which is more suited for teams executing those tasks.
Unlike the other options on this list, ProjectManager is a full-service project and work management software. This best kanban software has resource management tools, planning and time tracking all integrated with kanban boards. ProjectManager is diverse enough to function in a waterfall, agile or hybrid environment. See how ProjectManager can improve your project management today with this free 30-day trial.
Trello is a flexible kanban software that helps teams work collaboratively as they manage tasks with boards, lists and cards. This kanban software puts all of its eggs into one basket in order to better prioritize projects. It offers automation, custom kanban cards & boards, buttons, calendars, due date commands and rule-based triggers to its workflows.
Kanban Tool is another kanban software that focuses solely on kanban boards for real-time collaboration, so teams and clients can work closely together by sharing tasks, comments and more. Most users have found the interface relatively intuitive and easy to use. It does offer some flexibility, and its kanban swimlanes are nice for group-related tasks. It has task tracking and WIP limits to avoid bottlenecks, reports and a cumulative flow diagram.
MeisterTask is a kanban software that is customizable for various workflows. It can be used in an agile framework by software development teams for sprints, but it also serves other industries, such as marketing and publications. A simple-to-use collaborative software with reporting features, it collects feedback, prioritizes and has milestone tracking and product roadmapping. It will also import from other kanban software.
Blossom is trying to corner the market on distributed teams that work within an agile framework. For example, its kanban software was designed with stand-up meetings in mind, whether your team is in the same room or phoning in from a remote location. This kanban tool provides insights for continuous delivery with its performance analytics and tends to skew towards this type of team.
ZenHub is a kanban software that focuses on team collaboration using kanban boards in tandem with plan roadmaps, task boards and the ability to create automatic reports. It has been created to work with GitHub, so it is ideal for kanban teams that are working in that environment. Workspaces can be automated once defined and sync with pull requests. The kanban software can help identify blockers and is a good fit for developers, already familiar with GitHub with which it can connect to help with burndown charts, velocity tracking, etc. There are also reporting features.
Asana is a kanban software that helps you plot workflows and supports collaboration for agile teams, who can manage their tasks by seeing them all in one place. Project managers oversee the kanban planning process and make sure that tasks are being executed on time. Workflow stages are addressed with label columns and kanban cards are packed with details, such as due dates, assignees and subtasks. All this is viewed in real time to keep scrum, kanban, agile and hybrid teams working together and allow managers to avoid bottlenecks. The kanban boards have rules that automate workflows. But Asana also has other project management views, such as a Gantt chart, list or calendar in which to manage work.