I was experimenting with intake methods. The closest I got to the “frictionless” type was this one:
One would write out their lists and tasks (incl. nested tasks) in a big cell like this, and then my code would essentially turn this piece of text into lists and cards with checklists.
The problem with this workflow is that it still introduces mental friction: I first have to neatly write this out, and only then I convert it to cards and can drag them around. Correcting myself (e.g. renaming the card) is, again, a very friction-ful process of opening a modal, editing a field, closing a modal — so I would subconsciously avoid it and stay in this text edit mode until I’m happy with all the task names. But I want to get tactile with cards as soon as I draft them out!
I understand that with Coda, sometimes it takes a little compromise with the UX for the sake of unparalleled power and flexibility. But when it comes to productivity apps, I noticed this in myself (and I think many may relate) that abolishing friction in the capturing-the-data step plays much bigger role than any features, bells and whistles, when it comes to the question of whether the person will keep using the app or abandon it. Or, in other words, no amount of tags, chips, cool image headers, conditional formatting or automations will make it worth it if a user despises (if not avoids) the moment when they have to enter new tasks.