HyperPlan

HyperPlan is an excellent application, well supported by a terrific developer. It continues to gain new and powerful features. It is a great tool for all sorts of planning.

I fully endorse HighFlyer's review; I rate the customer support and service as best in the industry. Andy Brice has responded so quickly to some of my queries that we were virtually texting by email. I have tried a dozen or more planning and project management apps, GTD apps, ToDo apps, and nothing works as well for me as HyperPlan. HyperPlan's combination of visual and text work seamlessly. There isn't a whole lot of documentation because it doesn't need much. The visual-support videos and instructions are near-perfect. I know there isn't one solution that fits everybody, but I encourage all to give it a try, and the money back guarantee plus superb customer support should make giving it a try a no-brainer.

Have used this... and just bought it. Does what I want and it's kind of friendly in how it does it. Would like it if the tasks can be stretched across two or three days.... at the moment it's just one task on one day which is very limiting. I use this for class scheduling in a college based environment.

HyperPlan (version 2) is a really great product. It does just what it says, and the configuration options are amazing. It is a Kanban board on steroids. Once you get the hang of the interface and the layout, you'll find yourself making some very elaborate plans. The flexibility in setting up your board and the reports and charts is great. The only knock would be that the interface is a bit different from simpler kanban alternatives. But that is the price of flexibility! If you like to be organized, or have a project/event to manage, this is a great alternative!!!

I very infrequently leave public reviews but think this particularly responsive, helpful and insightful developer (Andy) deserves mention and accolades from the design, intent and programming execution of his vision for HyperPlan. I have been a fan of this program since the first version I purchased on sale through MacUpdate and have made several suggestions to the developer and engaged in dialogues well beyond what I expected (with very helpful workarounds for unimplemented ideas that comprise a massively long end-user wish-list). I use the program for Weekly Planning, Project Inventories, Life Dashboards, and in general, understanding what is the next best use of my time amongst a continual barrage of inputs. Recognizing the power of Visualization / Colorization (with simple and complex vector drawing programs), Mindmapping, Flowcharting, KanBan Boarding, Work Breakdown Structures, Graphical Models of Visualization across different attributes/axes of ideas and projects, I have always found myself using an endless parade of changing programs to get a better handle on my projects and ideas. There are very few database programs that excel in data visualization. In brief, HyperPlan is the Mother of Digital Post-It Notes™ technology combining the strengths of a simple Database, simple Spreadsheet (with CSV Import/Export) and a robust 2D Visualization Planning Tool. There are useful features such as URL linking, in-place editing, drag and drop attribute inheritance based on location moved to, etc. I no longer spend inordinate amounts of time managing the Project Management program. Drag & Drop and in-place editing of Colored Cards (like Post-It Notes™) gives one a ‘Forest and Trees’ visualization of ones’ ideas and projects. Having the ability to save different views/perspectives of attributes plotted against each other means opportunities for unexpected data visualization insights. The program is both visually appealing (for the right-brain in me), usable in tabular/list views (for the left brain in me), has a simple GUI (graphical user interface) that is intuitive (without reading a manual) that is endlessly adaptable yet still not bloated. I often design my plans on the Mac, email myself the HyperPlan File (as a simple means of versioning), take screenshots and park them into EverNote Folders and Curio IdeaSpaces, and retrieve the actual email file on a PC Tablet from Email so that all my Mac/PC Tablets/SmartPhones/Desktop Class devices can benefit from either the Content Creation or Retrieval end of the program’s gorgeous visualization capabilities. I asked Andy if he might implement calculated fields but apparently this is further down the list of features desired. The date display methodology could also use some improvement. Additionally, I find it a hassle to only open one file at a time (? subtle suggestion not to Multi-Task) without opening multiple instances of the program. Perhaps, down the road, there may be utility in adding other types of Database fields found in programs like TapForms (a Bento replacement that is much simpler to use than FileMaker) HyperPlan is easily now one of my most valuable applications as there is such little friction to creating visualization of even random snippets of information to then cluster and formalize into projects. For me, the software represents the David Allen GTD Bottom-up method of planning rather the the Covey Top-down technique which is why I think it takes so long to plan in these other tools. The new version V2 introduces Tabular editing in place for data attributes without going down to an individual record level but other than that, one’s data from V1 and V2 is interchangeable (very handy). 4.5 Stars (no less - half point off for some clunkiness / quirks) from me for such an eminently useful tool. Highly recommend if you wish to actually execute on your projects and not just spend all your time planning. As I get older, I realize that SIMPLER is BETTER. Afterthought: I will give 5 Stars since I will not be able to change my rating later (and I really do think the Developer will solve these problems)

Hi,I like this app very much. It does, what it promisses and what I bought it for.

Very useful tools to toss around schedules of activities and resources. The various ways of looking (one click only, to vary the arrangement) at the data, will give your better insight to improve or find bottlenecks.

Great product for Kanban style agile project management. Can be used nicely in an overhead. Very good tool!

quite impressed. Bought V1 as part of bundle and now have V2.02. Interface more refined and much faster to use (enter info). Still getting used to 'planning out' my projects, but find the SCRUM methodology interesting. Recommend.

Purchased as part the Macupdate deal. I needed something basic to track course development and faculty development projects. University only has MS Project (Windows side) way too much cost for our department plus the windows running on my fusion side. HyperPlan allows to have a nice visual representation and show the faculty and subject matter experts the flow and timelines quickly and visually. So far this as worked as advertised for me. No issues so I have not reached out to tech support. This summer I plan on trying a more robust research and writing project in HyperPlan to help me keep on task. I expect it will work fine and will update.

Is this license valid for one user on up to five computers as the one sold in HyperPlan's site?

HyperPlan takes the familiar kanban project planning and management strategy and presents in a no-frills, highly customizable package. All the best aspects of real-life, sticky-note-on-whiteboard project planning are present in HyperPlan. Its emphasis on the visualization of the unfolding project makes HyperPlan a great alternative to many textual, list-based to-do apps. Its organic, immediately familiar interface – “if you have ever planned something by sticking notes to a wall, you pretty much know how to use HyperPlan already,” reads a sentence on the dev’s site – makes it a far more favorable choice than many extremely comprehensive project planning apps. Most project management apps require a particular level of mastery of the app itself before you can be completely effective with it. But with HyperPlan, this barrier of entry is nonexistent. It offers a completely intuitive user experience despite being endlessly configurable, meaning it can be seamlessly implemented as the primary method of planning in nearly any scenario. And since projects can be shared between users, all members of a team can see and contribute to the task board in an instant, democratizing the workflow and allowing re-prioritization of certain tasks to occur in a heartbeat. HyperPlan is by no means the flashiest app, and despite its endless options it still isn’t the most comprehensive, but in its simplicity and efficiency it may end up being the perfect option for anything you need to plan.

I bought this application to track the progress of small projects and for Kanban. It's simple, visual and very flexible. The developper is very supportive, and is actively improving this tool.

This is to replace my previous review and ratings. I cannot modify or delete my previous review. All my problems where solved when I figured out how to overcome the CSV format complications. As the developer points out, these are problems that are more related to how the different software companies implement the CSV format than to HyperPlan. I have been using HyperPlan for a few days now and I'm extremely happy. Creating and modifying large amounts of data is arguably easier with the spreadsheet but once the basic schedule, project, table, etc. is created, the flexibility, ease of use and power that HyperPlan provides in terms of possibilities of visualizations of your data is unparalleled by any spreadsheet. ***VERY USEFUL TOOL *** I highly recomend it. One nice thing and a very important consideration is that the developer is very helpful and committed to keep on improving the product.

Pretty unsatisfied about HyperPlan, to tell you the truth. It is my fault because I could have downloaded the trial version and test it more thoroughly before purchasing it but it looked pretty straight forward and I had been looking for a product like this for a long time. The reason I give it such a low rating is mainly the fairly problematic CSV import/export functionality. I thought I would be able to easily exchange schedules and projects between spreadsheets and HyperPlan but this is not the case. For me that was important because I have a lot of project and schedules in spreadsheet format and I wanted to be able to reuse them. From what I have been able to see, HyperPlan has some restrictions that make it difficult to manipulate sets of cells at the same time and so being able to do certain things in a spreadsheet would also be more efficient. The problem is that then you have to do lots of tinkering with the CSV files for HyperPlan to import them correctly and then it becomes a real hassle. In summary, a promising product but *really* rough around the edges. Perhaps Windows people don't have a problem with this, but the "look" of the tables is not very polished, either. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the look of native Mac apps but when I see a table for a project or an event plan in HyperPlan, I think I have gone back in time for at least 15 years and I'm using Windows again. This is a bit like a bad dream :-) Anyway, now I have spent $20 so I guess I will have see what uses I can have for HyperPlan but if I have to be honest, my first experience has been rather disappointing. JM

Looked neat ... Downloaded ... it would not open / install 10.7.5 OSX Moving on ... I want software to make life easier not be a beta test for the developer . Duncan Adams

Very cool tool. It's like kanban on any data field. The developer seems very receptive to feedback as well.