Andrey Tkachuk: How I came up with MyLifeOrganized and what happened next

Want to know how unique products such as MyLifeOrganized are created? Who works on them? How the product is developed?

These are the questions that founder and inspirer of MLO Andrey Tkachuk will answer, to help you learn more about MyLifeOrganized.

Andrey, Why did you decide to create MyLifeOrganized?

This happened in the early 2000s. I was working in a fairly large IT company as a Program Manager, managing a large number of people and projects. At some point, I just felt the urgent need for a task management system, which would allow me not just to manage individual tasks but also entire projects. Ideally, it had to be possible to add subtasks. That was something that Outlook, for example, could not do.

At first, I began to look for an existing system with this functionality. I tried many, but could not find the perfect one. So, eventually, I started to create such a program for myself, as I had plenty of programming experience. I called it MyLifeOrganized. I tried to combine the best that I had seen before with ideas from my personal experience. First, my boss got to see it, then some of my colleagues, and soon they also began to use it for their own planning purposes. That made me realise that I made a good product that many people would want.

The main idea of the program was a hierarchical task list. There was virtually no equivalent at that time.

Why did you choose the "Getting Things Done" methodology for the application?

You wouldn’t believe, but when I wrote this app, I didn't even know of David Allen's "Getting Things Done". My colleagues, when they began to use the application, said: “You've got everything structured just the way it is in David Allen’s book." I wondered, who was David Allen? And then I read the book. The program had not been influenced by this book; it was just the most comfortable way for me to manage my tasks.

And what happened after that, how were the MLO versions for mobile devices created?

I work on the Windows version myself, while other developers in my team work on versions for mobile devices. First we developed a version for Windows Mobile, then for Blackberry and after that there was a version for the iPhone, which we created on the basis of the application code for Windows Mobile.

For the second version for the iPhone we had to write from scratch, in order to remove all of the historical C++ code and use new technologies. It was a very difficult time; mobile technology was developing rapidly and we just did not have time to write for all the platforms at once. Plus, it was not clear which platforms would stay in the market and which would not. For example, we spent a lot of time and effort on a version for Blackberry, then it became clear that the Blackberry shares were going down and we had already used the resources. However, we were able to use MLO for Blackberry as the basis for developing the first version for the Android devices, because the Blackberry version was written in Java. Again, just like with the iPhone, we wrote the second version for Android from scratch, with new technologies. Luckily, this time we were able to effectively reuse the previous code from several independent modules.

Tell us a little about the MLO team. Who is helping you to create the product?

The MLO team is quite small, but they do an incredible job. The permanent staff consists of only four people. These are the developers working on all mobile MyLifeOrganized versions: 3 developers for Android and one for iOS. In addition, we have remote and part-time workers: a help desk operator, QA, designers, high-class specialists in the development and security of cloud-based synchronization.

There are also the beta testers and they are an important part of the team, although they do not work in it directly. I will say a few words about them - We have a user forum and the most active participants receive access to the pre-release parts and become beta testers of the application. Before the release of a new version of MLO they get a beta version and test it with their tasks and projects. We do not motivate them financially, these are the people who are fans of the product and just want to help make it better. I always listen to their advice first. There are many such people in our community and I always say that we are very lucky to have them. It is unlikely that something else would test the strength of the product as well as a person and their live data.

For me, the quality and convenience of the application is also very important - I am an active user of MyLifeOrganized myself and I manage about a thousand live tasks in it. In addition [to the testing], many ideas were born in the beta tester’s forum, and I thank all these people for their ideas, help and support.

Recently, we added a PR manager to the staff, whose task is to make sure more people learn about us and that our regular customers understand what we're working on. Thanks to her, we are having this interview now :)

What is the team working on now?

First of all, we have a new version for Android smartphones and tablets. The development is in full swing! For various reasons, the development of this version moved more slowly than some would like. So, I want to thank all of my customers for their patience. I like what we have done so far and the beta testers have now got the new version for testing.

Andrey, you've been working on the MLO for a while. Where do you get the strength and the desire to constantly develop the application?

I have a secret source of inspiration. It’s the moment when I suddenly receive an email or read a review from one of the clients, which says simply: "Guys, thank you for what you do. I have been using MLO for a few months now and my life is now organized, you helped me a lot”. Then I know that somewhere on Earth there is at least one person who liked the product so much that they've even sent me a note about it. From these reviews I draw energy, because I understand that my work improves the lives of others. If I get a note like that in the morning, I can do a lot more during a day than usual.

I would like to thank everyone, who remembers to send us a note about their feelings and wishes related to MLO - you charge the whole team with positive emotions, thanks to this we are working at our best!

P.S.: The MyLifeOrganized team happily joins Andrey Tkachuk in gratitude to all the customers for simply being with us. You are also welcome to share your comments about this article with other users on the MLO user forum.