- To-do lists don't always tell the full story. If you have a list with 10 items and you've checked off nine of them, that doesn't necessarily mean that 90% of the work is done. Sometimes that last task is actually 90% of the work. Here at 37signals, we know that not all tasks are created equal. And with that in mind, we've developed a better way to visually show the status of to-do lists in Basecamp. We call this feature a hill chart, and in this video I'm gonna walk you through exactly how they work, how we use hill charts internally at 37signals to track our own progress and some different ways our customers are using hill charts for their work. But first, what is a hill chart? Projects have two phases of progression. There's an uphill phase where you're figuring out the unknowns, gathering information, coming up with possible solutions and deciding the best plan for moving forward. This uphill portion is where the hard work of coming up with a solution takes place. Once you've taken the work over the hill, you enter the execution phase, where you're no longer figuring out how to do the work. The unknowns have been eliminated and you're actually making it happen. To visualize where your tasks stand in a project, you can track the progress of your to-do list on a hill chart. This lets you quickly see what's moving forward, what hasn't been started, and where things might be stuck. To get started with Hill charts, you'll either make a new to-do list and indicate that it should be tracked on the hill chart or if you already have to-do list set up from the three dot menu at the top right, select Set Up the Hill Chart and choose which to-do lists to include. You can track just one list or multiple lists, and if you change your mind at any time, just return to that three dot menu to make adjustments. With hill charts enabled, you'll see a colored dot, representing each of the to-do lists that are being tracked. You'll also see the hill chart on the To-do's tool from your project page. To change the position of something on the hill chart, you'll click the Update button on the top left and drag each dot to a new position. You can add a note to provide some details about the progress or any roadblocks. You can also choose who to notify about the hill chart update. Just like in other areas of Basecamp, the people you select will get a notification in their Hey menu. Now you might be wondering if the hill chart can automatically update, like if the dots can move on their own if a certain number of tasks are checked off. Updating the hill chart is intentionally manual so that you're really thinking critically about the relative status of a project. Simply checking off a to-do doesn't always tell the full story. When the To-do tool is open, you'll see the most recent hill chart and you can use the arrows at the top right to see how the dots have shifted position over time. This will show you what's progressing consistently, what hasn't yet been started or is finished. And even if something might need some extra attention because it's been stuck in the same position for a while. The Read the Note link under the user's name or the See History link at the top will take you to the hill chart progress feed, where you'll see all the hill charts over time, arranged chronologically. You'll see who made each update, any notes, and the Discuss button lets you add comments. Here at 37 Signals, product updates are tracked on a hill chart by the programmer and designer working together on that new feature. So here you can see the to-do list of the team created and the progress that was made throughout the project on the hill chart. You'll even see when new to-do lists were added or removed from the hill chart. Of course, hill charts aren't just for software development. We have customers using hill charts to track the status of events they're planning, like this one, where categories like invitations, catering, entertainment, and decor have places on the hill chart or for construction or interior design projects. You might track the status of supplies or decor elements you need. Give hill charts a try. And if you have any questions as you're getting them set up, reach out to our team at
[email protected] and we'll be happy to help.