KANBI: A Minimalist Kanban Board App

Tired of feature bloat and complexity in some of the web-based project management tools I've used, and concerned about the privacy and security risks of storing my task data in the cloud, I decided to create something simpler. Many productivity apps include numerous features I rarely or never use, which makes the straightforward process of organizing tasks unnecessarily complicated. This led me to develop KANBI, a lightweight Kanban board application that focuses on just the essentials while keeping my data secure on my own device.

Why I Created KANBI

My journey to creating KANBI began with a simple desire: I wanted a clean, efficient way to manage my tasks without the overhead of complex project management systems. I found myself increasingly frustrated with my existing tools for several reasons:

First, I wanted something that aligned with how I actually work - visual, flexible, and straightforward. Second, I was concerned about storing my personal and professional task data in the cloud, where I had limited control over its security and availability. Finally, I was tired of battling feature-heavy interfaces just to perform basic task management.

The productivity tools I tried all suffered from the same fundamental problems:

• Cognitive overhead: More features meant more decisions, more settings, and more distractions from my actual work
• Performance degradation: Bloated applications often ran noticeably slower, impacting productivity
• Privacy concerns: Most required cloud integration, and I wasn't comfortable with my task data living on someone else's servers
• Security risks: Cloud-stored project data presents potential vulnerabilities to data breaches, unauthorized access, and service provider control issues
• Dependency issues: I'd previously lost data when services were discontinued or changed their pricing models, and I wanted to avoid that vulnerability

My Approach with KANBI

I built KANBI based on what I personally needed from a task management tool. The application adheres to principles that directly address my frustrations:

• Simplicity: I stripped away everything that wasn't essential to my workflow
• Speed: I optimized performance because responsiveness is crucial to my workflow
• Privacy: I designed it to keep my data on my device through local storage
• Flexibility: I made it adaptable to different projects without imposing rigid structures
• Portability: I incorporated automatic saving and export/import functionality for peace of mind, ensuring my task data is always backed up without requiring manual intervention

I deliberately avoided cloud storage, not just for privacy reasons, but for reliability. I wanted a tool that would work consistently regardless of my connectivity status, with no dependencies on external services, and complete ownership of my data.

Key Features

Despite its minimalist approach, KANBI includes everything necessary for effective task management:

Customizable Workflow

Create, rename, and rearrange columns to match your specific process. Whether you prefer a simple "To Do/Doing/Done" structure or something more elaborate, KANBI adapts to your needs rather than forcing you to adapt to it.

Intuitive Task Management

Adding, editing, and organizing tasks follows natural interaction patterns with drag-and-drop simplicity. Tasks can include:

• Title and description
• Due dates with visual indicators
• Color coding for priority or categorization
• Custom data fields when needed

Local-First Data Architecture

Your board data is stored directly in your browser's local storage, which means:

• Changes are automatically saved between sessions
• Your data remains available even without internet access
• Nothing leaves your device without your explicit consent

Automatic Saving and Export

One feature I prioritized was ensuring my work would never be lost:

• Changes are automatically saved to local storage as you make them
• The application periodically creates JSON backups to your Downloads directory
• Backup files use a clear naming format (KANBI_Board_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM.json)
• Manual export is also available for creating on-demand backups

This automatic approach means I never have to remember to save my progress, and I always have recovery options if something goes wrong.

Responsive Design

The interface adapts seamlessly between desktop and mobile views, ensuring your workflow remains consistent regardless of device.

Development Approach with Claude 3.7

Building KANBI presented an interesting opportunity to explore AI-assisted development. I partnered with Claude 3.7 to streamline the development process in several key ways:

Initial Architecture Planning

Rather than starting from scratch, I described my vision to Claude, which helped outline the application's structure, data model, and core functions. This collaborative approach allowed me to quickly move from concept to implementation.

Code Generation and Refinement

Claude assisted with generating initial code blocks for key functionality, which I then refined and integrated. This hybrid approach proved particularly valuable for:

• Setting up the drag-and-drop implementation
• Creating the data persistence layer
• Designing the export/import functionality

Documentation Development

The README, help documentation, and inline code comments benefited significantly from Claude's ability to generate clear, comprehensive explanations from my rough outlines.

Problem Solving

When implementation challenges arose, Claude provided multiple potential solutions that I could evaluate and adapt. Interestingly, when I hit roadblocks with Claude, I would send the code to ChatGPT o3-mini-high and was able to use this tag team approach to sort out issues. Each AI had different strengths, and leveraging both proved to be an effective strategy for overcoming technical obstacles.

Working with these AI tools accelerated development without sacrificing quality or control. They served as collaborative partners rather than replacements for human judgment, allowing me to focus on design decisions and user experience while reducing time spent on boilerplate code and documentation.

The Single-Board Design Decision

One deliberate limitation in KANBI is its support for only one board per browser instance. This decision might seem restrictive, but it aligns with the core philosophy of simplicity and focus.

For users needing multiple boards, the recommended approach is to clone KANBI into different directories. This creates a separate instance for each project or workflow, maintaining the application's lightweight nature while providing flexibility.

Future Development

While KANBI currently meets my personal needs, I'm considering adding multi-board functionality in the future. This would maintain the application's simplicity while allowing for better organization of different projects or areas of responsibility.

Conclusion

KANBI represents an attempt to simplify task management by focusing on core functionality. By concentrating on what's essential for organizing my work and deliberately excluding extra features, I've created a tool that streamlines my productivity workflow.

I'm not sure how widely I'm going to share KANBI but if you're interested in it and want to give it a try feel free to reach out.