Pick tools that disappear and stick with them.
"Understand the tools we use, why we chose them, and how we expect them to be used."
Why this exists
Tool sprawl splits attention, breaks search, and loses history. Standardizing on a few tools builds deep familiarity. We pick carefully, commit fully, and only change when the evidence is overwhelming.
Operational Flow
Linear for project tracking: Issues, milestones, and cycles live here. Do not use Jira or spreadsheets. Linear defaults match how we work, and its speed ensures people actually update it.
Notion for documentation: Store meeting notes, retros, project summaries, and handbook drafts in Notion. Do not put source code or deployment instructions here.
Slack for async communication: Create one channel per project. DMs are for logistics only. Put any decision-relevant updates in the project channel so they are searchable.
Figma for design: Keep all client-facing designs in Figma. Comment directly on frames instead of using Slack. Handoff mode provides measurements without back-and-forth discussions.
GitHub for code: Use PRs as the unit of review. Write commit messages for the person reading the git blame in eighteen months.
1Password for credentials: Create a shared vault for every client. Never put secrets in Slack, Notion, or email.
What good looks like
- A developer opens Linear, Notion, and Figma and gets all the context needed to start work without asking for a briefing.
- A client checks the Linear milestone or Notion summary to find a status instead of pinging the team.
- Handoff takes two hours instead of two days when someone leaves a project, because everything is in the right place.
What NOT to do
- Don't introduce a new tool per-project to try something out. Experiments belong in retros, not client workflows.
- Don't put project decisions in email. Email is for contracts and onboarding. Keep decisions in Slack.
- Don't duplicate tasks. A task tracked in both Linear and a Notion checklist will have different statuses within a week.
We have tried Asana, ClickUp, Basecamp, Height, Monday.com, a custom Airtable setup, and a brief period where we ran everything through GitHub Projects. GitHub Projects was not ready for that responsibility in 2022. Every tool switch cost a project cycle of partial attention and a month of inconsistent adoption. We settled on our current stack because the tools do not overlap, they run fast, and each has a clear purpose.
Every tool you add is another tab someone has to open, check, and update. A tool that nobody updates is worse than no tool at all because it provides false information. If you believe a tool is broken and have a replacement in mind, bring evidence to a retro. We will evaluate it, and if we switch, we switch fully. Partial adoption is a failure mode we never recover from cleanly.