Goal For It comes with fifty inspirational quotes, and you can edit or delete these and add your own. There is also a journal and a free-hand drawing field. This, unfortunately, does not work on my Zire 72, as I get strange jagged lines. Other applications with the same drawing field also don't work; I suspect my Zire is the cause.

As Figure C shows, Goal For It keeps a consistent look and feel throughout, so it is always clear how to proceed. There is also help available from nearly every screen, very nice for those of us who don't read manuals.

FIGURE C


Goal For It keeps the same navigation bar at the bottom of all screens. Roll over picture for a larger image.

There are some oddities in the program, however. You can mark a goal as "in progress" or "complete", but this information doesn't seem to do anything. There is space for only twelve steps for each goal; if yours is more complicated, you might need to break it into multiple goals. As well, you can check off the steps as you complete them, but the program doesn't record completion dates.

Overall, Goal For It is one of the simpler programs that I tested, and also one of the most effective and, at $13.95, reasonably priced. We give Goal For It a 3 out of 5.

OUR RATING: 3 of 5

GoalKeeper
I thought GoalKeeper would be an option for someone who needs more guidance than Goal For It provides, or for someone who is a Franklin Covey devotee. This is not the case, as the software has some serious flaws.

When you first enter GoalKeeper, you are taken to the Mission Statement screen. Unfortunately, the program doesn't give any guidance as to what to include in a mission statement. There is an "i" icon, which I expected to provide help; it leads to a blank screen.

The only way to progress through the application seems to be through the "i" icon. You enter your values, your roles in life, your goals and the tasks associated with the goals (all tasks appear together on one screen). The next section is "Goal Evaluation". It's not clear what this is intended to be; there is a section for "Positive" and "Negative", and a check box labeled "Always".

GoalKeeper has potential, but it feels like an early test version, not a finished application. There are partial characters appearing in fields. The Web site address (at http://www.handekeeper.com) listed in the "About" menu is now a search portal, which does not bode well for the future of this application. More expensive than Goal For It but not nearly as well designed, GoalKeeper, shown in Figure D, is not recommended.

FIGURE D


GoalKeeper's screens have some flaws. Roll over picture for a larger image.

We give GoalKeeper a record low 1 out of 5.

OUR RATING: 1 of 5