Detailed Feedback for the Official Tutorial Page

[tdnzr]

This is feedback for: https://thomasjfrank.com/notion-chatgpt-voice-tasks/

Preamble

You are an incredibly prolific creator. I would despair long before trying to create something of the scope of your automation tutorials. Anyway, I figured I'd thank you for your voice notes automation, which I adore, as well as for your promptness in adding custom page icons to that automation. So while implementing your voice tasks automation and going through the entire tutorial, I wrote down tons of highly specific feedback (which took ~3.75h). Hopefully you find some of it useful.

Note: If the tutorial page itself were on Github, I would've posted much of this feedback (e.g. typos) as a pull request, which would make it easier to implement or reject. Since the page isn't on Github, I've posted all feedback in this issue instead. Let me know if you want to put the tutorial page on Github, in which case I could still create a pull request.

Substantial Feedback

• F01 The suggestion that the workflow takes 10 minute to implement seems rather optimistic. But then again, I didn't have access to a video, and I wasn't remotely focused on speed.
• F02 "Note: This is my referral link, and it comes with a benefit – normally, Pipedream only lets you connect 3 different apps on the Free plan, but my link will let you connect 5." -> This would be an amazing benefit, but this increased app limit didn't work for me previously. And just now I again tried to register an account for this, and it didn't work again, in fact the credits limit for this account seems to be just 25, down from 100 on my main free account. Are you sure this purported benefit of the referral link actually works?
• F03 The section on POST Requests explains other HTTP requests like PATCH etc. It seems so tangential to the workflow that I suggest (most of) it can be removed. At least the four other HTTP Requests in "There are five main types of HTTP request methods:".
• F04 If someone finishes the section on "How to Build This Shortcut From Scratch", it's not clear where exactly they're supposed to continue in the guide. E.g. only the regular guide has the part with the widget.
• F05 Your Tasker links to Google Play Store end on &hl=en_US&gl=US. Google Play Store has an idiotic "feature" where, if a non-US Google account visits a language-specific URL, the install button is mysteriously grayed out. (If you want to experience this for yourself, this link to the German Tasker app might work.) It's a truly flabbergasting design decision: one can search for Play Store apps on Google and then get a URL from which one can't actually install stuff. Anyway, that's why I recommend replacing all your many Tasker Play Store URLs with just the non-language part: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm (By the way, keep the same thing in mind once you share links to your Flylighter Android app.)
• F06 The sections Get an OpenAI API Key and part of Test and Deploy the Pipedream Workflow are about setting up a new OpenAI API key and establishing a new OpenAI connection. Users who have already implemented your voice notes automation could skip these steps. And in fact, anyone who only has access to three accounts via the free Pipedream tier likely has to reuse the OpenAI account.
• F07 Suggested addition to the Missing Database section: After granting permissions to a new database in Notion, tell people to use the Refresh field button in Pipedream.
• F08 "If you scroll to the steps ? trigger ? event ? body ? secret key in the dropdown, you can see the key you chose." -> This is not available until one first generates a test event in Pipedream; until then, the {{steps}} of the Pipedream action are empty. Same with "Once you’ve set the options you want, hit the Test button. If all goes well, you’ll see a Success message and you’ll see your test task show up in Notion!" - Maybe I overlooked something in the instructions, but I felt like there was a part missing where one actually has to select a test event in step 1 of the automation.
• F09 Re: the Cost Information section and the Cost Example: OpenAI's pricing page lists a model ("turbo-1106") whose input costs are 1/3 cheaper.
• F10 I suggest the Security section should note that setup requires granting Pipedream and Tasker permissions, and if these automation services like Pipedream were nefarious or got compromised, or if, more likely, your own account credentials for the services got compromised, then whoever had access to those automation services could abuse the permissions you've granted them. E.g. by setting up a new Pipedream automation that adds infinite pages to your Notion database. (I don't know if Notion's "update" permission also allows one to delete pages; if yes, they could even delete the database contents.)
• F11 [In How Can I Write My Own System Instructions?] "By default, this workflow pulls the latest system instructions for ChatGPT from my GitHub repo every time your workflow runs." -> Due to the new ability to update Pipedream workflows after the fact, this behavior is maybe not necessary anymore.

Missing Media

• M1 Here’s a 30-second video where I create a task in Notion directly from my Apple Watch: -> (The video is missing, but presumably it doesn't exist yet.)
• M2 [In What is a POST Request] If you’d like to learn more about HTTP and its methods, here’s a great video: -> (Even with uBlock Origin disabled, I only see an empty section where a video should be.)
• M3 The sections iOS: Set up a Shortcut with Siri and Android: Set up a Voice Command with Tasker and Test and Deploy the Pipedream Workflow begin with big chunks of empty space; maybe there are also supposed to be videos or screenshots here that couldn't be displayed?

Outdated Sections

• O1 [In Set Up Your Pipedream Workflow] -> The first step in the automation looks a bit different than the current screenshot: there's an extra field for Domains, set to pipedream.net.
• O2 The screenshots in the Get an OpenAI API Key section are no longer up-to-date because OpenAI have changed their interface. Their API keys section is not that different, but the usage limits are now in Settings\Limits, and have furthermore been renamed to Set a monthly budget and Set an email notification threshold. The URL for usage limits has also changed to: https://platform.openai.com/account/limits. Main result: All references to "hard limit" and "soft limit" are now out of date.
• O3 Throughout the tutorial, incl. in the text and screenshots of the Test and Deploy the Pipedream Workflow section, your custom Pipedream action is called Parse_and_Create_Tasks, but now it's actually called notion_voice_tasks.
• O4 [In Can We Do This Without ChatGPT?] "As of this writing, I’m currently waiting for approval from Microsoft to gain access to the endpoints." -> That part is no longer up-to-date.
• O5 [In Other Questions -> "How Can I Get Updates?"] -> This section suggests that one has to click the template link again to get updates; I think this entire section is outdated, and one can now update imported Pipedream workflows quite easily.

Experiences with Implementing the Automation

• I1 After step one in the Pipedream workflow, you ask users to copy the unique workflow URL (https://*.m.pipedream.net) to the clipboard. But then before they can paste it, there's quite a bit of stuff in between. Also, I'm not sure which proportion of your users do the Pipedream setup on a desktop computer; those would have the problem that they must transfer their clipboard URL from their desktop to their phone, or alternatively login again to Pipedream on their phone.
• I2 Tasker: My Task widget was called "Notion Voice.", just like yours, and I can't tell where the widget name is coming from.
• I3 Tasker: After submitting a test task, Tasker spawned a weird success message incl. HTML p-tags.

Typos & Minor Edit Suggestions

• T01 If you want to skip and it just start building -> skip it and just
• T02 click there to go to the next section. -> click here
• [In Full Automation Overview]
  • T03 It returns an group of task objects. -> a group
  • T04 match the nearest user/projet from Notion. -> project
  • T05 formatted in the way thet Notion API requires -> the Notion API
• T06 You’ll only be able to see the key once on your OpenAI dashboard. [the "once" is ambiguous phrasing: it can mean "only once" or "you will only see it while on the dashboard"; here IIRC the first meaning is correct]
• T07 OpenAI dashboard [versus] OpenAI Dashboard [Inconsistent capitalisation for "dashboard".]
• T08 click here to jump to FAQ section. -> jump to the FAQ section.
• T09 But more importantly, I recently parterned with them -> partnered
• T10 allowing you to simply talk about the task(s) that needs to be done -> task(s) that need(s) [I guess this edit suggestion is also awkward.]
• T11 [In What is a POST Request]: Often, POST requests are send in order to -> sent
• [In How to Build This Shortcut From Scratch]
  • T12 (Still, don’t share your trigger URL nor this passphrase). -> passphrase.) [punctuation position]
  • T13 Tap to set the cursor the blank URL field -> cursor on/in the blank URL field
• T14 select your Notion Voice Tasks shortuct for it. -> shortcut
• T15 Do so now so you can sent a test request to Pipedream. -> send
• T16 After you generating a new key, -> After generating [This warning callout appears twice, so the error also occurs twice.]
• T17 normally has a negligable cost -> negligible
• T18 By default, you account should -> your
• T19 "so you’ll only get it by click my shared workflow link." -> "clicking"
• T20 the exact secret key you set up in you iOS or Android workflow" -> you set up in your
• T21 that always have to have -> that must always have
• T22 I recommend skiming over the best practices -> skimming
• T23 [In Advanced Project-Matching Settings] that are do not have a “Done” status value -> that do not
• T24 Frequently Asked Quesitons (FAQs) -> Questions
• T25 If you/your company is not using -> If you or your company are not using
• [In Can We Do This Without ChatGPT?]
  • T26 My intuition says that even a smaller, less computationally-intensive model like Llama 2 7B could handle task parsing with enough fine-tuning. -> My intuition says that with enough fine-tuning, even a smaller, less computationally-intensive model like Llama 2 7B could handle task parsing.
  • T27 so I don’t ancipate having anything to show here for a while. -> anticipate
• T28 and since each run makes a request to the ChatGPT -> the ChatGPT API
• [in Additional Security Information]
  • T29 If your credit usage hits 100% on the Free plan -> If your credit usage in Pipedream hits
  • T30 If you’re on a Paid Pipedream plan -> paid
• T31 [in Secret Key Doesn't Match] If you recieve the following error -> receive
• [in Can I See the Code Behind This Workflow?]
  • T32 The code in the Pipedream workflow looks different because it has been minified in order to imporve performance -> improve
  • T33 a AI & Automations space -> an AI & Automations space
  • T34 that doens’t get guaranteed support. -> doesn't
• [in How Can I Use This Workflow with Other Tools?]
  • T35 If you want to change it so that it support a different tool -> supports
  • T36 assingee -> assignee
  • T37 As for sending tasks to a different destination… -> (This paragraph follows the heading "Example: Building a Slash Command for Slack" but is not related to it, so it would help to insert a new heading before this paragraph, or turning the paragraph into a heading. E.g. "What about sending tasks to a different destination?")

Misc. Edit Suggestions

• E1 "Get the current date and time, with your timezone included (this is important)" -> I found the emphasizing parenthesis weird. For any non-techie who just follows the workflow, every step is important, and missing any of them screws up the automation.
• E2 [In How to Build This Shortcut From Scratch]: After "If you need more help with Apple Shortcuts, here’s the official user guide:", the two Notion bookmarks (to Shortcuts User Guide and to Reddit) don't have page icons, presumably because Notion failed to fetch them.
• E3 There are many sections with numbered lists (e.g. in iOS: Set up a Shortcut with Siri and How to Build This Shortcut From Scratch), where the HTML numbering is from 1 to 3 and then resets back to 1 because there are other page elements in-between. It would be much preferable if the numbering didn't reset mid-section, especially because the screenshots are also numbered, and their numbering does not reset.
• E4 In the section Android: Set up a Voice Command with Tasker, the section first says to "click this link to start importing the workflow", but then it again says "Make sure you have Tasker installed before importing the workflow." and "Click the Import button on the Notion Voice Task workflow page.". This redundancy is IIRC not present in the iOS section.
• E5 There's overall inconsistent capitalization for "API key" vs. "API Key". OpenAI itself doesn't capitalize the "K".
• E6 "Next, type in the exact secret key you set up in you iOS or Android workflow in the Secret Key field." -> This implies that I must not paste my key from my password manager, but that worked fine; one just isn't allowed to use Pipedream's dropdown menu.
• E7 All occurrences of OpenAI's "hard limit" could be rephrased to accomodate OpenAI's new phrasing ("monthly budget" and "email notification threshold").
• E8 The overall page is inconsistent with whether to put punctuation at the ends of bullet points or not.

Conclusion

Once again thanks for providing these automations free of charge! I've reciprocated by providing this feedback free of charge. Hopefully you found some of it useful :). That said, if you see a business use-case for my style of ultra-detailed feedback, e.g. for QA of new automations and workflows, then let me know if you'd ever like to commission me for that.

PS: I also sent you a brief email titled "Ultimate Notes Template - Suggested Formula Improvements".

[tdnzr]

I've also submitted a pull request for the text in the Github automation itself: #12

[TomFrankly]

@tdnzr this is massive! Thanks so much for this super-detailed feedback.

I won't have time to implement all of it as we're finishing up end-of-year tasks and going into the holidays, but we'll dig into it in the new year for sure.

[tdnzr]

Happy holidays!

I2 Tasker: My Task widget was called "Notion Voice.", just like yours, and I can't tell where the widget name is coming from.

1. Update: I now know where this cut-off label is coming from. Apparently this Tasker widget is round, and the label text is treated as part of the widget icon, so the text gets cut off in a weird way. So the widget label is a cut-off version of the task name, "Notion Voice Task".

2. Re: 1), I have found two awkward workarounds for the cut-off labels: a) choose a very short name (e.g. just "Task"). Or b) use an "app shortcut" instead. This is supposed to be as easy as picking the Task Shortcut, rather than the Task widget, from the Widgets menu (step 13 in the guide). This didn't work for me - after selecting a task, the app shortcut icon never appeared - but reddit provided a convoluted workaround. In either case, if the app shortcut is successfully created, but it's only a white circle with no visible icon, then that's because it's a white icon on a white background.

3. Additional suggestion: The icon for the Voice Task widget is white by default, maybe because Material-You-themed Tasker icons seem to be white by default. One can select a different color by first choosing a Material icon (screenshot), and then clicking the magnifiying icon in the top right (screenshot.

Anyway, much of the above involves Tasker being an impenetrable piece of software, and providing users workarounds for its idiosyncrasies doesn't fit in the Voice Task tutorial. That said, maybe at least the icon color could be included in the task shared on TaskerNet.

[tdnzr]

@TomFrankly Hi there. I don't know if you're still going to work on this automation, since I got the impression from one of your recent videos that programming was going to take a backseat to other stuff. So I just wanted to briefly reiterate the final part of the OP:

Once again thanks for providing these automations free of charge! I've reciprocated by providing this feedback free of charge. Hopefully you found some of it useful :). That said, if you see a business use-case for my style of ultra-detailed feedback, e.g. for QA of new automations and workflows, then let me know if you'd ever like to commission me for that.

So if this style of detailed, comprehensive, and actionable feedback seems useful to you, but you'd prefer feedback for your other products (like Flylighter), then let me know.