It can be daunting to adopt and try new digital tools within your everyday work, especially if you are not sure where to start. In order to help to inspire organisations to try a new digital tool or two, Digital Pathfinders hosted a ‘lunch and learn’ webinar session in which each team member shared a sneak peak of their tech stack that they use on a regular basis within their roles.

The session touched on some top tips to help when choosing digital tools as well as highlights into the tools themselves and how the team use them. Don’t worry if you missed the webinar, this blog covers the headlines.

‍

What is a Tech Stack?

A tech stack is the collection of digital tools, software, hardware, and technologies that you use together to fulfil your role. Different technologies are often used by different people to accommodate their ways of working, their individual tasks and their preferences.  

‍

Why Do I Need a Tech Stack?

You may want to start to develop your tech stack because you find that you want to work more effectively, start to digitise your organisation, or improve reliability and performance.  

Many tools have free trials or free plans so that you can test to see if it fits with your ways of working. A tool may look good on paper, but if it doesn’t work well with how you operate, then it might not be the right one for you.  

A well-chosen tech stack can help you to:

• Stay organised.
• Work more efficiently by reducing manual tasks.
• Improve your reliability and performance.  
• Save you time and money by avoiding duplicated or unused tools.  
• Allow you to make data-driven decisions.  

Choosing and Changing Your Tech Stack  

Choosing your tech stack is not about picking up the new shiny tool, it is about making sure you have the right tools for your needs. The most important thing to think about when developing your tech stack is thinking about how all of the tools you use interact or integrate.

You may also be limited by company policy, subscriptions, your operating system, or by the arrangement of other tools in your tech stack, so this is all about trialling what works to find the best fit.

Key factors you may want to consider:

Goals

What is it you are trying to achieve? Are you building something, collecting data, streamlining processes? Your goals should dictate the tech stack that you use.

Team

Try and choose technologies that your team already understands or can quickly learn how to use. Even powerful tools can be useless if nobody knows how to use them properly.  

Budget

Are the tools you are wanting to use free? Do they eat into your budget? Make sure to factor in long-term expense before fully committing to a new tool.  

Integration

Do your chosen technologies work well together? Some tools have integration which can make data flow even easier to streamline your processes.  

Preferences

There are some tools that you simply won’t like to use, and that is okay too! Some people prefer simplified data-only tools, whereas others want more colour, visuals or customisation. Make sure to use tools that work with your own preferences.

‍

Examples of Tools We Use  

This workshop was all about giving our audience insight into some of the tools that help to power the Digital Pathfinders team. For the majority of the session, Jenny, Ben, Nathan and Chamath took a deep dive into some of the tools that they like to use on a regular basis.  

Here are some of those tools:

‍

Stacker – Customer Relationship Manager

Stacker is a no-code, web-based platform that allows you to build internal tools, apps and dashboards to help you collect and visualise your data.  

Why Jenny likes it: Tracking workflows and key statistics.

‍

Airtable – Data Management

Airtable is a flexible, cloud-based platform that combines spreadsheets with databases, allowing teams to organise, link and automate information gathering.  

Why Jenny likes it: Straight-forward, colour coded, multiple views of the same data.

‍

Slack – Communication Tool

Slack is an easy-to-use workplace communication platform that securely connects teams together with instant messaging, video calls, document sharing and more.

Why Jenny likes it: Great for quick messaging, calls and sharing everything in one place.

‍

Readwise – Knowledge Collection

Readwise is a knowledge tool that helps you save, review, and resurface highlights from books, articles, and podcasts so you remember what you have learnt.  

Why Ben likes it: Keep key content highlighted together until you have time to read it further.

‍

Lunatask – Task Tracking

Lunatask is a personal productivity app that combines task management, habit tracking, notes, journaling, and mood tracking in a privacy-first design.

Why Ben likes it: Everything is together in one place.

‍

Raycast – Productivity Shortcut

Raycast is a productivity launcher that allows you to quickly access applications, dictionaries, files, text snippets and clipboard, directly from your keyboard.

Why Ben likes it: Clipboard history allows you to go through things you have previously copied + pasted in bulk.

‍

Notion – Workspace Tool

Notion is an all-in-one workspace for notes, documents, databases, and project management, fully customisable to fit individual or team workflows.

Why Nathan likes it: Highly customisable ‘everything’ app for notes, meetings and collaboration.

‍

LM Studio – Local AI Model

LM Studio LM Studio is a desktop app that lets you run large language models locally on your computer for private, offline AI use.

Why Nathan likes it: A secure, local AI tool that doesn’t send personal data to third-party services.

‍

Zen Browser – Minimalist Web Browser

Zen Browser is a minimalist, privacy-focused web browser designed to reduce distractions and promote focused, intentional browsing.

Why Nathan likes it: Light, distraction-free browser.

‍

Miro – Digital Whiteboard

Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard used by teams to brainstorm, plan, and visualise ideas in real time.

Why Chamath likes it: Collaborate in real time to map out and visualise solutions.

‍

NotebookLM – Document Summary

NotebookLM is an AI research and note-taking tool that summarises your notes and douments. It can even create a podcast-style overview of your materials.  

Why Chamath likes it: Quickly makes sense of large amounts of information.

‍

Calendly – Meeting Scheduling Tool

Calendly is a simple scheduling tool that eliminates back-and-forth emails by letting others book time with you based on your availability.

Why Chamath likes it: Makes it easy to book in meetings with clients.

‍

Final Thoughts

Developing your tech stack is all about finding the right tools that fit with your preferences and your existing workflow. Getting started is the hardest part, so try out free trials and don’t be afraid to try something new.

Need any further support with your tech stack? We may be able to help. Digital Pathfinders is a fully funded programme that supports businesses, charities and social enterprises across the North East to adopt new technologies to drive productivity, resilience and growth. If you would like any further information, please take a look at the Digital Pathfinders website or get in touch: hello@digitalpathfinders.uk