Buying guide / Trial
Project management software: a trial checklist
Move a deadline, hand over ownership and see what survives export.
By SaaS Ranking · Reviewed
Download the checklist (CSV)- 1. BuildCreate the sample project
- 2. ChangeMove a dependency
- 3. HandoverTest a new owner and guest
- 4. ExportReconstruct the project
Your working checklist
Ask these questions in your trial. Open a question to see the evidence to keep; use the CSV to record your answers.
WorkflowCan the sample project be completed on the proposed plan?
Ask for: Plan name and completed trial.
DependenciesWhat happens to dependent work when the first task slips?
Ask for: Recorded date-change result.
ViewsDo the everyday views preserve the same owners and dates?
Ask for: Cross-view consistency check.
GuestsCan an external collaborator access only the intended work?
Ask for: Guest access and removal test.
HandoverCan a new owner continue after the original owner leaves?
Ask for: Ownership and account-removal test.
AutomationWho owns the integrations and rules after a handover?
Ask for: Automation inventory and retest.
ExportWhich fields, relationships and attachments leave the product?
Ask for: Inspected project export.
ReconstructionCan a second person rebuild the sample outside this workspace?
Ask for: Read-back result and missing items.
The download includes blank answer, evidence URL, review date, owner, due date and decision fields. Complete them in your own spreadsheet.
Work through the review
Start with one invented project: two dependent tasks, a milestone, a custom field, a comment and an attachment from an external collaborator. Use the same records in each trial. Decide which views the team actually needs and which behaviours would make the project unusable. Keep the plan name and any add-ons alongside your results.
Make a date change reveal the scheduling model
Delay the first task and inspect the dependent task and milestone. Does the tool move them, flag a conflict or leave the decision to the owner? Ask the team which behaviour it needs and record the observed result. Repeat the change from the view the team would use every day. A screenshot of a timeline cannot establish how the underlying dependency behaves.
Test collaboration from the guest account
Invite a sample external collaborator to one task and attach a file. Open the project using that account and look for unrelated tasks, comments and files. Remove the guest and verify the result in a fresh session. Note whether guest access, permission controls or audit history require a different plan. Avoid testing only as an administrator, whose access can conceal problems with the intended collaboration model.
Hand over an active project
Move ownership to a second person without recreating the tasks. Ask the new owner to identify blocked work, upcoming dates and unanswered comments. Disable the old owner’s account and inspect automations, integrations and shared views. Record which dependencies are attached to a person and which belong to the workspace. A handover is complete only when the new owner can explain the next action and operate the workflow.
Read the export as a replacement team
Export the project through the route available on the proposed plan. Inspect task identifiers, dependencies, custom fields, dates, comments and attachments individually. Have a second person reconstruct the sample outside the original workspace. A CSV or JSON file may cover only part of the project, so keep a precise list of what needs another export or manual work. Include that effort in the switching scenario.
Source and scope
Asana documents project export formats including CSV and JSON. A format name does not establish a complete migration. Our checklist asks for a read-back of the actual trial output in each product.
Asana: importing and exporting projects. Reviewed 2026-10-03.
Put the next step in your file
Compare project management vendor evidence, then keep the source, date and your decision together.
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Run the same real task in each trial and keep a result your team can reproduce.
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