Changelog
- 2025-01-14: Added information about Notion Face.
- 2024-11-30 : Added information about Notion sites, forms, and Notion AI.
What is Notion?
Hi there, I’m Kohta Shimizu, working as a web director. In this article, I’d like to introduce Notion, a document creation tool that can also be used for project management and website production.
Many of you may already be familiar with it, but Notion is such a convenient tool that I wanted to write about it for those who haven’t known about it yet.
This article also covers Generative AI feature.
Basic Information about Notion
| Product Name | Notion |
| Company | Notion Labs Inc. |
| Official Website | https://www.notion.com/ |
| Launch Year: | 2016 |
| Free Plan | Available |
Notion is an all-in-one workspace that enables document creation and management, project and task management, and collaboration on documents and tasks.
It supports Japanese, and more Japanese companies are beginning to adopt it for business use.
While it’s excellent for project and task management, it’s also an amazing product just for document creation and management on its own.
Notion is available on desktop browsers and mobile browsers, and it offers browser extensions that allow you to clip and gather content from websites you’re viewing.
This is similar to the functionality offered by products like Evernote and Pocket.
Moreover, Notion allows you to easily create webpages, proposal documents, manuals, and such as internal information-sharing sites.
In 2021, Notion acquired the startup Automate.io, signaling its focus on workflow automation.
That same year, Notion successfully raised $275 million, bringing its valuation to $10 billion. It is a service that is expected to continue growing rapidly in the future.
What Notion Can Do
- Page Creation
- Using Blocks: Pages are made up of blocks, which can include headers, text, tables, embedded content, to-do items, images, and more.
- File Uploading
- Version Control
- Real-Time Collaboration
- Sharing Page Links
- Database Functionality & Various Display Options: Notion includes powerful database features with different views such as table view, list view, calendar view, kanban view, gallery view, and timeline view, which are all customizable.
- Document Export (PDF, Markdown, etc.)
- Creating forms integrated with databases and collecting data
- Website creation
- Using Notion AI
At first glance, it appears to be just a document creation and management tool, but with its database functionality, it can handle a wide range of uses, as listed below. Additionally, there are templates available for specific purposes.
- Roadmap
- Wiki
- Project Proposal
- Task Management
- Project Management
- Meeting Minutes
- Landing Page
- Documents
- Brand Asset Management (Digital Asset Management)
- Content Production Plan
- CRM
- FAQ
In fact, I’ve been using Notion as a tool for clipping web pages and managing documents like Wikis.
As for task and project management, I’ve been using Asana since around 2014, and even after I learned that Notion could handle task and project management, I couldn’t bring myself to leave Asana and try using Notion for that purpose. Additionally, I was skeptical about whether Notion could really manage tasks and projects effectively.
However, as you’ll see in the examples I share later, it’s pretty impressive.
Document creation and data management tailored to your needs
Notion’s official website showcases user cases, providing a great reference for how the tool can be used. These examples are quite helpful. It’s also nice to see examples from Japanese companies.
Workflow automation
By using automation services that integrate multiple apps, such as Zapier, you can create automation programs like “triggering an action in Notion to execute another action.”
Even without using automation apps, Notion offers a built-in automation feature called “Database automation.” This feature allows you to manipulate specific data or trigger dynamic actions , such as sending notifications via Slack, when the values of certain data (properties) meet defined conditions.
For more information about Database automation, please refer to the following article.
Templates for Various Purposes
One of the attractive features of Notion is its wide range of templates. By selecting a template that suits your purpose, you can create well-designed and appropriate data format documents for your needs.
Many project and task management tools offer templates like this, but in reality, those templates often require further customization or may feel detached from the actual work context.
In that sense, Notion’s templates often feel like they can be used as-is or with only minimal customization.
You can browse these templates in Marketplace on the official website, and they are also available when creating new documents within Notion.
Just browsing through these templates can give you a better understanding of what Notion is capable of. Templates are available for various purposes, such as “Project Management,” “Design Asset Management,” and “Schedule Management”.
Forms Integrated with Databases
Notion allows you to create forms that can be used within your team or shared publicly.
Data submitted through these forms is stored in a Notion database. For example, you can use the information submitted via a contact form to directly create tasks and assign them to the appropriate person.
By utilizing “Database automation” available on paid plans, you can design workflows that streamline your operations.
Notion also provides numerous form templates. Simply exploring these templates can inspire new ideas, showing what is possible with forms.
Be sure to check them out.
Website Building
Notion allows you to publish pages you create as websites accessible to anyone.
With a paid plan, you can also assign a custom domain.
In June 2024, enhancements to Notion Sites feature were announced, introducing updates such as “customizable SEO settings,” “customizable navigation bars, colors, and more,” and “integration with Google Analytics.”
These updates make it possible to quickly create not just document pages but also corporate websites, brand sites, and portfolio sites.
It is, of course, also a superb feature for building help sites for services or products.
Here are some websites built with Notion for your inspiration.
For more details about Notion Sites, please visit the official page.
Notion AI
As you see that many companies are developing their own AI or integrating it into their services, this field is a constant topic of discussion. Notion is no exception, having also integrated AI into its platform.
Notion AI is powered by industry-leading language models and is connected to data within Notion workspace as well as data from integrated apps. This enables it to handle tasks related to data in Notion workspace, as well as respond to general inquiries.
Notion AI can search your workspace and other apps, generate content in your own style, analyze PDFs and images, and chat with you about anything—all seamlessly integrated throughout your workspace.
It’s connected to multiple knowledge sources: Notion, Slack, Google Docs, Slides & Sheets, and AI knowledge from cutting-edge language models like GPT-4 and Claude.
Source : Meet the new Notion AI (https://www.notion.so/product/ai)
Notion AI is designed as an all-in-one AI tool that allows you to complete everything without leaving Notion. It can handle casual chats, read information from handwritten notes, create documents on your behalf, and search for data within connected apps like Slack, Google Drive, and GitHub, all from within your Notion workspace.
You can access Notion AI from the side navigation menu, the icon in the bottom left corner, or the pop-up menu that appears when you select text within a document.
I made a short video showing my experience using Notion AI. In the Japanese version, I ask it to answer questions about words in the document, and also to find related documents.
In the English version, I also ask it to translate the document.
It’s amazing to have access to all kinds of data both inside and outside the workspace. Mastering this tool has the potential to significantly boost my work efficiency.
The Japanese version is here:
The English version is below:
App Integration
By integrating with various apps, you can streamline your workflow and improve efficiency. Below are some of the apps that can be integrated:
Blazing-Fast Response!
One thing that shouldn’t be overlooked is how fast Notion runs. It operates smoothly and without any lag, providing a stress-free experience.
Notion Face: Create Your Own Avatar
On January 2025, Notion launched “Notion Face,” a website where you can create Notion style avatars.
You can design cute avatars and download them in PNG format.
There are “Sazae-san style” hair (one of the Japanese popular anime loverd across the generations) and “Super Saiyan style” hair (if you know Dragon ball, you may notice). I think the developers know these Japanese anime. As show like this, it’s fun to just look around.
Check it out here :
Pricing
I think it’s best to start with the free plan individually to get a feel for how it works, and then upgrade to the paid plan for purposes like task management, team collaboration, and streamlining workflows.
However, if you’re just using it for simple document creation or bookmarking web pages, you’ll definitely be satisfied with its ease of use—so go ahead and give it a try.
