I have a confession to make; I’m totally addicted to apps (cue Basshunter).
Specifically, organizational apps.
Trello, Slack, Wunderlist, Asana, I’ve tried them all and there isn’t one I met that I haven’t liked.
If I want to check where I’m at with a piece of development I’ll pop to Trello, with its many delightfully colour-coded labels.
If I want to nag Kieran about where a particular wireframe is, I’ll pop to Slack. What about a shopping list for dinner that evening? Wunderlist is my next stop!
Honestly, I can’t get enough of them all.
But not everyone is like me. Kieran still carries round a pen and paper and writes his to do list down, something I don’t think I’ve done since the iPhone came into my life.
Using four apps to track where work projects are at might suit me, but it isn’t ideal for everyone and especially clients who want to know where a project is at.
A few months ago we realized that we didn’t have an easy way to show clients how their project was doing that didn’t involve countless emails and Skype chats, a time suck that no one welcomes.
We didn’t want to ask clients to check Trello boards, nor did we want to invite them into project-specific Slack channels – that could get messy, fast. Especially when you get clients who want to be in the loop for every step of the work.
We looked around for a simple, easy solution that could communicate to them and the whole team where a project is at, what’s already been done and what needs to happen next. It needed to be simple and easy to understand, as well as automated so clients could be emailed when a new update was put up.
We couldn’t find it, so we made it ourselves.
What is this ‘ere Project Tracker?
Every client gets their own tracker, so they can see where their project is at. An email is sent every time an update is added, so there’s no need for clients to check in to see if there’s anything new.
A simple and clean timeline design makes it easy to see where projects are at. The whole team can add update the tracker regularly with posts, images and videos. We can share our brainstorms, wireframes and initial layouts quickly and easily.
We’ve already tested the tool on our own website design and it made a difficult process – that we’ve been putting off for months – far easier.
Can this really replace other communication?
Short answer… no.
We know that most clients will still want phone calls and emails, especially when there are several people involved.
But if clients want to know whether their project has moved on from design to wireframing, then they can simply check the tracker to find out without sending an email.
We can’t wait to use the Project Tracker with clients and start refining it – maybe it’ll become the new Trello…
Want to chat about your project? Get in touch!
