Master Schedule
Duration:
6 months
Role
Senior Product Designer
Summary:
I led the design effort to reimagine how builders and trades create and manage construction schedules. The legacy system lacked sufficient structure, logic, and scalability our users needed. I researched construction workflows, collaborated with engineering, and advocated for a redesigned system that mirrors real-world dependencies.
The Problem
Existing scheduling feature was a simple list of orders.
Builders think in milestones & phases.
Trades depend on the sequencing of dependent work (ex. Roofing cant start until the home is framed).
No rules engine or cross tenant order mapping.
Led to misaligned work across job sites causing "“dry runs”. (A failed attempt to complete work due to various reasons)
High support load as a result.
Discovery & Research
Goals
Understand how the trades & builders organize and sequence their work.
Discover what patterns and logic trades and builders expect from their scheduling tools.
Uncover and resolve friction within the existing scheduling experience.
Research
Interviewed internal members of the scheduling team.
Mapped end to end workflows.
Key Insights
Builders think in milestones
Builders organize multiple trade’s work into milestones. This allows them to break down the home building process to track progress, aid in coordination, and simplify reporting.
Tasks must be conditionally triggered based upon dependencies
Communication between the trade and a builder can be slow causing delays between the completion of on trade’s work and the start of the next.
Cross-tenant alignment is crucial
Each trade and builder may have their own terminology for identical work. Allowing a trade to link their orders to builder defined orders is a must have.
In Design
After researching the problem and defining the scope I began work to come up with a few MidFi iterations to usability test internally to validate the user flows.
Usability Testing
A few iterations were brought in front of the users who would be responsible for this work. Pulling forward the iterations to refine and improve them.
Feasibility
Throughout the process, I worked with development to ensure the designs could be executed as intended. Many changes came from this process and would be reflected in the HiFi designs.
Handoff
After all stakeholders have approved the designs and validated the flows, I prepped the designs for handoff. This included documentation, redlines, and finally a full walkthrough of the product.
Outcome
This was a high impact project containing sizable architectural changes, installing new processes for our users. Working hand in hand with product and development team to ensure a smooth delivery was mandatory.
Currently in development with a planned delivery of Q2 2025. Providing continued support in the delivery effort.
