Overview
Problem
Goal
Keeping an eye on project progress is a key task for PMs, GCs, and stakeholders. To get the most out of a linear schedule, complete with dependencies and task duration, we’ve integrated a Kanban board into the schedule.
A necessary feature of Blackhyve is to offer maximum user customization. The proprietary algorithm’s output can be communicated through a variety of schedule views and this layout, dubbed the Super Kanban, is just one more efficient and intuitive Blackhyve offering.
Some contractors prefer flowline schedules, others are more comfortable with Gantt charts; how do we appeal to both types of users while also differentiating ourselves from the current market with superior features and usability?
Provide users with a novel scheduling layout that combines the “big-picture” timeline view of flowline with the simple and applicable 3-column style of a Kanban board.
Mapping salient features and their occurrence determined priority; these features would then be crucial for display in the Kanban-style schedule.
Drop down menus allow user to control view (of specific activities, contractors, or dependencies) and within a selected column take specific actions without navigating away.
Different time frame views come with certain advantages (i.e. a full timeline of the schedule would be ideal for visually noting overall progress); including all features in all views could be irrelevant or cumbersome. Following a customer journey map, content mapping was helpful in deciding what features each level of zoom would include based on why the user might be in that view.
Initial low fidelity wireframes prioritized
Clear user location/selection (by increasing column size)
Navigation and View bars
Familiar linear scheduling and task bars
Kanban structure of Complete, Current, and Future task columns
Tilt of the activity box shows selection and movement; cursor release drops the activity anywhere in the Area’s status column and settles activity into the section.
Animation of the drag and drop feature
When moved into Kanban board, an activity box changes from schedule view (with icons and card-expanding buttons) to a simpler color-coded bar with drop down arrow for more detail and actions.
Next steps:
More fully design pop-up cards associated with each activity to hold useful information and actions as well as remain consistent in content and appearance with similar pop-ups throughout other schedule views and Dashboards.
After the feature is released, write and implement robust user testing in order to gauge product success and usability. Many of these features are new to construction management software and it will be important to collect data regarding user satisfaction and habits.