Workbench Web App
Worksmith connects commercial businesses and property managers with service vendors to manage any facility need. Through the platform, clients request jobs, vendors are assigned, scheduling and payment is processed.
I was tasked with enhancing the vendor experience by designing a brand new web app for technicians to use for job fulfillment. Our ultimate goal was to develop a white-label product to be sold as an all-in-one software solution for growing service businesses.
Enhancing the Technician Experience
Initial Release
We began our research and discovery by regularly meeting with our existing national vendor partners, tailoring the experience to fit their needs. Our first release included:
Landing Page - quick access through a unique link via email or text. For on-the-go technicians already resistant to new technology it was critical to avoid barriers for app entry. There was a crucial need to avoid usernames and passwords or app download.
Relationships Page - ability to contact aggregators who assigned them jobs
Account Settings Page- editable technician contact information for account access
Notable work for this release:
Designs for new trademarked Workbench logo
Design system creation aligned with Material Design
Collaboration with engineers on chat system implementation.
Technician Assignments
In conjunction with the next phase of the web app, I designed the basic functionality for vendor aggregators to assign technicians to Worksmith jobs in the Vendor Portal. Once assigned, technicians would need a way to see their jobs. This led to the development of the assignments dashboard and job card pages. Through our interviews we realized it was possible for technicians to have a large amount of jobs so I included the ability to filter and sort.
Job Details
The next phase of Workbench was designing the job details page for each job card. Scheduling complexities within the Worksmith system posed a significant challenge for me. With the amount of necessary data, tabs on the page solved the concern for information overload. I carefully considered each job scenario and mapped out the necessary design variations. Variations included; scheduled, rescheduled, pending change order, accepted change order, declined change order, completed and canceled. When designing the page for desktop view, I decided to include the chat panel to maximize space.
Completion Reports
Completion reports existed in our system but they were simple and outdated.
Existing Problems
Clients needed proof that a technician was onsite
Clients needed better understanding of what work was done
Worksmith internal teams spent too much time chasing down vendors for completion details to send to the client
Proposed Solutions
Customize completion requirements based on service-line and client-vendor relationship
Offer the ability for all vendors to add their technicians and utilize Workbench
Show check in and out info to give clients confidence that the service was completed
Through research and competitive analysis I redesigned and updated completion reports in the Worksmith system, while also creating the new flow within Workbench. Our partners expressed a high-priority need for real-time check in and out timers, which Clockshark and Swept offered. With our white label goal in mind, feature parity was crucial, so I worked with our engineers to develop compatible version.
Completion Report First Release
Completion Report Iteration with Check In
Geofencing
The development of a robust geofence feature was a substantial undertaking that unfolded across three distinct phases. Initially, we focused on introducing the concept of adjustable hours, followed by implementing an avatar system. This system served the dual purpose of indicating whether vendors were within the client's specified address and their check-in status.
I then integrated this innovative feature to show the geofencing data similarly across all three portals—Admin, Vendor, and Client—as well as the Workbench app and Vendor mobile app. The comprehensive implementation ensured a unified experience.
Geofencing Data
Empowered vendors with real-time insights
Enabled them to efficiently track ongoing jobs and monitor completion status
Aligned with our goal of creating a versatile billing process solution
Timesheets
To round out the experience, we knew we had to offer vendor businesses a way to oversee the recorded data from Workbench. Since aggregators were typically using the desktop Vendor Portal to manage and assign technicians, it was there that I added and designed the Timesheets Page for quick approval and payout. Through the integration of check-in data, geofencing technology, and mandatory but differentiated completion documentation, the Timesheet Page served as a comprehensive source of verification. There, managers were empowered to thoroughly review and approve billed time and keep track of missing data. The introduction of this page not only provided a heightened level of control and oversight for payments but also brought us closer to achieving full-feature parity.
Adoption
Vendor adoption of the new software was one of the biggest challenges. Once we rolled out the updates to our vendor partners we worked with them to reach a completion rate of 80% for all recurring services. I took initiative to support the partnership with the vendor success team by creating a help center, visual guides and producing video tutorials.
Examples of my contributions:
Help Center Update: Establishing a help center was a great way to centralize resources and information for vendors and technicians. It was very vague and had not been edited for over two years.
Visual Step Guide Designs: Visual aids help in simplifying complex processes. A lot of adult learners, especially those stuck in their ways, benefit from visual aids. In creating the guides, I learned how much it reduced the learning curve.
Video Tutorial Creation: Video tutorials are a particularly effective medium for teaching and demonstrating how to use the software. The videos I created are engaging and can cater to different learning styles and tempos.
Supporting Vendor Adoption: By providing resources and tutorials, I was able to promote vendor adoption of the software. It increased efficiency and job completion for the technicians and helped vendor score ratings.
My proactive efforts not only supported the success of the vendor partnership but also demonstrated our commitment to continuous improvement and user support. As a former teacher, I know how valuable this is to a team's goals.
Video tutorials I created:
Iterations
Incorporating feedback from vendors and insights from internal teams, we identified that check-in and completion requirements varied across service lines and frequencies. To address this, I detailed the specific requirements for each software flow of work, supported by comprehensive design and documentation.
Recognizing the diverse user base, I made noteworthy UI enhancements to highlight immediate next steps and mandatory fields. Additionally, through collaborative efforts with vendors, I discovered that many users were not native English speakers. To enhance user experience, I spearheaded the translation of our pages into Spanish. I then implemented a language preference option to accommodate diverse linguistic needs.
