Designing time tracking for craftsmen

Context

Craftsmen, such as plumbers and electricians, often juggle unpredictable schedules and a variety of tasks—from traveling to job sites to repairing equipment. As a result, tracking time spent on each project can be tedious and error-prone, leading to lost billing opportunities, inefficiencies, and frustration.

Opportunity

At ToolTime, our mission is to digitalize the craftsmen business, enabling them to focus less on manual administrative tasks and more on the actual work. To better understand their time tracking pain points, we conducted several user interviews:

• Manual methods lead to errors

  Craftsmen relied on paper logs and spreadsheets, which were prone to mistakes and time-consuming to manage.

• External tools weren’t ideal

  Third-party apps were inefficient, not tailored to their needs and not integrated into ToolTime.

• Need for efficiency

  Users wanted a simple, integrated solution that would save time and reduce errors, resulting in more accurate billing and smoother project management. They also emphasized the importance of an easy-to-use time tracker that wouldn’t interrupt their workday.

These insights presented a clear opportunity to design a time tracking feature within the existing ToolTime mobile app, streamlining the process and addressing craftsmen’s frustrations.

Solution

I led the design of the time tracking functionality for the ToolTime mobile app, working side-by-side with engineers and the product manager to deliver the solution. Over five months, we conducted usability tests, interviewed users, and iterated on prototypes to ensure the solution met the needs of our users. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) launched successfully on both mobile and web platforms, providing craftsmen with a more efficient and accurate way to manage their time.

The core of the time tracking feature is an overview page that provides users with a consolidated view of their tracked hours. This allows craftsmen to effortlessly manage their time entries by editing hours, assigning them to appointments, adjusting start and end times, and adding descriptions.

Introducing a new Pattern for Easy Time Tracking

One of the biggest challenges was integrating time tracking without cluttering the UI while still providing users with an at-a-glance view of their active timer and total hours worked. To solve this, I designed a stopwatch pattern that remains anchored at the bottom of the screen for easy access. With this, users can see, start, pause, or stop tracking their time effortlessly from anywhere in the app.

For situations where they forgot to use the stopwatch, I added manual logging options, ensuring their workday could be fully captured.

Automating Time Management

After creating a functional prototype, we tested it with users in their daily workflows. During testing, we discovered that users often forgot to stop the timer, resulting in inaccurate logs. This insight inspired me to design an automatic stop function to prevent overlogging. When a time tracking entry exceeds a preset duration, users receive a notification prompting them to quickly edit the entry. This not only ensures accurate logs but also offers flexibility in managing their time entries.

Oversight for managers

For managers, we developed a web interface that offers an efficient way to view and manage team time entries. By enabling managers to view real-time team data, the web interface reduced manual follow-ups and helped managers quickly identify and resolve discrepancies, such as missing working hours.

Outcome and Future Potential

The time-tracking feature launched successfully on both web and mobile platforms, improving billing accuracy and directly impacting user revenue. With nearly half of the 4,000 active mobile users engaging monthly and over 45,000 time entries logged monthly, the feature has quickly demonstrated its scalability and relevance.

Craftsmen especially appreciated the feature’s intuitive design and seamless integration into their workflows, which made time tracking significantly easier. By addressing this critical workflow pain point, the feature not only enhanced user satisfaction but also established ToolTime as an indispensable tool in the craftsmen industry.

While the feature has already transformed how users manage time tracking, we identified key areas for future enhancements. These include advanced absence management and expanded tools for managers on the web version. Addressing these opportunities will further streamline workflows and enhance the overall user experience.

Reflection

Personally, this project reinforced the importance of designing for flexibility, as ToolTime’s users are incredibly diverse in their workflows. For me, it showed the value of actively listening to user feedback and building adaptable features that meet varied needs while supporting long-term business goals.