Include GO
Converting users to a new flagship product
What will restore our users’ excitement about our products?
Include Software Technology had built a loyal customer base and space in the landscaping industry for nearly three decades, all centered around their native Windows application, Asset Proposal Manager. But this product was starting to show its age and it was no longer able to keep up with our users’ increasing needs. It was time to build a new application that would simultaneously retain Asset’s important features while introducing some new features and a more user-friendly interface.
Understanding the past
I spent considerable time becoming familiar with Asset Proposal Manager and working with the product manager and CEO to define our MVP. All three of us met with users to discuss what they wanted from a product to manage their businesses.
Our priorities became clear:
Task & Project Management
Team Organization
Inventory of Resources
Mobile app for Crew members
Asset Proposal Manager in 2023
Providing the necessary details
The majority of these features required designing items with numerous data points and complicated tables to quickly communicate relevant information to the user. Once again, I worked with our current users and the product manager and CEO to identify what data was needed in each context. I showed early mockups to them and implemented feedback to make some data more visual and to better clarify units of measurement for time-based data
When the CEO pushed for even more data to be added to the Task List specifically, I conducted competitive analysis and user interviews to find the right balance between too much and too little information for our Task table.
Task List in Include GO
Organizing information clearly
This became even more important as I designed the detailed view for tasks and projects. Any given task could have, in addition to its basic data points:
Notes to give more detailed instructions to the employees
A checklist of items needs to be completed to accomplish said task
A history of any changes or updates made to the task
A list of all resources needed to accomplish said task, and their current status
Billing information for the client and totals of expenses for the given task
Uploads of any pictures or videos taken onsite by the project manager or crew members
Task Details in Include GO
Connecting with all our users
While working on these tables for our web experience, I was also designing a companion app geared towards the crew members. This housed a lot of the new features that our users had been asking for for years. Crews could view their upcoming work day, update tasks and resources, and record their work hours while on the go. Managers could view and approve hours and keep better track of their crews’ efforts.
Between the updated design and accessibility to the web product and the new functionality found in the mobile app, when we released the beta of Include GO to our users, they were once again excited about the direction our products were headed in and had faith in our ability to get there. 80% of our users have now migrated from Asset to GO.
Include GO Mobile App