SUMMARY

As a construction industry leader, Procore was always looking to improve experiences for customers by trying to speed time on task for phases of construction that have high-volume item creates, in this case, a Punch List.

On a Punch walk, construction workers capture all final items that should be fixed on a project before it can be completed (chipped paint, improper materials, cracked concrete, etc.). In a few days, some field workers capture hundreds of Punch items.

PROBLEM

• Punch walks are time consuming with the hundreds of captures that occur in a short time. Users needed a way to speed that process to capture the item, and then have an Assignee retrieve or view the item quickly to complete the Punch process.
• Existing experience was a Proof of Concept (POC) and there were large feature gaps that prohibited adoption by the majority of existing Punch List customers.
• We were designing a new paradigm for capturing hundreds of Punch items in the field so educating users was critical.

MY ROLE

• Round out POC research, conduct extensive user interviews, and identify key themes.
• Design new features from lo-fi to final UI for iOS
• Align product, engineering, and design on Punch process and set path for feature areas of focus.

CHALLENGES

• This required cross-collaboration with the AI/ML team, mobile team, and tool team that I was a part of. Few projects went across teams so it was a new process for most.
• This feature was so different and new to the industry, it took users more up-front use to get full adoption.
• Feature priorities were hotly contested as many internal stakeholders were involved.

HISTORY

Pre-COVID a small internal team testing out the idea of Smart Punch with a Proof of Concept which a few dozen customers reviewed. Though it was well-liked, it lacked critical features to move to beta. Before more progress could be made, COVID hit and priorities changed, so it was put on pause indefinitely. Until I helped get it back on the product roadmap.

EARLY RESEARCH

The team had been on-site observing those using the POC. User interviews and a short in-app survey was used to continue to gather research. I eventually compiled all research including my on-going user interviews to share with the team.

APPROACH

Like most projects, this one was started and half-baked when I took it on. It took quite a bit of time to gather existing research and set a path forward. I understood the Punch process already, but had to take time to understand how this new paradigm could revolutionize the process and which features were lacking or non-existent.

PROCESS

Research & Requirements Gathering: Reviewed POC research which was incomplete initially. Created a research plan for the beta which included user interviews and in-app surveys. Mapped Punch process and sought alignment from the team.

Sketches & Wireframes: I sketched and white boarded concepts and workflows with Product and other stakeholders. I presented multiple rounds of wireframes and prototypes to stakeholders.

Final Designs: Designed and documented new iOS patterns and contributed them in to the component library for other platform use. Worked closely with dev team to support completion.

HOW IT WORKED

The “old” way of doing punch walks was to create punch items one by one and complete a related form, which was time consuming.

The new solution leveraged audio, video, and talk-to-text-type functionality to automatically fill key fields/forms. A user would open their in-app camera, tap record and describe the item needing attention while shooting a video of the item. We leveraged our Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning teams to predict trade, assignees, and titles based on analyzing images or related phrases from issue description. Initial Proof of Concept Video Demo.

REVIEW PREVIOUS PROOF ON CONCEPT [POC]

Prior to my involvement, there was no design or official research oversight on the POC. So the on-site observations and calls were fragmented notes in spreadsheets which took time to consolidate.

RESEARCH & ALIGNMENT

I spent extensive time consolidating POC feedback and new feedback for user interviews. This culminated in some spreadsheets and a Miro board to consolidate feedback, which I used to get alignment across cross-functional teams.

UPDATING ON-BOARDING

A new paradigm for doing a Punch walk was going to require more on-boarding to get widespread adoption. This required updating the POC screen to a more formal, accessible on-boarding experience.

ENHANCED LOCATIONS, DRAWINGS, CREATE

I went through a few iterations of sketches and lo-fi prototypes to iron out any kinks with new features like improved locations, adding drawings, and smoothing out the review screens.

Lo-Fi Prototype link.

2nd Iteraction iPAD Demo / Pass: videopunch

SMART INPUTS OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT

As the project progressed, it became obvious that there were platform implications that could revolutionize the way the industry captures and creates items throughout the construction process. We explored this with a Opportunity Assessment and Experience with a brief visual story of how the technology could be applied in the future.

OUTCOME

• Time on task was reduced almost 50% compared to the original picker
• Users were delighted to use the experience and said it was fun to use
• Was part of larger effort to gain international adoption & usage
• Improved Product-Market Fit
• Improved Reputation of a Comprehensive Solution and Market Leader

REFLECTION

This was a challenging and fun project, as the construction industry was a new space for me at the time. I enjoyed pushing the bounds of the existing component mobile and web libraries and overcoming the challenges of compliance complexity. 5 stars, would recommend!