Allison Ehrke | Work Example: Project Management App

ALLISON EHRKE

LET'S CONNECT

ALLISON EHRKE

Project Management App

CONCEPT

UI/UX

Overview

Drawing from my mom's experience managing data centers and large scale projects, I created a concept for a project management app. Though she's retired now, her feedback helped shape this idea. This post shares the journey from initial questions to concept designs.

Duration

1 day

Platforms

Web

Industries

Productivity

Data Management

Task Management

Cloud Migration

Business

Context

Goals

Problem

Research

Solution

Sketches

Wireframes

Designs

Outcomes

Feedback

Context

Goals

Inspired by my mom, who spent 25 years managing data centers and overseeing large- scale data storage projects for large corporations such as Dell and GE Healthcare, I decided to mock up a concept for her ideal project management app. She is retired now, and intentionally forgetting all project management knowledge, so it's a little too late, but a fun idea to explore.

Goals

Problem

Research

Calling it "research" might be a bit of a stretch for this quick challenge, but my goal was simple: create something my mom would have loved. My 'research' consisted of an informal Q&A over breakfast. Despite her initial threats of forgetting all her work memories, she slipped back into project manager mode the moment I asked my first question.

Here are some questions I asked along with how I interpreted the responses:

What did you find the most challenging about your responsibilities?
What tools did you use, and what was each tool's purpose?
What were your biggest pain points with the tools you used?
If you had one location for everything you needed, what would it include?
Were there any specific features you wished your tools had but didn’t?
What information would be the most critical for you to see at a glance?

Research

Here are some questions I asked along with how I interpreted the responses:

What did you find the most challenging about your responsibilities?
What tools did you use, and what was each tool's purpose?
What were your biggest pain points with the tools you used?
If you had one location for everything you needed, what would it include?
Were there any specific features you wished your tools had but didn’t?
What information would be the most critical for you to see at a glance?

Research

Here are some questions I asked along with how I interpreted the responses:

What did you find the most challenging about your responsibilities?
What tools did you use, and what was each tool's purpose?
What were your biggest pain points with the tools you used?
If you had one location for everything you needed, what would it include?
Were there any specific features you wished your tools had but didn’t?
What information would be the most critical for you to see at a glance?

Solution

Sketches

I began with a dashboard design to highlight the key information, making it easier for her to recall details. This led us to discuss what additional information was needed. Initially, we considered combining data from multiple projects but decided to focus on one for practicality. As she answered my questions, I sketched solutions and incorporated her feedback throughout.

Sketches

Wireframes

After breakfast and getting her thumbs-up on my sketches, I jumped into Figma to block out each section. The biggest chunk of information is a project roadmap, providing a high-level overview of the current status, with additional details in separate tabs.

Wireframes

Designs

With real data, the dashboard might need to be scrollable, but for this short exploration I aimed to fit the highest priority information into one view.

Designs

With real data, the dashboard might need to be scrollable, but for this short exploration I aimed to fit the highest priority information into one view.

Designs

With real data, the dashboard might need to be scrollable, but for this short exploration I aimed to fit the highest priority information into one view.

Outcomes

Feedback

Her feedback was invaluable, though her enthusiasm was tempered by the very nature of discussing work she's trying to forget. Even so, it's clear that my goal was achieved— she would have loved using this app during her career and it was fun to learn more about her.