The structure of the application considers two main users: Staff members and analysts. The user interface is the same but depending on the user, different information and features are activated. The employees for example have the feature for presence and time tracking activated whereas the analyst additionally has admin access to view his team's presence in real time. He/she can also approve or request the absence of his employees.
A persona for the employees and analysts was created by collecting the requirements, needs and expectations of the two main users.
Real time tracking and live location are the building blocks of the application. The biggest advantage is the simplicity of using WiFi. Since every office has a WiFi network, it is easy to implement this solution and to start tracking. It requires no investment in infrastructure and allows for accuracy.
Prior to the app if a staff had a request he/she had to send an email to the direct manager to process it and approve it. The new application makes it easy for everyone in the team to apply for leave requests. The app is also used to apply for hardware and software licenses. The manager who is the analyst receives a notification of the request and can approve or reject the request.
When employees are at the office location, attendance is automatically activated. The user can start tracking time. He/she will also be notified once the working time for the day has been reached.
We used Apple TestFlight, which makes it easy to invite users to test your app and app clip experiences and gather feedback before the app is released to the App Store. We invited most of the IT department staff, who represented the actual user segment. As a result, We received some valuable input from the testers.
The App proved to be valuable to track employee presence and time. Overtime and minus hours of employees and punch-in errors have been reduced and HR processes related to presence and absence control have been simplified and automated. During the Corona Pandemic, the app also proved to be useful, as an extended feature enabled check-in and check-out from the home office. In 2019 80% of the staff used the app and in 2020 the entire workforce.
