![The WORK[etc] State of the Online CRM Address](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/state-system-feat.png)
At the start of this year we embarked on a huge project to fully refresh and largely rebuild not only the core underlying WORK[etc] platform, but also our iPhone, Android and web apps.
To be honest, I really did think that by now we would have finished that work and pushed everything through to actual release. We haven’t gotten there quite yet, but we have made huge progress across the board. So as 2014 draws to a close, let’s take a look at how the different WORK[etc] dev teams and their projects are coming along.
iOS App
Our iPhone app Beta testers are currently in the thick of things, running the latest build of the WORK[etc] iOS app through its paces. The app itself is around 98% complete and the work remaining is all shine and polish.
We have spent longer in the beta phase than planned, but with this extra time we’ve managed to roll out new features like the new WORK[etc] widget on the “Today” drop down widget. The home-screen widget reminds you of and lets you quickly view any running timers even when you close the WORK[etc] app. Plus it introduces the ability to pause and stop timesheets from any iPhone screen without having to go back into the WORK[etc] app itself.
This functionality has only been accessible since the release of iOS 8 and for us it was more important to build this into our new app immediately, even if that meant extra work before being able to release(!).
Today widget for iOS 8. Click for full view.A huge part of the beta program (exclusively available to WORK[etc] Insiders) has also been to get feedback on how the app actually performs in the real world. An overwhelming response from users was that the new implementation of the Discussion tool just did not make sense and basically was a fail. Taking this feedback on board we rushed to completely redesign and recode this module. This meant a further delay, but it also results in a far superior final release.
Target Release Period: January 12th to 16th, 2015
iPhone app’s new Discussions module. Click for full view.Android App
If you remember, we started building the Android app around 4 months after we started on the iPhone app. The good news is that Android has caught up and is now only 4 to 5 weeks behind the iPhone app. Most of the app’s major features have been implemented and all that remains is making sure that everything up to the last, tiniest detail is working correctly. We’ll be announcing beta invites in the first week of 2015.
Alpha preview of the Android app. Click for full view.The feature set of the Android app mirrors that of the iOS app, but with a 100% native user interface. It works exactly how you’d expect an Android app to work and navigating around is fast. Here’s a short list of what we will be adding to the app in the coming days:
- Automatic Timer for timesheets integrated with Android’s notifications
- Global Search
- Feedback Form
- Field validation for Add / Edit Screens
- UI / UX polish (animation, screen transitions
Beta Release: January 12th to 16th, 2015
Target Release Date: February 9th, 2015
Web App
Work on the next release of the web app is slowly starting to move beyond what I think of as the “iceberg” stage. This basically means that all the hours spent to date have been consumed by the underlying core architecture and that right now only a very small part of the production is actually visible in a web browser. But as we move beyond this, each discrete development effort comes together and the visible part rapidly starts to surface.
![WORK[etc]'s Development Iceberg](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/development-iceberg.png)
WORK[etc]’s development iceberg.Since we’ve already gone in-depth into the changes being made to the Contacts page, in-line editing, and the totally new in-app timer, here’s a never-before-seen look at the other modules.
![WORK[etc] Calendar Views](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/calendar-views.png)
New Agenda, Day, Week, and Month calendar views. Click for full view.![WORK[etc] Discussions](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/web-discussions.png)
Web app Discussions module. Click for full view.![WORK[etc] Project Activity Tree](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/web-project-activity-tree.png)
Web app Project Activity Tree. Click for full view.Target Release Date: We’re taking the holiday period to run a full audit of the project and will announce more product details and a target release date early next year.
The WORK[etc] Fashion Line
During the year we also released our line of fashionable and sassy T-shirts. And although American Apparel begged to stock the line and Vogue was hunting us down for a photo-shoot we decided to make them exclusively available to our WORK[etc] Insiders :-). Have you signed up yet? If not, sign up now and claim your free T-shirt!
![WORK[etc] free shirt](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/worketc-free-shirt.png)
WORK[etc] T-shirts.
COMMENTS
Things are indeed looking bright for the future of work[etc] their are some great features in those updates. Looking back on 2014 I think the biggest achievement for me is both a personal one and a business one.
In the past I have focussed my business on website design and offered my services to everyone who would pay. This year through some health issue induced clarity I have found more of a purpose, direction and need to succeed. I have refocused my business to offer additional complimentary services and moved more to selling information and advice. I learned both personally and in business you can’t succeed alone.
I now utilise other people’s skills and attributes to boost my own toolbox of skills and provide a better overall product. This is my achievement and 2015 is my year.
I am excited for 2015! We have just completed our 1 yr anniversary with WORKetc and it was a great year! We’ve had some of our own wish lists put into place in the software, we have seen some large improvements in the iOS APP – and while that is my most used device – I do have an Android device that I am excited to use with the new version of that app. But I’m even more excited about the overall changes coming in the main browser product. I do hope that is coming soon. And to cap it all off – I did get a great Keep Calm and Carry on T-Shirt. It’s been a great year!
2014 has been an eventful year for me, I completed my first year working for a small/medium-sized web development company (15-18 employees) in South Australia, having moved from the UK in 2013. I really enjoy my job and get on with all the team, we’re like a little family.
Work[etc] has improved our workload, we have just recently started to really use Smart Lists to prioritise workloads. We are currently working on changing the way we allocate our To Do’s list and as such we have created a Smart List for everybody which the Project Managers adjust by priority at least once a week.
I can’t wait to try the beta of the Android app the design looks really clean and from the screenshots it seems that everything is easy to get to and is intuitive.. In addition we have all the desktop improvements to look forward to, 90% of my Work[etc] use is through the desktop so these will be welcome.
So all in all 2014 has been a productive year and, to use an old adage we are working smarter not harder.
To top it all I had my first child – a son, in May this year… so it had been more than memorable. We have the best souvenir of the year you could hope for!
The only downside is my Work[etc] t-shirt doesn’t fit I ordered the small in a moment of delusion.. My wife wears it though, but I’d like my own and I would have to be more realistic with sizing!
“To top it all I had my first child – a son, in May this year… so it had been more than memorable. We have the best souvenir of the year you could hope for!”
Congratulations – that is awesome news!
2014. What a year. There were many success and failures during my 2014. I somehow reached a mid-life crisis about being 28, most would say “oh but you are so young.”, and many people laughed at my complete break down. For me it was not being 28 that was the problem, it was looking at my life at 28 and not being happy with what I saw. I realized because of my poor habits at work I got little to no time with my lovely and talented 8 year old daughter, or my handsome and amazing husband. It was shocking! There were many places where my time was mis-managed and it was overall just sloppy. So being that my birthday is in the early part of 2014 I was able to really get down to brass tax and make some changes.
Personal and work lives have always bled together for me so I cant really separate the two, because let’s face it, we are who we are. While a job is a portion of your life, it should also reflect who you are as a person. It is the mundane moments of life that build character and faithfulness which in my mind makes them just as important as the exciting moments. So, with this in mind I over hauled allot of areas. I started eating healthy and exercising regularly (which I made scheduled appointments for in work etc so I would get reminders to get off my butt through the day as I work my desk job). This change yielded better energy and focus increasing my productivity two fold. I made sure my work tasks were more thoroughly scheduled and actually stuck to the schedule and streamlined tasks by using Work Etc. to its full potential, allowing me to devote more time to personal growth and market research. Because of the better growth I was put in charge of a group of people and I now have more responsibility. My boss also regularly makes comments on my growth in the past year. I have been fortunate enough to need to work only 3 late nights all year, as opposed to the 3 or 4 a week I was working before this change! I have more time with my family and overall I am much happier and less stressed at home and at work because I am working in advance of deadlines and not on top of them.
None of this would have been possible without having and USING Work Etc to help me manage my time. Its amazing, if you set a goal and stick to it you can achieve allot in one year, short as it may feel, it can set you on a new path and literally change your whole life, not just your work life!
Congrats on all the progress, Dan & WORKetc Team.
I’d say that the biggest achievement at TechHelp in 2014 occurred recently when the kludgy in-house program we’d been using for 12 years to manage projects (billing, time, expenses, compensation…) suddenly died. I mean, the server it lived on died and there was no bringing it back. This forced our business management team to fully jump onboard the WORKetc train we had been preparing for them. (I swear I had NOTHING to do with the death of that server)
I and the sales/marketing team had been using WORKetc for nearly a year. We had played with and tested other parts of the system but had not used them in “combat”. I held my breath as our Biz Management team made the migration and banged away on the WORKetc Project and Finance modules. It didn’t take the team long to learn that WORKetc was easy to use and that they t could easily customize WORKetc to meet their needs. They also learned to appreciate the fantastic WORKetc training & customer support.
We are not “there” yet but we are making progress every day. Today I learned that for the first time, we will use WORKetc to generate our quarterly business reports for our partners. As we increasingly make use of the full WORKetc system, we are generating questions for and requests of the WORKetc team that will help us make full use of the system.
2014 has been a good year for me and my family.
Even though my husband lost his job a couple years ago, he started his own business. This year his business has picked up and he also got hired for a full time job with the government.
I’ve very excited about this new endeavor.
I get to work from home with my job so it really lets me spend time with my 3 children.
I’ve learned to manage working a full time job and spending time with my children at the same time. The WORKetc app for the iPhone has really been great for being able to manage work when not right in front of my computer at home.
I’m excited about the new changes coming to WORKetc. I’m hoping 2015 will be as wonderful as this year has been.
Hello,
it was realy great year. Your article gave me a lot of new thoughts. But everything leads us to better tomorrow. We have to go forward and do not give up.!
Best regards,
Verslo Valdymo Sistemos
Hello,
it was realy great year. Your article gave me a lot of new thoughts. But everything leads us to better tomorrow. We have to go forward and do not give up.!
Best regards,
Verslo Valdymo Sistemos
Congratulations Daniel and the team – the screenshots look very promising and we’re excited about the next stage of WE and how it will help us grow.
2014 was a great year for us – we grew by about 20% and got to work on much larger and extensive projects than previously. In our world of 3D visualisation – getting consistent results is really important as well as being on top of a variety of projects with different deadlines, deliverables and number of stakeholders in each project – WE allows us great control over the whole lot and I’m excited about what the next UI can do for us – I think the Android app will also have a great impact as currently its only rarely used.
Well done Daneil and the WORKetc Team. You continue to go from strength to strength whilst remaining one of the most affordable products on the market.
2014 was a year of ups and downs for many Australian small businesses, but 2015 looks like returning to the way I like it…onwards & upwards!
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I am totally looking forward to seeing all the new improvements released and see how it all works for myself! Exciting times ahead!!
For me my achievement for 2014 is to finally change to a job that allows me time to work on my husbands business with him. Together we are stronger and together we can achieve anything!
Bring on 2015!!
I’m so looking forward to both the new mobile app and web CRM. The examples you show look clean and straightforward with a well-thought-out user interface. Function first, form second! By far the best option.
2015 is going to be a busy year for us at Essential Business and Work[etc] will be a key tool for us. Exciting times!
So great to take stock of the progress W[e] has made this year and a very exciting year ahead. Having a clean updated UI is really going to take the platform to the next level and every update we see goes to show that it’s going to be fantastic! These “State of the W[e]” updates always show how in touch with it’s users you guys are and I am very excited for your ongoing success.
I can’t wait for the upgraded mobile platforms…I love worketc and it’s continuing innovation!
I cant wait for this. I use the mobile app now but in the past it has been lacking some features that I use in the web version. I really appreciate the effort to keep improving this platform and makes me feel confident in our decision to keep investing in this product.
Looks promising! I can’t wait for the release of the new UI / Version. It seems like the team has done a great job at listening to concerns, ideas, & improvements from customers. Some of our users have found the mobile app a little restrictive, but I promise we are eagerly awaiting the new version. I have liked everything I have seen in the beta version.
I am really looking forward to seeing the new web and Android apps. My firm has been using Work[etc] for about 4 months, and we really like the functionality—I’m sure it will only get better with the upgrades.
I see that today is the date the Android app was projected to launch. I wonder if there is an update on the launch date for the Android app and when we might hear a projected launch date for the web app upgrades?
I am really looking forward to this. I spend most of my workday (or should that be WORK[day]?) with WORK[etc] open in some form of another and this will make it so much more pleasurable to do so. An improvement to the android app is especially nice, since the current app is sub-par.