Premise Time Tracker was born out of necessity. As a freelancer I have used many applications to track my time on various projects. Almost every one who employs freelancers, or works in an agency environment, wants you to track your time. And they need you to do it consistently and accurately because it has a direct impact on the budget. This is why it amazed me to see how non-user friendly time tracking apps out there can be.
Let’s start off with the fact that a lot of “time tracking” apps out there don’t actually track time. They merely let you log your day in a little table with fields for each day of the week; It’s a joke.
When I hear “time tracking app” I think of a timer that I can start and stop to track how long it took me to work on something. This way I can focus on the actual work I’m doing. So, with no better solution out there I decided to build my own time tracking app. One that would allow me to track time with no interruptions and easily share my time with employers.
The concept
The idea here is to build an app with the following characteristics:
Non-Obtrusive
The user should not have to stop what they are doing, completely change gears and then come back to their work. For programmers this is a huge waste of time.
Convenient
I should be able to track my time in a convenient way. If I have to go out of my way to track my time then I won’t do it consistently.
User friendly
Obvious but worth mentioning. A non-user friendly interface will guarantee that users won’t come back. It is important to keep this in mind when making any decision on the interface.
Basic Functionality
As mentioned, the app should be able to track time the way a timer does. I should also be able to link timers to projects or clients for billing purpose.
Looking at the characteristics above I immediately think this should be a multi-platform application – The app should be available via multiple platforms such as a web app, chrome extension and iOS and android app.
The Web App
The web app will make it easy for users and administrators to get a more spacious interface. Maybe we can handle more options in the web app sine we have more real estate. Or maybe it is just another way to access the app. Either way, convenience is important for us so let’s make sure we offer a web app as well.
The Chrome Extension
A chrome extension is the easiest most non-obtrusive way I can think of for designers and developers to track their time without interruption to their workflow. The icon on your browser’s bar opens the app in a small window. The app’s interface is simple; a timer button that lets you start, stop and save new timers.
The iOS and Android App
For the users that are not constantly in front of a computer the most convenient way to track their time is probably their phones. Most of us usually have our phones with us. So if we can offer an iOS and android app we would make it convenient for a lot more people than just designers and developers.
