UI/UX case study
JioWorks
Designing the team and project space for a work management tool
One of my first big projects. About 2 years into my career
01Overview
What is JioWorks?
A work management tool. It replaces scattered spreadsheets and chat threads with one shared view of who is doing what.
02Problem
Excel worked for one person. It broke for a team.
Hard to break work into tasks and subtasks.
Updates on chat and email got missed.
Deadlines slipped. Ownership was unclear.
Many projects meant many files.
We needed one tool for tasks, teamwork and communication, with a clear structure for teams and projects.
03Goals
What we wanted
Clarity
Everyone sees what the team is working on and when it will be done.
Collaboration
Create, connect and work together in a few clicks.
Communication
Updates stay visible across the team in real time.
04Research
Talking to teams
We spoke with Marketing, Sales, Procurement, Development, Operations and HR to understand how people work together today.
Challenges
What is hard about managing projects with your current tools?
Work process
How do you track tasks and deadlines? Where does it slow you down?
Teamwork
How do you share updates and feedback? Where does it break?
People did not want to leave Excel. They wanted Excel that works for a team.
Who we designed for
Looking at other tools
I studied Monday.com, Asana, ClickUp and Jira. How they organise work, what they offer and what users complain about.
05Structure
Setting up the structure first
Before designing screens we fixed the hierarchy. We matched it to how the company is already organised, so it feels natural.
User flow
I made this with the PM and reviewed it with stakeholders.
06Design
The screens
I worked through the product one problem at a time.
6.1Navigation panel
People handled many projects at once, each in its own spreadsheet. Switching took time.
One side panel with every team and project. Switch in one click. Create teams and projects from the same place.
6.2Inviting people
There was no way to add people to a project. Work got split across tools.
An invite flow with three roles, based on how involved each person is.
Member
Full access. Edits and manages tasks.
Executive
Updates own task status and talks on own tasks.
Viewer
Can only see the project. No editing.
6.3The task table
Users were used to Excel's table. But Excel has no real collaboration.
Made the table the default view. Same Excel feel, plus task groups, tasks and subtasks. Status, Task owner and Timeline come ready.
6.4Custom columns
Every team tracks different things. Three fixed columns were not enough.
An "Add column" button at the top of the table so teams shape it to their project.
6.5Talking inside a task
People discussed tasks on other platforms. Information got scattered and decisions were hard to find later.
A chat inside every task. Share files and mention teammates, so the conversation stays with the work.
6.6Filters
In busy projects it was hard to see who is doing what, or find one task among many.
A person filter to see one member's tasks. An advanced filter to combine task group, status, owner and other columns.
07Impact
Teams finished more work on time.
Measured by [who measured it, how and over what period].
08Learnings
What this project taught me
Every project brings its own problems. This one showed me how much design depends on the team around you. Sharing ideas early and taking feedback made the screens better than what I would have made alone.
People switch tools when the new one feels familiar, not when it has more features.
If I did it again, I would write down what we found in research, not just what we asked. And I would think earlier about what breaks, like a task owner leaving the team.