I have been freelancing for a couple of years, so I understand the importance of staying focused, productive, and aware of your workload. Over the years, I’ve tried several time-tracking apps to help manage my work hours, but none of them fully met my needs. This frustration led me to create Perfmate—an app that tracks and visualizes your work hours and earnings on a daily and monthly basis.
The Problems With Existing Options
In my previous job, my company used a time-tracking app to manage work hours for employees and partners. While functional and featuring a relatively clean interface, the app had several shortcomings that impacted usability and flexibility:
Poor Layout Design
The layout on the top page forced users to jump back and forth between sections just to read information or perform simple actions.
Confusing Information Hierarchy
Important details—like whether the user is currently working, on a break, or has returned from a break—were missing or illegible. Meanwhile, less relevant information dominated the screen visually.
Button Overload and Mis-Clicks
The app featured too many active buttons crowded into the same area. Despite the use of different colors, there was little visual distinction between them, leading to frequent mis-clicks.
Lack of Wage-Management Support
For freelancers, wage tracking is crucial, yet the app didn’t offer features to calculate or display earnings.
Limited Productivity Features
The app provided basic time tracking and included a chart showing daily work hours, but the chart was neither convenient nor particularly useful for enhancing productivity.
Insufficient Flexibility
Freelancers often need flexibility to edit records, customize settings, or manually add missing logs. These capabilities were missing entirely.
The Goals
With Perfmate, I aim to build a time-tracking app that truly meets the needs of freelancers. The app will focus on the following goals:
- Clean and organized layout: Ensure the interface is intuitive and easy to scan.
- Refined information hierarchy: Prioritize important details so they are clear and accessible.
- Wage management: Include features to track and display earnings over time.
- Enriched productivity tools: Offer functionality that supports focus and efficiency.
- Flexibility and personalization: Allow users to manage records, add or edit entries, and customize settings.
What Is Next
In this first part of the series, I shared the context behind the project, the problems I've encountered with existing time-tracking apps, and the goals I've set for Perfmate.
This is just the beginning. In upcoming posts, I'll walk you through my design decisions, the development process, and eventually, the completed application.