Reinventing project management software for transformation and change programs
Principia Mentis GmbH
I worked at an established startup leading the design and development of the companies next generation product, ChangeMaker. As of 2022 we had migrated a majority of existing customers to the new version and it was in daily use at multiple global companies for transformation projects.
concept image only - images not available due to patents.
Darren is a uniquely talented individual, whose skills range from aesthetic and product led business sense when designing new functionality through to an engineering focus on performance, optimization and calculated architectural decisions.
Alexander Ploghaus, Managing Director
case study highlights
As lead designer I simplified and reimagined core concepts in the application, I introduced tools such as Figma and Sketch to the company, as well as methodologies such as rapid prototyping that I used in in-person interviews and interactions with partners and users.
Overhauled the UI and application behaviour in several key areas, unlocking new opportunities and functionality unachievable on the previous design and architecture.
Built up the team from 5 to 12 people and introduced a new tech stack and methodologies such as component based development.
Migrated customers to the new product together with the Sales team and Management, overcoming technical migration issues and feature mis-parity in our initial offering.
Migrated to a cloud based model of software deployment and delivery, freeing up capacity in the team and introduced automated e2e testing and QA roles into the release process.
Primative card concepts and workflow transition ideation.
deep dive
task workflows in hierarchies
At the core of ChangeMaker is a recursive datamodel, powering a flexible and customizable rights and reporting datascructure. This system was further expanded with advanced reporting and aggregation functionalities:
- Support for iterative work items such as sprints or phase based projects.
- At different levels of a project structure, custom roles could be assigned. This allowed permissions to propagate up and down the structure automatically.
- Custom completion logic for subcomponents of a node, allowing "completion on all sub-items completing"
- Propagation of task metrics and KPI data up and down the tree.
- Powerful reporting views including Kanban, Table and Graphic allowing a holistic view of projects for consultants and stakeholders.