BeeTack
PLAN A’s Internal Shift Tracking System
For over two years, PLAN A relied on an external web-based shift tracking platform. However, as the company scaled, costs increased significantly. The system required additional maintenance efforts, had frequent technical errors, and lacked flexibility for customisation. Exporting reports became cumbersome, and employees often forgot to log official holidays, sick leaves, and days off, leading to inaccurate reports for clients. A tailored internal solution became necessary to address these challenges.
Users & System Requirements
The primary users of the system included:
- Employees – to log daily shifts.
- Project/Team Managers – to oversee project-specific tracking.
- C-Level Executives – to ensure high-level visibility and strategic decision-making.
Key Goals & Functional Requirements:
- Enable employees to log shifts daily.
- Provide automated report exports on a monthly basis.
- Assign employees to specific projects and clients.
- Support role-based access (employee,manager,suepr admin).
- Integrate with BambooHR for seamless leave tracking.
- Display project readiness states for client reporting.
- Highlight upcoming events such as official holidays and anniversaries.
Design Approach
When PLAN A decided to build an internal shift tracking system, our goal wasn’t just to replicate the old tool—it was to design a solution tailored to real people, real workflows, and real challenges inside the company.
We started by mapping the needs of three core user groups:
- Employees – needing a fast, hassle-free way to log their shifts.
- Managers – requiring oversight of hours at the project level.
- Executives – needing clear, high-level reports to support decision-making.
From the start, we knew that simplicity and familiarity were key. Our users didn’t need a learning curve; they needed a system that felt like second nature.
We focused on
- Prioritising frequent actions: Everyday tasks were made accessible in just one or two clicks.
- Mirroring organisational processes: The system was designed around existing workflows, not forcing users to adapt to new ones.
- Using familiar patterns: By leveraging common interface conventions, employees could start using the system immediately, with no formal training required.
To support long-term growth, we created a custom design system, building on Ant Design and extending it with tailored components. Inspired by the Theory of the Organism, this system was structured to scale organically as PLAN A expands, ensuring new features could be integrated without disrupting the existing experience.
The design was developed in Figma, guided by insights from user interviews and best practices in enterprise UX. Every screen, interaction, and component was validated against one simple question: “Will this make users’ work easier?”
Development & Technology Stack
Tech Stack
Frontend: React, Ant Design
Backend: .NET
Database: SQL-based solution
Integrations: BambooHR & Microsoft Teams
Development Timeline
The system was designed, developed, and deployed within four months.
Development challenges & solutions
A key challenge in Beetack’s development was managing employees with multiple project assignments, each with distinct engagement types and varying engagement hours. These variations directly impacted real-time overview calculations, making data aggregation complex and performance-intensive.
To address this, we optimised our approach by leveraging projections in Entity Framework (EF) to fetch only the necessary data, reducing query load and improving efficiency. We also integrated MediatR to decouple business logic, ensuring clean and maintainable query execution. Additionally, GraphQL allowed us to structure queries dynamically, retrieving only the required engagement data and preventing over-fetching.
By combining these strategies, we streamlined our real-time calculations while maintaining a responsive and efficient user experience, ensuring that engagement metrics remained accurate and up-to-date.
Key Features & Benefits
Automated Tracking
The system auto-fills official holidays, sick leaves, and days off via BambooHR integration.
Role-Based Access
- Employee: log shifts, view personal log history.
- Project Admin: oversee colleagues assigned to this project.
- Client Admin: manage and oversee clients with projects associated with it.
- Super Admin: full access across all projects and reports.
Project Readiness State
Projects have a status tracker to ensure they are properly prepared for client reporting.
Optimised Reporting
- Reports provide instant insights on overtime, leaves, and overall project hours.
- Clients can see key workforce metrics at a glance.
- Upcoming events like official holidays and anniversaries are highlighted.
Implementation & Results
To ensure a smooth transition, employees tracked their shifts in both the old and new systems for the first month. No formal onboarding was required for employees, as the interface followed common patterns, making it intuitive. Managers and C-level executives received a short onboarding session to familiarise themselves with reporting features.
Key Outcomes
| 100% cost reduction |
| 92% fewer inaccuracies |
| 100% better visibility |
| Happier clients |
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