Workmate
Turning your inbox into an auto-updating task list
My Role
Product Designer
Team
Gabriel Valdivia
Daniel Chung
Will Ruben
Timeline
June - September (4 months)
Tools
Figma
Overview
Workmate is a chrome extension built to give you an executive AI assistant who helps you fly through your emails and reclaim headspace to focus on what matters most.
Background
I started working on Workmate during the initial stages of the product when many of the core features were loosely defined or not defined at all. I took ownership of the product's early development, designing key components that played a critical role in shaping the product's direction and successfully bringing it to market. This was an opportunity to define the early parts of the product while navigating ambiguity.
Process
When it came to the visual aspects of designing the different parts of the product, the approach I used revolved around a willingness to constantly iterate and working collaboratively to continuously improve. Early iterations were more about getting ideas out and with feedback and proper analysis we could make adjustments. The process for designing the different building blocks was cyclical and every aspect of building the product went through several rounds of iteration.
When it comes to building very early stage products, especially ones that are very loosely defined, sometimes the direction of the product would change instantly and the process would begin again. Circling back to the approach I introduced earlier, having a willingness to constantly iterate, send out updates, and being able to move quickly was pivotal.
Adding your favorite places to your preferences
Workmate will consider your favorite places when scheduling in person meetings. The amount of available saved locations was designed to be limited for only 2 locations to help prevent it being from becoming unwieldy. That meant no more having to manually pick a frequently visited location when scheduling a meeting, while creating some flexibility regarding options.
Uninstalling the extension
The first step towards designing the uninstall flow from the ground up was accounting for accidental uninstalls. If the user uninstalled the extension by accident, they no longer have to tab back to the chrome store to reinstall the extension again. Feedback options were also designed for quick glances, while allowing users to go into more detail.
Empty states
Action items are shown in the sidebar and the different sections within this container only appear if they have content available. For the visual aspect of the design, I used one of the Workmate characters that was in a jumping pose.
Chrome store assets
While working on designing the product, I was also tasked to design the visual assets for the Google chrome extension store.
Polish
The biggest impact of this project was being able to influence and define the early parts of the product. After several rounds of iterations and working collaboratively as a team we were able to get the product to a concrete place.
The work I did were building blocks for the larger product and by tackling smaller, undefined tasks and turning them into concrete, actionable elements, I laid the foundation for the product’s growth. Every iteration brought more clarity and structure, ultimately driving us toward the larger goal.
Takeaways from the process
Going wide and pushing for visual interest
Throughout the process of building the product, it was apparent how critical it was to explore all of our options and trying to make even the most simple things more appealing. Even if we ended up on a direction or solution that was more simple, the willingness to keep iterating and thinking big would lead us to the best possible outcome.
Moving fast without compromising quality
Not putting so much weight on ensuring that the initial work is perfect, but being able to quickly send out updates, receive feedback, and make adjustments in order to make meaningful progress. We still care about quality and craft, but there should be balance and a genuine effort to strive towards working efficiently.