The Construction Software Experience

The construction industry takes a grain of salt the pains of the current construction software options available. Options that lack the beauty, collaboration, and cost effectiveness to make a significant impact for GC’s, Engineers, Architects, Sub-Contractors, and Owners.

While studying Construction Management at BYU, I was exposed to a variety of industry leading software platforms. At the beginning of each course I was always excited to get my hands on the new construction software ranging from estimating, scheduling, project management, 3D modeling etc. Unfortunately, time and time again I was disappointed with each platform as the course progressed throughout the semester.

All these construction platforms were all suffering from the same problems:

1. Painful on the eyes. All the platforms used outdated fonts that were boring and bland. Fonts were archaic and little to no beauty. A let down to think you have to look at it for hours on end.

2. Bad features were always in the way of the few good features. Each platform seemed to have an endless array of features, but I was only using the same 3 to 5 features over and over again. All the features I never used always seemed to get in the way of the ones I wanted to use. It was a pain to navigate around these rarely used features to get to the ones I wanted.

3. Complicated and not Intuitive. None of the platforms seemed to be intuitive in their logic. It felt like I had to fight the way I intuitively thought to fit myself into the software logic. The UI/UX or the lack thereof was painful.

My excitement of experiencing and learning each platform was quickly replaced with a strategy of just getting through assignments as quickly as possible to minimize the pain of using the software platforms.

“I saw some of the more practical issues the software platforms addressed which was good. However, the professionals were still suffering from my college pains with the software but took them with a grain of salt because the platforms were better than the out of control spreadsheets and archaic pen and pencil approach.”

After graduation I took a job with CW Driver, a company I felt was on the cutting edge of construction technology. They were on the cutting edge not only because they infused technology into every aspect of their operations, but more importantly, they were thinking outside the box in every aspect of their operations. They used some of the software I had suffered through in school, others that seemed promising, and a unique company culture that encourages innovation from everyone in the company.

While at CW Driver I got to see how the software platforms were being implemented in the real world. A real world experience beyond may painful experiences in college. I saw some of the more practical issues the software platforms addressed which was good. However, the professionals were still suffering from my college pains with the software but took them with a grain of salt because the platforms were better than the out of control spreadsheets and archaic pen and pencil approach.

The construction industry is still very young in the software and platform arena. The current efforts fall short in providing a complete experience for users on all sides of a construction project. This provides a unique opportunity to make a platform that can change the overall user experience and elevate the level collaboration throughout the entire industry.

In the meantime I observed 3 construction technology implementation pitfalls that CW Driver, its Subcontractors, Engineers, Architects, and the Owners could not address through the various technology platforms in use:

1. Every department had their preferred technology platform. Some of the platforms performed well in a very specific and specialized aspect in the life cycle of the project. The accountants had their preferred accounting platform, schedulers had their specialized scheduling platform, Project Management had a PM platform etc. It was impossible to find a consensus on a single platform that satisfied each group.

2. The flow of information was hindered greatly. The information and data from the various platforms were difficult to disseminate throughout the entire organization, as the data was stored within each platform. This lead to lengthy email chains with attachments of exported files from each platform. This pain leads to an attempt to implement online cloud storage services (Box, Dropbox etc) to make files accessible. However, these virtual drives became a nightmare to navigate. There were endless folders and files everywhere, making the tracking and finding a specific file for a specific activity impossible at times.

3. Collaboration with outside team members difficult. It was difficult to extend the benefits of the different platforms to subcontractors who many times were very hesitant to adopt the technology. They hesitated because of the cost, not only for a subscription to the software but to train their employees. This extended the internal information challenge of sharing information to subcontractors as well.

I took a hiatus from the construction industry and entered the technology start-up world. Where I was able to learn and experience what it takes to build a software platform that can bring value to its users…….in many ways being away from construction I forgot about the state of construction software.

“My goal is to create a platform that is beautiful, focuses on a core set of features, intuitive, facilitate flow of information within an organization & its partners, mobile, and be affordable for small and large firms alike.”

I returned to the construction field and I was quickly reacquainted with the lessons I learned from college and at CW Driver. The difference is now, I was in a position where I could take a shot to improve the Construction Software experience. For the last 6 months, I have been developing the concepts, web application, and mobile application (Android/iOS).

My goal is to create a platform that is beautiful, focuses on a core set of features, intuitive, facilitate the flow of information within an organization & its partners, mobile, and be affordable for small and large firms alike.

THE CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE