Can a project manager keep an eye on a huge project, like construction and building work, using a mobile app that is only 1.5MB? Is there a way to avoid excessive use of Numbers or MS Excel spreadsheets to control the small aspects of project scope, HR or procurement? Can everything be done on the go, in an easy and colorful way? The recent application created by MobiDev for Angermeier & Partner is called Prommpt – Project Management Planning and Monitoring Tool – and it could be the answer to all these questions.
What is prompt?
Prompt is not about task management or project collaboration. It is more of a personal tool for project managers that helps them evaluate the plan and monitor the health of the project. This means that you assess the dimensions and aspects of a project yourself, then you can see where the weak points are. You can re-evaluate them over time, track changes, and look for improvements.
Who is Prompt for?
Essentially, this app is not for every project manager; it is also not designed for every project. A smaller project, like building your average app, doesn’t involve all the things mentioned in the app, you just won’t have to plan as much. But something like the aforementioned building construction will do. The actual sphere of industry does not matter here.
Thus, larger project managers will not have to make extensive ‘traditional’ spreadsheets with diagrams. Prompt provides an opportunity to track analytics Apple-style, for example, by sitting in a cafe and doing a daily check. The author and owner of Prommpt is a professional project manager, and who could know better what the application should look like?
What’s inside?
Prompt distinguishes the main aspects of your project: scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, procurement, project management and general issues. All of these are broken down into more detailed parts with descriptions, which are evaluated separately to form the full picture. You can also set reminders about rewriting and reassessing the plan. Prommpt allows you to create and track multiple projects and provides you with a sample project to familiarize yourself with the application, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.
The app was built specifically for iPad as the undisputed dominant mobile device in the target environment. Currently the version of the app is 1.0 and it is open for further modifications and improvements. The design is made in accordance with the ‘flat’ philosophy of iOS 7, and its main appeal lies in the beautifully animated simplicity. You read the description of a skin and evaluate the percentage of health: the results are instantly displayed. That’s all.
In short, it is a free tool that can perfectly attract those who need it. Being quite predictable and simple in development, Prommpt took only two months. Although the app has a personal touch with no interactions with other people working on the project, there is an opportunity to create a web integration and expand its functionality for multiple users. This app could also become a good start for a mobile project management toolkit.