Hatch Cover Operations Tracker
A two-role operations tracker where the logging screen is deliberately almost empty.
No public link — internal system. Screenshots below.
- Role
- Designer & developer
- Type
- Client work, in real multi-user use
- Stack
- PHP, MySQL, JavaScript
- Status
- Live internally — no public link
The problem
Logging a physical operation as it happens only works if the logging itself takes seconds — anything more and people stop logging, and the data that supervisors need to see in real time never arrives.
The approach
Operators get one phone-first screen: pick the active vessel, two large counters for loaded and discharged, one save action. Shift (morning/afternoon/night) is auto-detected rather than asked for. Supervisors get the opposite view — a live, auto-refreshing feed grouped by vessel, an overview dashboard, a full vessel and operator register, and statistics filterable by date, operator and vessel.
Key decisions
The logging screen is deliberately almost empty
Vessel, two counters, save — three taps. Statistics, rank and calendar all sit behind it. A tool used mid-shift, often with gloves on, gets one screen, and that screen does one thing.
Ranking turned data entry into something people want to do
Operators see their personal rank against everyone else logging; supervisors see a daily top-performer board. The hardest part of any logging system is getting people to log — this made logging itself the game.
Screenshots
Outcome
Roughly 1,800 operations logged across around 200 vessels by around 40 operators within about two months of release — adoption, not just delivery.