Category Archives: Projects

Feeds, Mobile App, Profile, Projects, Tasks, Uncategorized

Untie the knots

https://www.tiktok.com/@grainchek/video/7077524856518085931?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7061918611515098629

In this systematic approach to drawing two interlocking chain links I start with a rectangle as the base shape. Pretty simple. All the action starts with the first line off of the base shape. I give these lines the value of c (clockwise) or cc (counter clockwise). I found that if half of the lines are c and the other half are cc, then when I have completed the systematic drawing of the chain links, the two chain links are not interlocked. Then I start with a base shape that has an odd number of sides: a triangle. When all the lines are c, the result is a knot. When half (rounded to the nearest whole number) are c and the remaining are cc the knot is untied… I don’t really understand how this happens or why but I can observe different patterns with varying base shapes and varying ratios of c to cc.

At Grainchek we are working hard to untie the knot of time tracking. What are the variables that affect a user’s interest in tracking time? Why do I track time inaccurately? If we adjust the parameters within Grainchek’s time tracking system what is the outcome? It’s different than observing odd and even polygons become links and knots but some of the mystery is similar!

Feeds, Friends, Help, Mobile App, Projects, Tasks

Who are “We”

My name is Peter Brosey. I’m a carpenter in Maine. When it comes to developing Grainchek, I basically try to stay out of the way. In spite of trying NOT to get in the way though, Grainchek has ended up being a little awkward to operate. I can assure you that all the awkward, “why did they do it that way”, parts of Grainchek are my parts! I teamed up with an excellent team at Bacancy Technologies that built all the amazingly smooth experiences.

NO COMMENTING OR LIKING: that is me, I enjoy the quietness of knowing that when I post an event, my friends, family and co-workers can view it if they want to, when they want to. No voting. No commenting. The amazing chat interface in Grainchek that includes sharing feeds and events within the chat thread is my team. They built a fantastic communication platform within the app!

SUBFEED SETTINGS COLLECT EVENTS: this is from me again. I enjoy building and assembling. I enjoy the process of taking a pile of lumber delivered to a job site and building something that people will occupy, use or operate. In Grainchek I have lots of levers and buttons to generate time tracking content. Then build feeds that report to other feeds and collect only certain types of content from a specific time period… Public feeds that can be viewed in your bio: this is the careful, considerate work of my team.

NEW TASKS NOT SHARED: this is also my design. When I add a new task to a project it is, by default, not included in any of the existing feeds. If I want to include it in a feed, I go to that feed and check the box. I recognize that this seems cumbersome and awkward when we are accustomed to sharing everything and need to specifically request the do-not-share option. The answer is to include a general feed in every project. The general feed includes all time frames and tasks, even new tasks: My team did a great job putting this together and fitting it into the different scenarios where feeds are handled in the app.

It seems likely that over time these strategies that were important at the beginning may change as Grainchek grows and shapes to fit the needs we’re working to satisfy. For now though, in addition to the fantastic work that Bacancy has done, Grainchek has some unique quirks based on my perspective!

Feeds, Help, Mobile App, Projects

Offline Work

I will be working on a remote job site in northern Maine and can now track my time in Grainchek even when I don’t have internet access.

In the past few days we completed the offline module so that critical components of Grainchek like posting time tracking events and viewing those events in a feed, can be done even when we don’t have internet access. Part of the experience that I want to provide through Grainchek is the ability to share events with others. When I am on a job site I can share every event posted about that project with the manager of the work, or the home owner. In order to accomplish this each event post is stored on a database that Grainchek accesses using an internet connection. For me it is still amazing to see an event that someone else posts pop up on the feed I built to collect their events! Now, with the offline module, even when we don’t have internet access, Grainchek will store the events we generate until we do have access. Then Grainchek will access the database and update it with everything that has happened.