From Finger Paint to Shift Plans
Planning a full month of shifts for 20+ caregivers means juggling eligibilities, absences, quota limits, and custom shift needs – all by hand. Most managers still rely on spreadsheets or pen and paper: familiar, but slow, error-prone, and nearly impossible to keep updated.
Our challenge: Design a tablet-first tool that’s not just faster – it feels intuitive enough that managers happily leave behind their analog roots.
Project Overview
- Product: Shift planning module for ambulant care managers
- Platform: Tablet (touch-first)
- Role: Product Designer
- Team: 1 PM, 2 Designers, 4 Engineers, 1 QA
- Timeline: 4 months (concept → MVP)
- Goal: Replace manual shift planning with a fast, intuitive, scalable tool
The Problem
- Managers in German ambulatory care must build monthly shift plans for large teams, respecting availability, absences, legal hour limits, and shift variations. Existing tools (spreadsheets/paper) were too slow and error-prone to keep up.
Key Challenges
Touch-Ready Design
Tablets demand large tap targets, intuitive gestures, and responsive layouts – not just shrunken desktop UIs.
Massive Data Scale
With over 600 interactive cells per schedule, the UI needed to prioritize clarity and ease-of-use – even with everything visible.
Hidden Complexity
The system has to handle planned absences, availability, hour limits, and custom shift types – without overwhelming users.
Habit Shift
- We weren't just introducing a new feature – we were asking users to break habits. Fast adoption meant the tool needed to feel immediately natural.
The Big Idea: “Paint” Your Shift Plan
We turned to kids’ drawing apps for inspiration – what if scheduling was as easy as coloring?
Key Solution Components:
- • Weekly View Only
- Focus on one week at a time to keep cells touch-friendly and reduce visual clutter.
- • Color-Coded Shift Types
- Instantly scan your schedule at a glance.
- • Modes That Mirror Thought Process
- Select between Add, Replace, Combine, or Remove, just like planning on paper, but faster.
- • Smart UI, Hidden Logic
- Under the surface, the tool ensures absences, quotas, and rules are respected, without adding complexity.
bärcare by KPS Software GmbH
Results in Brief
40–60% Faster Planning
Managers slashed planning time and were delighted by how it simplified their workflow.
Easy Adoption
Even analog-preferring users embraced the tool without frustration or extended training.
Built for Growth
The foundation is set for future enhancements, such as templates, auto-scheduling, reporting, and more.
Built-In Learnings
Touch is not a smaller screen, it’s a new interface.
Rethink interactions, don’t just scale down.
Real-world workflows demand flexibility.
Edge cases are everyday realities in enterprise products.
Inspiration strikes in unexpected moments.
A coloring app sparked a clarifying, elegant UX.
Adoption is emotional, not just functional.
You don’t just change tools, you need to build trust in change.