Home Office Tracker is a conceptual self-initiated project in collaboration with software developer.
What's the problem?
New Australian tax laws require precise records for home office deductions, yet most corporate workers find manual spreadsheets tedious and easy to forget. Existing tracking apps are often bloated with unnecessary features like shift scheduling or geolocation, which don't serve professionals with stable hours. This leads to panic at the end of financial year, where users spend hours guessing their work time to claim deductions.
How might we minimise morning frustration to one simple click?
Efficient onboarding leads to the shortest user flow.
By leveraging a detailed onboarding to set user defaults, the core experience is reduced to a single notification with a one question daily. This minimalistic flow eliminates the friction of manual entry, ensuring consistent habits and accurate data without morning fatigue.
Notifications designed to match user's work schedule.
The system uses "quiet-mode" logic to suppress notifications on weekends and non-working days, respecting the user’s work-life balance. By providing access via smartphone and smartwatch, we meet the user where they are, allowing for instant logging without the need to engage with a phone screen.
To bridge the gap between tracking and filing, the app generates a structured PDF summary formatted for ATO compliance. This transforms a year’s worth of logs into a shareable asset for accountants, removing the need for manual calculations.
