In ACC there are three features that currently operate relatively independently, but actually need to be connected.
Locations
Defined in the project admin, locations are referenced in other features such as Issues, etc.
Locations also have a QR Code so they can be quickly recalled onsite using the mobile app QR Code scanning.
But locations, being predominantly an admin setting, cannot be directly accessed by other members, and therefore remains rather unintelligent and underutilised.
Photos
The Photo library is a great resource where photos can be referenced to a Location.
But when a photo is assigned a location, it is not added as a reference in the admin Locations.
From a workflow perspective, site users are unlikely to capture photos and then later assign all the locations. This is a two-step workflow that should be avoided.
Progress Tracking
The newer progress tracking functionality (in Assets) can be used to create a 'Locations' category, against which location assets can be created. This is great for attaching references like progress photos.
But no-one will want to duplicate, and then manage all the duplicate admin Locations over in the Assets list.
The Idea
We can see from the above that there are numerous features to help track 'Location' progress, but they don't work together to form a complete workflow.
I have two requests:
- Expose the admin Locations to the member-facing UI, so that members can access all references that are attached to Locations. e.g. I want to find all information pertaining to an office.
- Expose the admin Locations to the Assets module, so that all the asset Settings can be applied. This will allow a Location to be progress tracked.
With the above two requests, a user can:
- Walk into a building location, and using the mobile app scan a QR Code to access the location's data.
- Raise new issues for that location, or view existing issues. Likewise for other references like forms, etc.
- And for the Location itself, track its progress using a Status Set, and capture photos. The location becomes attached to a photo for filtering in the Photo library.
I would even argue that when viewing each Location, it should have its own mini Photo Library, so that the user can find all referenced photos on the asset without having to change over to the Photo Library.
I'm not a huge fan of using the Assets module for seudo-location management. Hence, having a dedicated tab on the UI for Locations makes more sense.
Why this Idea?
Due to the manual and laborious nature of the Progress Tracking feature of adding asset markups to sheets, it is highly unlikely this feature will be used. But the location's Status and Photos still need to be tracked.
By adding the above two features, other than defining Locations, there is no other setup that needs to be done to get a decent level of functionality.
