ThinkApps

Plato – The next stage of teamwork, powered by AI

The AI-powered project management tool that helps your team collaborate seamlessly, optimize workflows, and automate task assignments. Experience the future of dynamic and agile teamwork with Plato, available anytime, anywhere.

Plato

We worked on designing and developing a next-generation project management tool used by more than 1000 technologists around the world.

About the client

ThinkApps is an agency for designing and building apps for web, mobile, and wearables. Based out of San Francisco, ThinkApps collaborates with top Silicon Valley startups and innovative enterprise companies for cutting-edge technologies. They are a network of 1000+ top designers and technologists in 25+ countries across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

700+

apps integrated with Plato

1000

technologists around the world

25

countries where ThinkApps has its contributors

About the project

The project’s goal was to create an advanced project management tool powered by AI. Plato can be used across the entire company for real-time collaboration on projects, tasks, and discussions, bringing everyone on the same page with the project status. It is built for dynamic and agile teams, whether they work in the same room or are globally distributed.

The technology uses AI to assist with smart project management. Plato learns your workflow and suggests when it is time to move a task to the next stage. It also tracks the entire team’s collaboration to suggest the most suitable person for each task at the task’s creation and as it goes through stages.

Branding story

Our team was entrusted with building the entire brand for the project. We found inspiration for the name in Greek philosophy — Plato, named after the Greek philosopher Plato. He introduced the five classical elements and the particles that hold them in tension and compression. Earth, fire, water, air, and ether are described as being composed of five elemental solids: the cube, the octahedron, the tetrahedron, the icosahedron, and the dodecahedron. This association was done by Plato’s Academy and the later work of Euclid.

From this came the idea for the logo — elements progressively morphing from one into another. The 5th element, ether, provides cohesion to the entire system of elements, just like Plato connects all stakeholders, from designers to clients, into one system.

UX/UI challenges

The environment was very complex, with many different variables affecting the UX design. Since the use of AI was in question, there was a need to develop a design framework that would remain consistent with AI’s frequent changes and would not break when the AI made a suggestion that hadn’t been seen before. The project was developed using an agile approach with numerous changes along the way.

The challenge for the UI was to manage the vast amount of information while keeping the system as simple as possible without sacrificing any functionality.

We also had to analyze competitors and map out all the features of the solution to achieve a better market position.

Creating interest and buzz

Our Business Analyst, in collaboration with the client’s team, developed features that made Plato a unique and revolutionary project management tool at the time.

Project organization

Organize work into projects, whether ongoing projects or short-term projects with their subteams.

Discussions

Real-time discussions around any task.

Tasks

Divide and solve them with your colleagues or keep track of your own. Know who is doing what and when.

Files

Easily add files to your projects or specific tasks and discussions. Preview images and documents instantly right inside Plato.

Workflow

Design your own workflow stages.

Teams

All your team members can join your Plato organization. Then subgroups can collaborate on specific projects.

Admins and Guests

Manage access using Admin and Guest roles at the organization level and within each project. Flexibly and securely.

Emails

Receive smart email notifications of activities when you are away or on the move. Designed to avoid clutter.

Smart notifications

Receive instant notifications of changes others make that interest you. Plato shows you only what’s relevant.

Security

Your data is secured by features such as encrypted HTTPS connections, password strength requirements, and granular authorization mechanisms.

Real-time

Enjoy a modern, real-time experience with live updates flowing to you without the need for clunky refreshes and such.

Integrations

Integrate your work here with Dropbox, Slack, Gmail, and more than 700 other apps through easy Zapier integration.

Project outcome

At the end of this project, ThinkApps had the most advanced project management tool on the market. However, since they have a network of over 1000 designers and technologists around the world, they decided to use it internally and gain an edge in project management. Plato is a multi-team and multi-tenant tool powered by AI. Moreover, it surfaces related information relevant to the immediate task at hand, eliminating the need to research how similar cases were handled earlier.

Duration of the project

From 2014 until 2017.

Tech stack: Node.js, Angular, Adobe Photoshop, InVision, 3D Studio Max, Custom WordPress 

Team size: 6 people

Team structure: 2 Senior UX/UI Designers, 1 Senior Frontend Developer, 1 Senior Backend Developer, 1 Senior Business Analyst, 1 3D Modeling and Animation Specialist

Services utilized

UX and UI design

  • information architecture
  • prototyping
  • UX and UI engineering
  • user personas
  • interaction design
  • 3D modeling
  • animations

Branding

  • name
  • logo
  • colors
  • brand voice

Web development

  • frontend development
  • backend development
  • accessibility
  • user research
  • testing

Website strategy

  • client workshop
  • research
  • platform architecture

Quality assurance

  • performance testing
  • functionality testing

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