WeWork is rolling out a relaunch of its member app, which is designed to be a connected, consciously engineered platform that makes people happier and more productive at work. In updates over the course of several months, the app will be available on iOS and Android.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members use the app for reserving desks, booking conference rooms, and registering guests. A team of engineers, designers, and researchers has been working for about a year on the project, which rethinks just about every aspect of the existing system. It had not seen a complete overhaul in more than three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a way, that gave us a lot of freedom,\u201d says Andy Palmer, WeWork\u2019s vice president of digital product. \u201cWe could think about everything about the app holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before they could begin, the team had to figure out the scope of the project. Should they update the existing app or start from scratch? Preserve the current design or come up with something completely new? And what features could they add to make it even more valuable to users?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Palmer says the first step was figuring out what members are looking for from the app. When the app was originally developed, the goal was to create a social network for WeWork, but research showed that it wasn\u2019t what members felt they needed most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt turns out that people didn\u2019t want just another social network,\u201d says Palmer. \u201cWhat they were really looking for was a way of solving work-related problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To figure out exactly what these problems were, Palmer and his team interviewed hundreds of members and used machine-learning to examine more than 100,000 posts on the app. Among the findings were that members wanted to know about events happening in their building, connect with people in their community, and get advice from experts in their field. They still needed to do things like reserve conference rooms, but they wanted a simpler process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To accomplish all of this, Palmer\u2019s team decided to rebuild the app from the ground up\u2014which meant a lot of time constructing the platform. \u201cOne of the hardest decisions we made was to slow down before we started up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designers gave the app a streamlined look. \u201cVisually, we wanted it to feel very different,\u201d says Palmer. \u201cWe wanted people to be excited when they open up the app to book a room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Palmer says those who have seen the app are thrilled with how it looks, but also with the improved functionality. They can now scroll through available rooms and choose one with a single tap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe found during our research that about 40 percent of members booking rooms want one immediately, and 80 percent want one for that day,\u201d he says. \u201cThe trick is that the current app was not built to handle that effectively. So we made the process as easy as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help members know what is going on in their building, the app team moved notifications about upcoming events to the top of each user\u2019s home screen. And users will be able to get special push notifications about events that are of specific interest to them. For example, a programmer would be notified about a networking event for tech professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new app will connect members with questions about running their businesses with others who have relevant experience and make it easier for members who want to advertise their services to reach customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is great news for members like Jen Carmody<\/a>, a member at Miami\u2019s WeWork Brickell City Centre<\/a>. The consultant, who specializes in helping entrepreneurs improve their language skills, \u201cOne of my clients is a commercial real estate agent, and I went with her last week to close a multimillion-dollar sale,\u201d says Carmody. \u201cI reached her, and all the rest of my business clients, through the app.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Palmer believes that Carmody and other members will be pleased with the changes to the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMembers like her will have a much better system for reaching other members who need their services,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd those who want to get together with other members will also be happy. It will mean more people at events, more people finding help for their problems, and more ways to connect.\u201d New platform lets members easily book rooms, ask questions, and connect with each other<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1715,"featured_media":3000004238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43912],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3000004233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-employee-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
says she has reached 100 percent of her clients through the WeWork app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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