Toolkit

Toolkit
Product Design, web, app, branding-Zero to one-2023-2025

Designing construction management software that works

From Prototype to 2,000 Customers

Toolkit needed product design to secure funding and reach market fit in construction tech. Over 12 months, I led end-to-end design in a lean CEO-Dev-Designer team with continuous user validation. We shipped three major releases: funding prototype (3 months), feature-rich V2 (5 months), and mobile-optimized V3 (4 months). The product reached 2,000 paying customers within 24 months, secured enterprise adoption at launch, and raised Series A funding in November 2025.

Visit Toolkit

Victor worked with Toolkit as our UX/UI designer from the earliest stages. We ran discovery workshops together before even building the product, allowing him to deeply understand the construction industry. He transformed complex business requirements into perfectly adapted user flows, exactly what a startup like ours needed. Thanks to his experience, Victor also established foundational systems (UI kit, interaction patterns) that saved us considerable development time down the line.

Pierre-Marie Nigay

Pierre-Marie Nigay

Founder @ Toolkit

Type

Product Design

Scope

Web, App, Branding

Period

2023-2025

Phase

Zero to One

Toolkit App Overview

Overview

Introduction

Construction software is overwhelming. Legacy tools pack every feature into dense interfaces, forcing users through complex workflows to complete basic tasks. Site managers juggle multiple projects, field workers need quick status updates, and office teams require detailed planning. One interface cannot serve all needs equally.

Toolkit approached this differently. Rather than building another feature-complete solution, we focused on core workflows that construction teams use daily: planning tasks across zones, tracking progress, managing documents, coordinating teams. The challenge was delivering sophistication without complexity.

My role

I joined as sole designer in a three-person team. The CEO brought domain expertise from years researching construction workflows. The lead developer built the technical foundation. My role: transform business requirements into a scalable product that users would actually adopt. No design team, no researchers, no product managers. Just tight collaboration, continuous validation, and rapid iteration.

Project and impact

Over 12 months, we evolved from funding prototype to platform maturity. Each phase added sophistication while maintaining simplicity. Progressive disclosure hid complexity until needed. Context-aware interfaces adapted to user tasks. Batch operations reduced repetitive actions. Visual hierarchy prevented information overload at scale.

The approach worked. Enterprise customers deployed at launch. Users managing 15+ construction sites adopted the platform. The product reached 2,000 paying customers in 24 months and secured Series A funding. This case study shows how we got there.

Context and approach

Three phases from funding prototype to platform maturity. Phase 1 secured initial funding with core features. Phase 2 added sophisticated interactions and multi-project support. Phase 3 achieved mobile optimization and design system scalability. Result: 2,000 customers, enterprise adoption, Series A funding within 24 months.

Phase 1

Foundation

Months 1-3

Establishing the core architecture and essential workflows.

Key Deliverables

  • Core authentication & navigation architecture
  • Project creation & management workflows
  • Task library with drag-drop sequences
  • Planning V1 with colorful task cards
  • Subscription system (individual + enterprise)
  • PDF export functionality
Phase 2

Feature Expansion

Months 4-8

Enhancing interactivity and visual systems.

Key Deliverables

  • Advanced planning interactions (multi-select)
  • Dynamic island adaptive menu system
  • Refined task card aesthetic (V2 visual system)
  • Fluid zoom timeline (daily to quarterly)
  • Project hub for multi-site managers
  • Stakeholder management features
Phase 3

Platform Maturity

Months 9-12

Scalability, mobile strategy, and refinement.

Key Deliverables

  • Visual complexity management (hierarchy)
  • Mobile strategy with platform-specific design
  • Navigation evolution (direct access)
  • Consolidated mobile navigation (4 groups)
  • Activity enrichment (photo annotation)
  • Design system scalability (120+ screens)
Core Design Challenge
Core Design Challenge - Planning interface showing the fundamental tension: construction projects contain 50-100+ tasks across multiple zones and timelines.
Research process
Research process - Lean validation in a three-person team. Microsoft Clarity provided behavioral analytics. CEO conducted 5-7 user calls weekly.
Foundation
Foundation - MVP scope securing initial funding. Core infrastructure: passwordless auth, dual sidebar navigation, project workflows.
Project Creation Workflow
Product Creation Workflow - Four-step process from project basics to team launch. Progressive disclosure design: setup steps prominent during creation, automatically collapse once project active.
Core Interaction Principles
Core Interaction Principles - Design principles preventing feature bloat. Progressive disclosure, context awareness, batch efficiency, visual hierarchy.

Phase 1 - Foundation

1st time experience

Passwordless authentication
Passwordless authentication - Magic link login eliminates password friction for field workers sharing devices.
Empty state
Empty state - Greeting new users with primary sidebar navigation introduced.
Form design pattern
Form design pattern - Mobile-first approach used across all the application.
Chantier Detail v1
Chantier Detail v1 - Early desktop layout establishing dual sidebar architecture.
Chantier Detail v2
Chantier Detail v2 - Removed the metadata informations to the edit view. We only kept contact information display at 1st sight.

Show and Hide navigation

Secondary sidebar collapsing and expanding on demand. Setup sections (zones, companies, task libraries) prominent during project creation, collapsing once project active. Operations sections (planning, documents, observations) surfacing as primary navigation. Progressive disclosure: complexity hidden until relevant, interface adapting to project lifecycle stage.

Navigation show/hide - Secondary sidebar collapsing and expanding on demand.

Tasks

Task creation interface
Task creation - Assisted task creation for quick addition and task setting for each phase of the project.

Sequences

Tasks sequences interface
Tasks sequences - Templating is part of Toolkit DNA. The construction planner can set and save task sequences in a library to speed up site planning.

Planning

Planning interface v1
Planning v1 - First planning canvas with colorful task card aesthetic. High visual weight worked well with 10-15 tasks but became overwhelming at 50-100+ tasks.
Task component v1
Task component v1 - Multiple sizes and variations for different display contexts.
Task component v2
Task component v2 - Refined system with four interaction states. Height reduced, colors desaturated, contrast improved.
Planning interface v2
Planning v2 - Planning canvas evolution with refined visual system. Multiple zones and 50+ tasks visible simultaneously without overwhelming interface.
Multi-select
Multi-select - Rectangle drag enabling batch operations across zones and timeline.
Context menu
Context menu - Adapting to selected task with prioritized actions.
Adaptive zoom
Adaptive zoom - View controls toggling between day, week, month scales.

Expand layout on planning view

To enhance ease of use on the planning we implemented a way to expand the layout to focus on task management, without getting confusion with navigation panel.

Expand layout - Zoom in and out on the planning canvas for better focus.

Phase 2 - Feature expansion

With the foundation validated, Phase 2 focused on expanding capabilities while maintaining simplicity. We introduced a dynamic menu system that adapts to user context, reducing cognitive load and streamlining workflows. The challenge was adding power features without cluttering the interface.

Dynamic menu system

The dynamic menu adapts to the current task context. When editing a task, relevant actions surface immediately. When viewing activity logs, filtering options take priority. This context-awareness reduces navigation steps and keeps users focused on their current workflow.

Dynamic island menu - task modification
Dynamic island menu - Contextual task modification with quick actions and status updates.

Task manipulation in planning

Edit duration and task information on the fly directly from the planning canvas.

Task manipulation - Edit duration and task information on the fly.

Batch edition

Select a zone or multiple tasks on the canvas, apply parameters in 20 seconds. Users managing 50-100+ tasks need efficient ways to apply changes across groups.

Batch edition - Select a zone or multiple tasks on the canvas, apply parameters in 20 seconds.
Dynamic menu components and interface system
Interface system - Component architecture for the dynamic menu, ensuring consistency across different contexts.
Task detail with activity section
Activity section behavior - Task detail view with dynamic menu showing activity log and contextual actions.

Phase 3 - Platform maturity

Phase 3 brought platform maturity with the project hub and mobile evolution. Enterprise customers needed to manage multiple construction sites from a single dashboard. Field workers needed mobile access that matched the desktop experience. We delivered both without compromising either.

Project hub

The project hub provides a bird's-eye view of all construction sites. Managers can quickly assess progress, identify bottlenecks, and drill into specific projects. Visual indicators surface urgent items without requiring deep navigation.

Project hub - construction site index v3
Project hub v3 - Multi-site dashboard with progress indicators, quick actions, and filtering capabilities.

Mobile evolution

Construction happens on-site, often in challenging conditions. The mobile experience needed to be robust, fast, and usable with gloves. We redesigned the navigation system for touch-first interaction while maintaining feature parity with desktop.

Mobile menu evolution
Mobile navigation evolution - Touch-optimized menu system with gesture support and thumb-friendly action zones.

Design system foundation

A three-person team cannot afford to redesign components for every feature. We built a design system that scaled with the product: reusable components, consistent patterns, and a shared visual language. This foundation enabled rapid iteration while maintaining quality.

Design system overview
Design system - Component library with tokens, patterns, and usage guidelines for consistent implementation.
Icon system - files and folders
Icon system - Custom icon set for files and folders, optimized for construction document management.

Impact

The design approach delivered measurable business results. By focusing on core workflows and progressive complexity, we created a product that both enterprise customers and small teams could adopt quickly. The numbers tell the story.

Impact diagram
Project impact - Key metrics and milestones achieved over the 12-month product development cycle.

2,000+

Paying customers within 24 months of launch

Series A

Funding secured in November 2025

Enterprise

Customers managing 15+ sites adopted at launch