VarDag is an application that I developed to reduce the workload across departments at ICA Gruppen AB. It started as a small project to automate daily tasks, but grew into a much larger system. Over 35 employees were using the application within a few weeks after the initial release.
VarDag resulted in:
VarDag features a variety of functions and tools that are aimed at removing laborious work and relocating resources to something more meaningful. These functions and tools reduced the workload by a couple of minutes up to a few hours in a workday. For instance, I developed a custom start-up kit for every department. This allowed the user to open necessary documents and sign in to applications and websites at the press of a button.
The reason VarDag had such a huge impact, was because the entire corporation was powered by an architecture that was over 50 years old. The outdated console application IBM 3270 is unintuitive and only provides basic functionality. This forced users to resort to other applications such as Microsoft Access or Excel for proper tools.
I worked closely with employees to develop systems that would automatically calculate, print, sort, send and store data. This reduced the workload by over 400 hours and paper waste by more than 7,000 sheets per month, saving the corporation over $216,000 a year.
I implemented over a dozen automation systems, created four custom libraries and improved the existing interoperability during the development of VarDag. Each component of the application was designed to be modular and flexible. This allowed the user to manually modify components like the interface colors.
The application was developed with a focus on user experience, it was therefore important that all employees could use VarDag without any form of training. To further improve the user experience, I implemented my own basic analytics system. This would track the user behaviour, which in turn allowed me to refine substandard functions and features.
I developed an update system that allowed me to update VarDag even though it was still in use. The update system would notify the user if an update was available. The user could then choose to install the update immediately or at a later time. This allowed me to push new features without disrupting the users work.
VarDag was created with the .NET Framework using the Windows Forms App project.