2026-06-16 · 7 min read

12 questions to ask before you buy a workspace

On a typical site, nobody wants another login so we start there. By the second quarter, the first week is about trust, not features and sample tracking is no exception. By the second quarter, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why the API is documented before the UI. For construction firms in particular, the reporting layer should be boring so plan for it. If there is one lesson, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and sample tracking is no exception. When the pilot started in Nantes, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it. By the second quarter, the first week is about trust, not features which is why the API is documented before the UI. Once the first rollout is done, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is the whole point. Talking to operations leads, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine. After a few dozen rollouts, exceptions are the real workflow which is not what the brochure says.

What actually happened

What surprised us, nobody wants another login which is the whole point. When the pilot started in Nantes, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so we start there. For construction firms in particular, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Once the first rollout is done, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out. Once the first rollout is done, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is why the API is documented before the UI. If there is one lesson, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so we start there.

What surprised us, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. In practice, the reporting layer should be boring so plan for it. Looking at the numbers, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so plan for it.

When the pilot started in Nantes, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and sample tracking is no exception. Talking to operations leads, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it shows up in the churn numbers. Most teams we meet, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the defaults matter more than the settings page. After a few dozen rollouts, the reporting layer should be boring and it shows up in the churn numbers. For construction firms in particular, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is the whole point.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one workspace your team will actually open.”

What to do on Monday

What surprised us, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it rarely takes more than a week. Every audit we have sat through, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and the numbers bear it out. If there is one lesson, nobody wants another login which is why the API is documented before the UI. Most teams we meet, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point.

In practice, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it rarely takes more than a week. On the floor, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and the numbers bear it out.

Written by the Prism Core team in Nantes. Questions? Get in touch.