What comment statuses do you want in Web Writer?
We need your feedback on some updates we're making to the Web Writer severity labels associated with comments. Below are the proposed labels and updated icons:
- Do the labels make sense?
- Do the colors make sense?
- Anything we're missing?
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I thought a lot about this and how something simple like this can improve the reporting process. Currently, I don't recognize all the icons used without a legend so I really don't pay any attention to them. So my first thought was to make the icons more intuitive. Thus the changes you see above. My second goal was to simplify what we use and how it's used. I'll break this down by concern:
Inspected: I like the blue check. Yes, I looked at it and found no issues at that time.
General Observation: Yes, I opened the panel, and here is a photo, or photos of main appliances like water heater and furnace as informational photos. It's just a nice option to include visual information without a statement. Represented by an eye, "we observed"
Cosmetic: no real material defect just needs some paint and/or caulk. Represented by a paintbrush.
Old: This is just providing information that it may not last that long, nearing the end of its life. However, still working. An emptying hourglass is a good representation, time has run out, and hourglasses themselves are a dated way of indicating time.
You can see I removed Observation to Monitor and moved Possible concern. These really can be communicated by "Possible Concern". My logic is that if you are stating a possible concern then you don't know if there is really a concern. If you are recommending monitor for further evaluation you also don't know if there is a concern. If you want to create a concern to include monitoring for further evaluation you can simply use that language when creating a "Possible concern". We don't need both. Of course, I indicated this with a black and white question mark because we don't know. I am sure the recommendation is going to be to hire an expert to evaluate or monitor for further evaluation. One option covers both.
Minor, Moderate & Major: All need some level of repair or replacement so I used similar icons. I purposely added minor to this category because sometimes buyers overlook these items and then could have larger problems as a result. If we are saying there is a concern but it's minor, then there is still a concern. Major is of course red and minor is blue. Red and blue make purple and moderate is between major and minor. I also did not like the idea of using red for all of them since I didn't think minor concerns should be red. So of course Red, orange and yellow would be better but a white and yellow icon just does not stand out so I got creative. If someone has a better solution please share. :) The number of exclamation marks also indicates the level of concern.
Safety: This is its own category. It does not have to be a major or minor issue. It can be as simple as hardware missing from a railing on a balcony. If left as is it could result in serious injury or death. STOP NOW is indicated by an exclamation mark in the stop sign.
Not Inspected & Not Working: I believe these work well as is and should be left alone.
Now, how do we implement these to improve our reporting? We add them in front of the concerns just like they are in the "manage comments" view. But we need this in the standard view also. This helps us choose our concerns faster and with intuitive icons, there is no guessing or using a legend. We can then add concerns with the same title but different concern levels. Cracked foundation (Major) call an engineer now! or Cracked foundation (Minor) old damage, under a 1/8th inch and consistent with the age of the home. I find that there are many concerns that could have the same name but different levels of concern. ...then we need the ability to duplicate concerns :)
EDIT: Instead of duplicate it would be better to be able to go into a concern, edit it and then "Save as new concern" or "Use as One TIme concern"
Also, the use of the icons will be even more helpful when using the app since the screen is much smaller.
My 2 cents!
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I do use the "observation to monitor" and "possible concern" categories.
One I like is the "Cosmetic" that shows up as "maintenance" in the summary. I would like it better if it was "maintenance" in both the body of the report and in the summary.
General Observation is one I use regularly to show where the water shut off is located, gas shut off location, etc. "Compliment" of that cagegory is kind of confusing, but it works if it cannot be changed.
Color; red items I note to the buyer. Having the individual title in the body use the same color is a big improvement over HHZ. Keep the titles in the body colored as currently is the case.
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I want to revise my comment: the current 6 categories and icons for perfectly fine by me. More icons make for confusion. The client will never understand a myrad of icons. As it is, the 6 are beyone comprehension for most clients:
The Summary and the categories within the Summary are what the client comprehends. I'd like to see the order changed. Further Evaluation and Monitor can be combined as Darren suggests:
SIGNIFICANT:
Safety
Major
Not operating
Further evaluation
Budget replace
Monitor
Moderate
Minor
Maintenance
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There should also be a category for reinspections with repaired or not repaired. Here is my suggestion:
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I hope i can help here and make this better for all with my thoughts and ideas.
The process to remove certain areas for example If your in the appliance section and you don't have a garbage disposal there are too many steps to remove that category and when you have to do that over and over like for instance in the ROOM COMPONENTS section it can be very time consuming. too many steps to delete a category.
The added photos section.
When i upload the photos they never upload how i have taken the pictures. Therefore I have to search and scroll for the pictures I want to upload which are all scattered. Which also causes more loss of time.
When adding updating a comment from the library I don't see where it gives the option to leave it for future use.
Every time I start a new report i have to recheck all my disclosures . It would be better if once you check them that it could be left as our standard disclosures for future inspection reports and take off as needed.
I know there is more and when i remember them i will come back
Have a great day
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Also is there a way to make the information that needs to filled out uniform
Foe example maybe the washing machine area show the model first and then the serial number for the second drop down but if i go to the dyer or just say the microwave the year section might be first then the model then the serial number
nothing is in standard form
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Just want to throw this out there, In Wisconsin we "shall" (are required to) use the word "Defect" in our report if it meets the states definition., So I kind of think that should be an option
A "Maintenance" header would be helpful. I point out several like filter, flush water heater, trn of hose bib supply etc. It could be added to "General Observation"
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Lee,
We definitely agree with you about the need for a status of Defect to align with the WI standards. We are working with WAHI team members to determine the best approach to addressing all of the requirements for WI. Thanks for adding to this post!Caitlin
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