Great program - thoroughly recommend for creative services!
Updated March 07, 2017
Great program - thoroughly recommend for creative services!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Workfront
We use Workfront across our organization to manage creative projects both small and large. Previously, we were using several different platforms to manage budgets, tasks, and hours. It's great having it all in one place! It helps us to track our financials closely, what areas do we have a lot of work, what are areas for improvement? What resources do we use the most? How efficient are we at our projects?
- Track a budget in real time.
- Proof documents in one place where several users will need to review and check work (ProofHQ).
- Wide array of reports to monitor client projects as a whole, makes our status meetings easy and far more efficient.
- Manage resources allocations and projects in one place
- Track hours spent on a project, where are we overburning and on what area of the project
- There's so much going on, sometimes Workfront can lag when adding project information. Can make it frustrating when we have large projects to add tasks to and organize.
- No real easy way of adding people globally to all tasks without several steps to get there.
- Copy/Pasting tasks is not simple, requires several steps rather than a simple CTRL/PASTE.
- Posting in workfront is not easy if you have a lot to post, it doesn't allow you to use bullet points/make bold etc to highlight key points/dates.
- We're able to track our business financials throughout the year and see areas where there is room for growth.
- Creative work is more consistent as feedback/notes are clearer and easier to read than other programs.
- Budgets and estimates are more accurate with the ability to pull from previous projects.
Workfront far exceeds these programs as it encompasses many things into one platform. You are able to see all areas of your business and make business decisions in realtime...without a lot of work! It has made our company far more streamlined and efficient. Everything is more well organized and there are a whole host of reports that you are able to pull to track data.
Adobe Workfront Feature Ratings
Using Workfront
20 - Company owner/managing partner, account and project management team as well as creative team and finance. All areas of our business function utilize workfront to track projects throughout the entire lifecycle as well as a reference tool for previous projects when we need to pull numbers, cross check etc. Everyone has enjoyed using it!
3 - The project management team manages workfront and it's functions. We take feedback from the account and creative team and work to adjust the tool as needed. It's a learning process for all of us! A lot of patience is required as well as time to train each member of staff on the most efficient way to use the tool. An operations skillset is definitely required to understand how we can make our process more efficient, how we should setup the program and usability for different people within the team.
- Project timelines
- Finance management and breakdown
- Project budget management
- Track freelance resources, how often we use them and if we need to hire someone full time.
- Track in house resources to see where people may over burn or have been over allocated over a period of days
- Monitor our revenue more closely to see what areas we bring in the most money, where we can improve etc.
- See where we are most efficient and least efficient with our workflow
- Track accuracy on project estimates to actual costs, where do we over burn?
Evaluating Workfront and Competitors
Yes - Basecamp and FunctionFox. It was difficult to track projects and keep consistent between both programs, when pulling data information would get lost as project numbers wouldn't match up or someone would put their hours in the wrong place. There was a huge margin for error and that was reflected in our work as there was a lot of miscommunication.
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
- Third-party Reviews
Our project management director was most familiar with workfront having used it at a previous company which gave us an understanding of how it would really benefit our workflow and company. Again, having all features in one place with the ability to completely customize the program to our business needs was the most important factor. For all other programs, we have always had to cheat the system to make things work, this allowed us to make it work for us and be completely custom.
I don't think we would use any other program. The cost is always a factor with using a system that is more comprehensive, but with how much the program has benefitted our workflow and projects we should not see a cost implication. We're also practicing good business, by billing accurately, seeing actual numbers and communicating more clearly with our clients. It's a step in the right direction for any small business.
Workfront Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Yes - Project management team had access to create project templates/setup workfront
Templates approved, account and design team added
Beginning of month we moved entirely over to the program
Proof HQ introduced after 1-2 months.
Templates approved, account and design team added
Beginning of month we moved entirely over to the program
Proof HQ introduced after 1-2 months.
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - Having the project management team fully trained on the program allowed for an easier transition as we were point people for the different teams to contact and ask questions. Everyone received training and the PM's allowed for additional time on any project so we could use the tool properly. I wouldn't have changed anything other than provided more training in the upfront to the creative team on how to use their work queue.
- Timeline/date changes - designers were not getting notified if they had already accepted the project
- Posting files and not receiving a notification. Sometimes the creative or account teams would forget to post a note, meaning no one on the project would get notified via email.
- Timesheets - the creative team often added time at the project level which wouldn't allow for comprehensive tracking in each task.
Workfront Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - Yes, the support person was added to the project where the bug was and investigated for us in a timely fashion. We will often hop on a phone call and screenshare with the support team if needed. They are very proactive with fixing bugs and also letting us know via email when the website is having issues.
There have been periods when the site was running slowly or we were having major issues (not getting notifications) and project deadlines were being missed. Workfront was incredibly proactive and did their best to resolve the issue, they called to check in, were available to screen share with them and asked for as much information as possible (e.g. screenshots from different computers).
Using Workfront
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using | Requires technical support Lots to learn |
- Project creation and timelines are simple to do, you can drop/drop tasks, easily add new ones underneath and edit the entire project in one place without too much moving around.
- Timesheets enable you to add time easily in a number of different places, whether in the timesheets tab or in the actual task it allows you to add in realtime.
- Scheduling tool is not easy to use, there's no real way to add people to the entire project lifecycle
- Selecting tasks to delete, if you accidentally hit outside of the box you have to start again
- Copying tasks/projects, you have to re-type in the project name every time as it takes you to a global project page.
Yes, but I don't use it