Beyond the Clipboard: The Unexpected Challenges of Digitizing Everyday Work

I work for a company called trakrSuite, where I’ve had the chance to see the company grow and change over the years. I’ve been part of the team that builds the software platform, and it’s been exciting to help bring the company’s vision to life. But as with many things, what looks simple on paper can be much more complicated in reality. That was certainly true for our main goal.

From the beginning, we set out with one clear mission: to replace the clipboard used by everyday workers—the people out there counting inventory or products in any industry. These are the folks making sure there’s enough stock on hand, figuring out how much has been lost or stolen, and deciding what needs to be reordered. It’s a slow, time-consuming job that almost every business has to deal with. As a tech startup, we saw this problem and, full of excitement, we decided to tackle it. How hard could it be to replace a pen and paper with something digital, right?

Well, it turned out to be a lot harder than we thought.

The Challenge of Moving Away from Pen and Paper

At first, the solution seemed obvious: replace the pen and paper with a digital tool. Many businesses might start with Excel spreadsheets because it’s a tool most people are familiar with and it’s a step in the right direction. But we quickly found out that Excel could only take us so far.

Here’s the thing—when someone uses pen and paper, they’re not just writing down numbers. They’re processing information in their head, recognizing products, remembering where things are supposed to be, and understanding the situation in front of them. The person, the pen, the paper, and the information all work together in a way that’s tough to replicate digitally.

For example, imagine a store manager doing an inventory check. They walk through the aisles, clipboard in hand, and check off items one by one. While they do this, their brain is working in the background—spotting items that are out of place, remembering that the supply of a certain product is running low, and adjusting the order quantities on the fly. When you switch to a digital system, you’re not just replacing the physical clipboard; you’re trying to replace that mental process too.

To build a digital replacement, we needed more than just an app. We had to create a whole system:

• A user-friendly front end (web or mobile app): This is the interface where the worker interacts with the system. It needs to be intuitive and easy to use, even for someone who’s been using pen and paper for years.
• A robust database: This stores all the information about products, where they’re located, how they should be counted, and how to track them.
• Smart software (the “brain”): This code has to do the heavy lifting, handling tasks like recognizing products, understanding different counting methods, and keeping track of everything in real-time. As we got deeper into the project, the complexity became clear. We realized that building this wasn’t something we could knock out over a weekend. Creating a prototype or proof of concept might be quick, but building something that people can actually use day in and day out—something that’s flexible, easy to pick up, and adaptable to different needs—is a much bigger challenge.

The Ongoing Journey with trakrSuite

Now, years into this project, we’re still improving and refining our platform based on feedback from our users. trakrSuite is used internationally, across a wide range of industries, and as a platform that serves multiple clients, we’re always looking for ways to make it better for everyone.

One example of this continuous improvement is how we’ve adjusted our software to handle different types of inventory systems. Some businesses use a simple count and track method, while others need to track batch numbers, expiration dates, or even location-specific inventory levels. Each of these requires tweaks to the system, and we’ve worked hard to make sure our platform can handle all of these different needs.

Another example is the challenge of training. Even if we build the most advanced software, it’s useless if the people using it can’t figure it out. We’ve spent a lot of time making the system as intuitive as possible and providing training materials that help users transition from their old ways of working to the new digital system.

Lessons Learned: It’s More Than Just Replacing Tools

If there’s one big takeaway from our experience, it’s this: When someone asks you to replace pen and paper with a digital solution, be ready for a lot more than just moving data from paper to a screen. You’re not just replacing tools; you’re replacing a whole way of thinking and working. And that’s a big job.

In the end, replacing the clipboard isn’t just about going digital. It’s about transforming how people work, how they think about their tasks, and how they interact with technology. It’s a journey that takes time, patience, and a lot of learning along the way. But it’s also incredibly rewarding to see how these changes can make a real difference in the way businesses operate, helping them become more efficient, accurate, and adaptable in a fast-changing world.