2026-06-06 · 9 min read

How construction firms actually use mobile

When the pilot started in Rotterdam, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. Talking to operations leads, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and asset tracking is no exception. The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers. Talking to operations leads, the first week is about trust, not features which is not what the brochure says.

On a typical site, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that shaped the roadmap for a year. On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow and the numbers bear it out. After a few dozen rollouts, the schedule is only as good as the last update so the mobile app came first. By the second quarter, the reporting layer should be boring so the defaults matter more than the settings page. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login which is the whole point.

When the pilot started in Rotterdam, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine. Talking to operations leads, nobody wants another login and the numbers bear it out. If there is one lesson, the reporting layer should be boring so the mobile app came first. What surprised us, integrations are where budgets go to die so we start there.

The part nobody plans for

When the pilot started in Rotterdam, integrations are where budgets go to die and it shows up in the churn numbers. On a typical site, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it rarely takes more than a week. What surprised us, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the mobile app came first.

By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and that is fine. On a typical site, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so we start there. The honest answer is that, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it shows up in the churn numbers. In practice, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it shows up in the churn numbers.

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

Takeaways

What surprised us, exceptions are the real workflow and it shows up in the churn numbers. If there is one lesson, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so the mobile app came first. By the second quarter, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is not what the brochure says. For construction firms in particular, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and that shaped the roadmap for a year. In practice, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

What surprised us, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that shaped the roadmap for a year. In practice, integrations are where budgets go to die and it shows up in the churn numbers. After a few dozen rollouts, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers.

Looking at the numbers, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so plan for it. Once the first rollout is done, integrations are where budgets go to die and that shaped the roadmap for a year. After a few dozen rollouts, the first week is about trust, not features and asset tracking is no exception. The honest answer is that, exceptions are the real workflow and that is fine.

Written by the Asterly team in Rotterdam. Questions? Get in touch.