Needs to act on the right thing
The founder or product owner who has to make decisions and keep their own stakeholders informed.
- Open decisions shown with a count
- Approve, or say what should change
- A record to point back to
Case study · Client delivery workspace
Full visibility. Every single day.
HALO Cockpit is the live workspace we built for our own clients. It answers the three questions every client asks, where are we, what do you need from me, and are we on track, without a status call.
The real app, with a sample project.
What it is
You shouldn't have to wait for a call to learn how your own project is going.
- AOverviewSprint progress, next demo, open decisions, budget, timeline and activity.
- BSprintsA board of every story, showing what's next, in progress, in review and done.
- CDemosWeekly live demos in your time zone, with notes and recordings kept.
- DDecisionsQuestions for you, with your answer, your name and the time on record.
- EFiles and teamThe brief, builds and handover documents, and who has access.
The problem
Status updates cost everyone. And they arrive late.
A weekly status email is out of date when it's sent. Decisions get buried in threads, and problems surface once they've become expensive. The team loses building time, and the client still doesn't have the full picture.
60%
Spend 1–3 hours a week on status work
Share of professional services respondents writing update emails, reports or attending status meetings, with a further 11% spending four hours or more. This comes from Wrike, a project management vendor, so treat it as indicative.
Wrike survey
0
Status calls needed to see progress
Cockpit's numbers come from the work itself. When a story moves, the progress bar, the chart and the feed update for everyone.
How Cockpit works
1
Shared picture of the project
Clients and the delivery team read from the same data, so there's no separate, polished version for clients.
How Cockpit works
Who it serves
One view, three kinds of people.
Needs a quick, honest answer
The executive or finance lead who checks in occasionally and wants to know if things are on track.
- Planned against shipped, on one chart
- Budget and timeline used
- Nothing to install, sign in by email
Needs to get back to building
The HALO team that keeps a project moving, and shouldn't have to write about the work to report it.
- Moving a story updates everything
- Questions go in one place
- Preview exactly what clients see
Pain points we solve
The usual frustrations, designed out.
Client
"Where are we?"
The answer takes a call, or an email that's already out of date.
Sprint progress and the delivery chart are calculated from real stories, and update live.
Client
"What do you need from me?"
Requests are scattered across email and chat, and some get missed.
Every open question sits in Decisions, with a count in the menu and a note on the overview.
Client
"Are we on track?"
A confident update can hide a project that has slipped.
The chart draws what shipped against a straight planned line from start to target date, so a slip is visible.
Both
"Who agreed to that?"
Months later, nobody can find where a choice was made or why.
Answers record the outcome, the note, the person and the time. Once answered, a decision can't be answered again.
Both
"Which version is the latest?"
Briefs and builds get lost in old attachments.
Files and links live on the project, with private files opened through short-lived links.
Team
Reporting takes time from building
Status writing is work that doesn't ship anything.
The feed writes itself from what happens: a story moved, a demo scheduled, a decision answered.
How it works
One decision, from question to record.
Decisions show how Cockpit works throughout: one place, clear ownership, and a lasting record.
asked
Team asks
The team writes the question, the options and a recommendation.
HALO team
open
It's waiting on you
The count appears in the menu and on the overview, and the feed records it.
Everyone sees it
answered
You answer
Approve, or request changes with a note saying what should change.
Client
recorded
Kept on record
Your answer, name and time are saved with the decision. A second answer is refused.
Database
live
Everyone sees it
Open screens update in moments, without a refresh.
Live updates
Delivery team
Changes the work
Moves stories, schedules demos, adds decisions and files.
Staff accounts only
Supabase
The single source of truth
A Postgres database applies the access rules on every request, writes the activity feed and stamps delivery dates.
Rules enforced in the database
Client
Sees it live
Follows progress, opens files and answers the decisions on their own project.
Never interrupts typing
The product
Try it, then see the real thing.
Move a story, answer a decision, and watch the overview change. This demo uses sample data held in the page, so nothing you do here is saved.
Screens from the live app
Shown with a sample project. Real client projects stay private.
Sprints · Decisions · Demos, as a client sees them.
Access and security
Your project is only yours.
These rules are enforced by the database on every request, not just hidden in the interface. So even someone who altered the page couldn't reach another client's data.
| Action | Client on the project | Other signed-in person | Signed out |
|---|---|---|---|
| See the project | Yes | No | No |
| Answer an open decision | Yes, once | No | No |
| Download project files | Yes, by short-lived link | No | No |
| Change stories, demos or budget | No, staff only | No | No |
| Add people to a project | No, staff only | No | No |
29 access checksA test acts as a client, a stranger, a signed-out visitor and staff, and confirms what each can do.
No passwordsSign-in uses a link emailed to the address on the project.
Private filesStored in a private bucket with no public address, opened by links that expire.
No trackingThe private app loads no analytics or advertising tools.
For clients
A quick weekly check
Sign in
Email linkCheck the overview
Progress and the chartAnswer what's open
DecisionsJoin the demo
Your time zone
For the team
Part of the daily work
Set up the project
Dates, sprint, client accessMove stories as work moves
SprintsAsk, don't chase
DecisionsKeep the record
Demos and Files
Tech stack
Small on purpose, strict where it counts.
The same approach we'd bring to an internal tool for your business: little to maintain, with the security placed where it can't be bypassed.
| Layer | What we use | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Vanilla JavaScriptHTML and CSS | Fast to load, works on phones, with no framework to keep upgrading. |
| Database | Supabase PostgresRow level security | Real SQL, with access rules applied to every row of every request. |
| Sign-in | Supabase AuthEmail links | No passwords for clients to remember or for us to protect. |
| Live updates | Supabase Realtime | Open screens refresh themselves, and hold back while someone is typing. |
| Files | Private storageSigned links | One folder per project, up to 50 MB per file. |
| Hosting | VercelStrict security headers | Limits which outside sites the app can talk to, and stays out of search results. |
Where it stands
Live, and still growing.
Every HALO engagement gets a cockpit from day one. We can also build a workspace like it for your own business.
Live in the app
- Email sign-in, and separate staff and client access
- All six views, with live updates
- Decisions on record, with one final answer
- File uploads and links
- A client preview for staff
On the roadmap
- Email alerts when a decision is waiting
- Calendar invitations for demos
- Budget and timeline calculated automatically
- Sprint history across a whole project
Start your journey
Work with a team you can see.
Tell us what you're building. You'll get a cockpit from day one, and a working demo every week.
Sources
Time spent on status work: Wrike