Trello Butler Integration
About the integration
Butler helps users build powerful automations for Trello boards. Before 2018, Butler was a third-party Power-Up helping users create millions of automations. In 2018, Trello acquired Butler, and I was part of the team that integrated Butler as a core Trello offering.
We had three main goals for this migration:
Engineering / Trello Core Feature Effort
Surface Smart Automation Suggestions
Improvements to Automation Creation
1. Engineering / Trello Core Feature Effort
Our primary goal as a team was to integrate Butler into our product. We had the challenge of finding a home for Butler within Trello where it would be easy for users to discover that Trello's new automation capabilities were now available for everyone. Butler's design language needed to be migrated to Trello's core design language. This involved rethinking the product entirely. I explored several opportunities for Butler, and given the timeline, we decided to focus on two primary areas of improvement where we thought we could leverage the most value for users: Surfacing Smart Automation Suggestions and Improved Automation Creation.
2. Surface smart automation suggestions
One of the most valuable features of Butler is its ability to observe the board and automatically create automations based on user patterns. For example, Butler can suggest adding a due date to a card if it observes that a due date is added to a card every time it’s moved to a certain list. We wanted to make these automatic automation suggestions approachable. It’s possible that such automations can be perceived as a bit creepy if a user has never interacted with a similar tool. For that reason, I suggested 'Automation Tips'. This seemed much friendlier and approachable. We also added a cute Taco illustration to further increase user comfort with the tool. Beyond the rebranding, we also made sure that 'Automation Tips' was the primary screen that users saw when they opened Butler. Some of the hurdles of creating automations for users are the initial questions of "What should I automate?" and "What if I don't want to learn a new thing?". We solved those two blockers by providing the user with what to automate and by setting up a one-click automation option as the first thing users see when they open Butler.
3. Improvements to Automation Creation
So what if a user wants to create more complex automations? We simplified automation creation by giving focus to each step in the process. We no longer show all the possible switches and settings when creating an automation. Instead, Butler now hides settings until the user is ready to act on them. This approach transforms a complex screen into a more approachable screen with an easy entry point.
Learnings & Takeaways:
Automation is a fascinating area because we can begin to leverage software/machine learning in new ways to help people become more efficient and to improve their daily tasks in a productivity tool. The value we're providing to users is in the removal of technology barriers that might get in their way while simultaneously helping the user focus on what they are good at.
Read more about the release:
Workflow Automation At Your Service With Trello’s Butler