Overview
The Gantt Chart: Retrospective is a new viewing mode on the existing Gantt Chart page in FinishLine. It allows users to compare the originally planned dates of projects and work packages against the dates they were actually completed. This feature aims to give team heads and project leads a data-driven tool for evaluating past timeline accuracy and making better-informed scheduling decisions for future cars and components.
Stakeholders
Product Stakeholders: Seifer Mathias, Antara Raman, Layla Sheikh, Madhav Sabu
Software Stakeholders: Chris Pyle, Sean Walker, Waverly
Reference Users: All team heads who use the Gantt Chart to plan and evaluate project timelines
Name - Naisha Mistry, Sean Walker, Kevin Giordano
User Stories
- As a team head, I want to toggle into Retrospective mode on the Gantt Chart so that I can compare originally planned dates against actual completion dates for projects and work packages in order to better estimate timelines for future cars.
- As a project lead, I want to see the original planned duration of each work package alongside its actual duration so that I can identify where my team consistently runs over or under schedule.
- As any user, I want the Retrospective toggle to be a personal view setting so that switching into it does not affect what other users see on their Gantt Chart.
- As any user, I want the search bar and filters to function the same way in Retrospective mode as they do in standard mode so that I can still narrow down which projects I'm viewing.
Success Metrics
The Retrospective feature will be considered successful when team heads are actively using it at the start of each new car cycle to reference past project durations when setting timelines. A secondary indicator of success is a reduction in significantly missed deadlines across teams, attributable to more accurate upfront scheduling informed by retrospective data.
Rollout Plan
Design completion: 26th April
Development handoff: 26th April
Testing with team heads and E-Board: Fall 26’
Full adoption target: Before the start of the next car's planning cycle
Out of Scope
Editing or adjusting original or actual dates from within Retrospective mode
Any interaction with the dashed orange bounding boxes (they are view-only)
Aggregated retrospective analytics or summary reports (e.g., average delay per team)
Retrospective data export
Background / Context
Currently, FinishLine's Gantt Chart only shows the current state of project and work package timelines. There is no way for heads or leads to look back and compare how long something was originally planned to take versus how long it actually took. This means that when planning timelines for new cars or components, teams are largely relying on memory or external records rather than structured historical data within FinishLine. The Gantt Chart Retrospective mode centralizes this information directly in the tool teams already use, making it easy to reference past performance when setting future deadlines.
Acceptance Criteria & Mockups
Retrospective Toggle
A toggle is present in the top-left area of the Gantt Chart page header, next to the page title.
In standard (off) mode, the page title reads "Gantt Chart" and the toggle is inactive. Hovering over the toggle displays the label "Retrospective" above it, indicating what toggling it will do.
When the toggle is turned on, the page title changes to "Retrospective" and is styled in red to visually distinguish this mode from the standard view.
The toggle state is a personal view setting and it is tied to the individual user's session and does not affect any other user's view.
Retrospective View Layout
When Retrospective mode is active, each project and work package bar remains visible in its actual position on the timeline (reflecting the dates it was actually completed).
A dashed orange bounding box appears above each bar, spanning the originally planned start and end dates for that project or work package.
The originally planned date range is displayed as a label inside or adjacent to the dashed box in the format: Original: MM/DD/YYYY – MM/DD/YYYY.
The actual date range is displayed directly on the bar itself in the format: MM/DD/YYYY – MM/DD/YYYY.
If the actual dates match the original dates exactly, the dashed box and the bar will overlap. No special treatment is needed for this case beyond accurate rendering.
The dashed orange boxes are purely visual and there is no hover, click, or any other interaction associated with them.
Behavior Consistency
The search bar (Search Project by Name) functions identically in Retrospective mode as in standard mode.
The Filters button functions identically in Retrospective mode as in standard mode.
The color-coded phase legend (Install, Research, Design, Testing, Manufacturing) remains visible and unchanged in Retrospective mode.
Projects and work packages can still be expanded and collapsed in Retrospective mode the same way as in standard mode.
[Mockups]
Image 1: Standard Gantt Chart view with Retrospective hover label visible on toggle
Image 2: Retrospective mode active: dashed orange boxes showing original dates, bars showing actual dates
Image 3: Standard Gantt Chart view (no hover) for reference
Overview
The Gantt Chart: Retrospective is a new viewing mode on the existing Gantt Chart page in FinishLine. It allows users to compare the originally planned dates of projects and work packages against the dates they were actually completed. This feature aims to give team heads and project leads a data-driven tool for evaluating past timeline accuracy and making better-informed scheduling decisions for future cars and components.
Stakeholders
Product Stakeholders: Seifer Mathias, Antara Raman, Layla Sheikh, Madhav Sabu
Software Stakeholders: Chris Pyle, Sean Walker, Waverly
Reference Users: All team heads who use the Gantt Chart to plan and evaluate project timelines
Name - Naisha Mistry, Sean Walker, Kevin Giordano
User Stories
Success Metrics
The Retrospective feature will be considered successful when team heads are actively using it at the start of each new car cycle to reference past project durations when setting timelines. A secondary indicator of success is a reduction in significantly missed deadlines across teams, attributable to more accurate upfront scheduling informed by retrospective data.
Rollout Plan
Design completion: 26th April
Development handoff: 26th April
Testing with team heads and E-Board: Fall 26’
Full adoption target: Before the start of the next car's planning cycle
Out of Scope
Editing or adjusting original or actual dates from within Retrospective mode
Any interaction with the dashed orange bounding boxes (they are view-only)
Aggregated retrospective analytics or summary reports (e.g., average delay per team)
Retrospective data export
Background / Context
Currently, FinishLine's Gantt Chart only shows the current state of project and work package timelines. There is no way for heads or leads to look back and compare how long something was originally planned to take versus how long it actually took. This means that when planning timelines for new cars or components, teams are largely relying on memory or external records rather than structured historical data within FinishLine. The Gantt Chart Retrospective mode centralizes this information directly in the tool teams already use, making it easy to reference past performance when setting future deadlines.
Acceptance Criteria & Mockups
Retrospective Toggle
A toggle is present in the top-left area of the Gantt Chart page header, next to the page title.
In standard (off) mode, the page title reads "Gantt Chart" and the toggle is inactive. Hovering over the toggle displays the label "Retrospective" above it, indicating what toggling it will do.
When the toggle is turned on, the page title changes to "Retrospective" and is styled in red to visually distinguish this mode from the standard view.
The toggle state is a personal view setting and it is tied to the individual user's session and does not affect any other user's view.
Retrospective View Layout
When Retrospective mode is active, each project and work package bar remains visible in its actual position on the timeline (reflecting the dates it was actually completed).
A dashed orange bounding box appears above each bar, spanning the originally planned start and end dates for that project or work package.
The originally planned date range is displayed as a label inside or adjacent to the dashed box in the format: Original: MM/DD/YYYY – MM/DD/YYYY.
The actual date range is displayed directly on the bar itself in the format: MM/DD/YYYY – MM/DD/YYYY.
If the actual dates match the original dates exactly, the dashed box and the bar will overlap. No special treatment is needed for this case beyond accurate rendering.
The dashed orange boxes are purely visual and there is no hover, click, or any other interaction associated with them.
Behavior Consistency
The search bar (Search Project by Name) functions identically in Retrospective mode as in standard mode.
The Filters button functions identically in Retrospective mode as in standard mode.
The color-coded phase legend (Install, Research, Design, Testing, Manufacturing) remains visible and unchanged in Retrospective mode.
Projects and work packages can still be expanded and collapsed in Retrospective mode the same way as in standard mode.
[Mockups]
Image 1: Standard Gantt Chart view with Retrospective hover label visible on toggle
Image 2: Retrospective mode active: dashed orange boxes showing original dates, bars showing actual dates
Image 3: Standard Gantt Chart view (no hover) for reference