6Ws: In Practice – Real-World Applications

The 6Ws in Practice – Timesheet & Expense Tracking App

This post demonstrates how the 6Ws methodology can be applied to a real-world product: a Timesheet and Expense Tracking Application designed for a distributed consultancy firm. Each W is explored through practical framing, illustrating how this approach enables fast, focused, and user-centred delivery.

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Who – Users & Stakeholders

Primary Users:

• Consultants: Submit time and expenses

• Project Managers: Approve submissions and review budgets

Secondary Users:

• Finance Team: Process payroll and reimbursements

• HR Team: Monitor work-life balance and compliance

System Integrations:

• Payroll provider API (for monthly processing)

• Cloud document store (for receipt uploads)

• Authentication via Firebase Auth

Stakeholders:

• Operations Director

• Head of Finance

• Head of Delivery

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What – Outcomes & Actions

Consultant Actions:

• Log hours against projects

• Attach receipts and submit expense claims

• View leave balance and time tracking history

Manager Actions:

• Approve or reject timesheets and expense claims

• View budget vs actuals by project

Finance Actions:

• Export approved data for payroll

• Generate expense and cost reports

Features:

• Timesheet entry (daily/weekly)

• Expense entry with document upload

• Approval workflows (multi-level)

• Export to payroll system

• Audit trail and reporting dashboard

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Why – Business Value

Feature	Benefit	Metric
Timesheet submission	Ensure accurate billing	Timeliness of entries, billing completeness
Expense tracking	Transparent reimbursement	Processing time, accuracy of claims
Approvals & workflows	Accountability & compliance	Approval lead time, rework rate
Export to payroll	Reduce manual processing	Staff hours saved monthly

Objectives:

• Reduce timesheet processing time by 40%

• Improve payroll data accuracy to 99.5%

• Increase user satisfaction with finance workflows

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How – Technical Design

Frontend:

• Web: React/Next.js

• Mobile: Flutter (offline-first mode)

Backend:

• Go (GORM ORM for MySQL)

• Redis for session + frequently-accessed project metadata

• REST + GraphQL APIs exposed via API gateway

Authentication:

• Firebase Auth (SSO with company domains)

Architecture:

• Deployed on AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service)

• Stateless services for compute

• Helm-managed CI/CD (GitHub Actions)

• Observability via Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki

Key Components:

• Timesheet Service

• Expense Service

• Approval Workflow Engine

• Notification Service

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Where – Hosting & Infrastructure

Environment:

• AKS (Azure) with managed node pools

• Use of spot instances for async jobs and reports

• MySQL deployed via managed database service (HA + backups)

• Redis hosted in dedicated low-latency cluster

Deployment:

• GitHub Actions for CI/CD

• Helm Charts for versioning and rollbacks

• Secret management via K8s secrets + GitHub OIDC

Scaling:

• HPA based on queue length and CPU/memory thresholds

• Redis cache tier reduces DB reads by ~60%

Backup & DR:

• Daily backups for MySQL and Redis snapshots

• Restore tested quarterly in DR region

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When – Planning, Estimation & Delivery

Project Phases:

• Phase 1: Timesheet MVP (3 developers, 4 weeks)

• Phase 2: Expenses + approval flow (3 developers, 5 weeks)

• Phase 3: Reporting + payroll export (2 developers, 3 weeks)

Planning Tools:

• Jira for backlog & sprints

• Notion for documentation

• GitHub Projects for visibility

Estimation:

• Story points with weighted scoring (complexity, confidence, reusability)

• Cost estimate: ~£60K total build (blended rate)

• Infra estimate: ~£250/month (AKS, DB, Redis, Auth)

Triaging Plan:

• Weekly check-ins for scope + effort alignment

• Red/amber/green dashboard for blockers

• RICE-based re-prioritisation during backlog grooming

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Summary

By following the 6Ws framework, the delivery of this timesheet and expense app becomes:

• Clear in its purpose

• Focused on value

• Grounded in real-world infrastructure

• Planned with confidence

It turns a generic request (“build a timesheet tool”) into a roadmap with purpose, precision, and user-first execution.