{"id":67968,"date":"2020-07-22T10:09:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T14:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=67968"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:20:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:20:02","slug":"browser-extension-help-remote-workers","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/browser-extension-help-remote-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Students Create Browser Extension to Help Remote Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Carleton Students Create Browser Extension to Help Remote Workers\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Third-year computer science students Kashyap Achar and Tobias Schlagenhaufer first met at an Ontario-wide coding competition and have been looking for the perfect problem to solve ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As naturally curious people, they often found themselves getting distracted online and gravitating toward websites that cut into school and work productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They knew they weren\u2019t using their time effectively, but the challenge was they weren\u2019t able to recall how much time was spent on these websites. Screen-usage tracking apps are commonly built into smartphones, but there were no computer tools with the same functionality. Considering that most meaningful work is done on desktops and laptops, they saw an opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tobias
Tobias Schlagenhaufer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how the idea for HourGlass<\/a> emerged. Inspired by a web development course at Carleton, the duo teamed up in February to apply the skills they learned inside and outside the classroom to create a real-world solution.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe set out to create a tool that gives people a sense of not only how much time they spend online, but where they spend it as well,\u201d says Schlagenhaufer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“We wanted to make something quick and easy to use, so the first thing that came to mind was a Chrome extension.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Achar took care of the research, marketing and back-end development, while Schlagenhaufer worked on the web design to ensure the user experience was as seamless as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Challenges for Remote Workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many to start working from home in mid-March, the pair began hearing through their networks that many people were finding it challenging to distinguish home life from work life. Between child care, elder care and household responsibilities, employees felt like they were spending too much time working and started feeling burned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Achar and Schlagenhaufer saw how HourGlass could help this new wave of remote workers manage their time more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see this as an opportunity to market HourGlass to startups and smaller companies as a productivity tool for them,\u201d Achar explains. \u201cWe\u2019re adding new features like website categorization and setting time grades that could help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kashyap
Kashyap Achar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Based on their LinkedIn reach and advertising, HourGlass already has 100 users, primarily employees at startup companies based in Kanata.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cThat is a sector where people are trying to be as productive as possible so they can spend more time with their families,\u201d says Achar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But HourGlass can be also be a useful tool for students to gauge how much time they are spending studying online. \u201cIt helps them see what websites they spend the most time on, which is important since we can\u2019t break down our day in the same way we could before by going to coffee shops or the library,\u201d says Schlagenhaufer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without these physical scene dividers, he says it can become more difficult for students to see where their time goes. HourGlass has a warning feature that users can set to let them know when to take a study break or when it is time to get back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Hour<\/figure>\n\n\n

More Productivity, Less Screen Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By running algorithms on the back-end server to obtain generalized data, the team is able to track how effective the extension is in managing screen usage over time.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cTo see the productivity, we are categorizing and ranking the productivity of websites,\u201d Achar explains. \u201cBased on that, we can see which categories of sites go up and down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In general, Achar says the team has observed a 20 per cent increase in productivity and 10 per cent lower use of screen time from users downloading and tracking the extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
HourGlass browser extension<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HourGlass also came in third place at the COVID-19 worldwide HR hackathon<\/a>, an online response challenge to help people throughout and after the pandemic. When the in-person event in Berlin was cancelled, the organizers moved it to an online global competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair submitted a two-minute<\/a> video pitch outlining the functionality and application of their extension and received positive feedback. \u201cThe judges particularly liked the warning feature that lets you know it\u2019s time to take a breath of fresh air,\u201d says Schlagenhaufer. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that there was something to help people cope with the stress of being cooped up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"HourGlass<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As companies continue to navigate complete shifts in workplaces, Achar sees an opportunity for HourGlass to expand their productivity reach while continuing to respect the privacy of employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf employees are working remotely, it could open doors to lower productivity and missed goals,\u201d says Achar. In his opinion, when people are not physically together, they are less motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHourGlass can be used to track employee and personal productivity generally and help put time back in their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

—
\nMore Stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third-year computer science students Kashyap Achar and Tobias Schlagenhaufer first met at an Ontario-wide coding competition and have been looking for the perfect problem to solve ever since. As naturally curious people, they often found themselves getting distracted online and gravitating toward websites that cut into school and work productivity. They knew they weren\u2019t using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":67969,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25,19],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-67968","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_type-technology-innovation"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/67968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/67968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98348,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/67968\/revisions\/98348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=67968"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=67968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}