The Problem to Solve
A top financial institution's phone and chat-based support staff and their managers were facing significant challenges due to a fragmented ecosystem of several legacy, in-house workforce management tools. These disparate systems lacked integration, leading to:
Redundant Data Entry and Tracking:
Both support staff and managers were required to input and track scheduling and worked hours across multiple systems, creating inefficiencies and increasing the potential for errors.Lack of Holistic Workforce Visibility:
Managers struggled to gain a comprehensive view of near-term (next 6 weeks) and far-term (18 months out) staffing needs versus actual availability. The absence of a unified platform made accurate forecasting and proactive staffing adjustments difficult.Inefficient Workforce Estimation:
The existing tools lacked dynamic data visualization capabilities to effectively compare forecasted versus actual workforce needs over the previous 6-week and 18-month periods, hindering the efficiency of workforce estimation processes.Limited Transparency and Control Over Worked Hours:
Support staff lacked a streamlined and intuitive way to enter and track their worked hours, potentially leading to inaccuracies and administrative overhead.Lack of Flexibility and Recognition for Top Performers:
The existing systems did not adequately accommodate mechanisms for top-performing staff to have greater influence on their preferred working hours, potentially impacting morale and retention.
To address these critical inefficiencies and improve the overall workforce management experience, the financial institution initiated the development of a unified platform. Our team was tasked with establishing a clear vision for this new platform, defining its information architecture, and delivering a user-centered design that would:
Consolidate disparate systems into a single, integrated solution.
Provide comprehensive visibility into current and future workforce needs against actual staffing levels.
Enhance workforce estimation efficiency through dynamic data visualization.
Simplify and improve the accuracy of worked hours tracking for support staff.
Incorporate mechanisms to recognize and accommodate the preferred working hours of top performers.
The goal was to create a workforce management platform that balanced operational efficiency with a positive and empowering user experience for both support staff and their managers, ultimately optimizing resource allocation and improving overall team performance.
The Breakthrough Approach
Our solution addressed the challenges of disparate workforce management systems by creating a unified, user-centered platform. As the Lead UX and Interaction Designer, I played a key role in defining the platform's vision, architecture, and user experience. The core components of our solution included:
Vision Alignment and Stakeholder Collaboration:
I conducted extensive stakeholder interviews, culminating in a Vision Workshop. This crucial step aligned product partners from various workstreams, fostering a shared understanding of the platform's mission and ensuring a cohesive strategic direction.Information Architecture Overhaul:
To address the fragmented nature of the existing systems, I performed a comprehensive information architecture audit. This involved analyzing the current state, identifying key issues, and developing detailed recommendations for a streamlined and intuitive organization of information within the new platform.Design System Standardization:
To ensure a consistent and seamless user experience across all workstreams, I led the creation of a set of standardized design patterns. This effort established a unified visual language and interaction framework, promoting efficiency and reducing cognitive load for users.Enhanced Navigation and Information Accessibility:
I spearheaded the redesign of landing pages and dashboards, focusing on improving navigability and surfacing critical information more effectively. This ensured that both support staff and managers could quickly access the data and tools they needed to perform their tasks.User-Centered Design Principles:
Throughout the design process, I championed a user-centered approach. This involved incorporating user feedback from interviews and workshops into every stage of the design, from information architecture to visual design.
By focusing on stakeholder alignment, a robust information architecture, design system standardization, and user-centered design principles, we delivered a solution that streamlined workforce management processes and empowered both support staff and managers.
What We Achieved
This project successfully delivered a user-centered workforce management platform that addressed the challenges posed by disparate legacy systems. The Vision Workshop was instrumental in aligning stakeholders and fostering a shared understanding of the platform's goals. The detailed process flows that were created provided clear intervention points for resolving long-standing pain points.
Ultimately, the redesigned landing pages and dashboards improved navigation and information accessibility, enabling support staff to resolve customer issues more efficiently. By prioritizing a user-centered design approach, this project enhanced operational efficiency and laid the groundwork for a more streamlined and effective workforce management system.