GRID Analytics
Educating business owners on their financial health
One Workplace is a global platform designed to connect SoftwareOne sellers with customer requests from around the world. The platform tracks all interactions and requests, making them accessible to sale agents across various departments.
Enable sales agents to manage their tasks more effectively within the digital platform instead of spreadsheets, respond to requests more quickly, and have more time to pursue new customer opportunities.
Reduce learning curve
Allow sales agents to easily learn the new system without time waste or sacrificing efficiency
Improve speed of sale
Help agents process their sales faster and refocus their energy on chasing new leads
The One Workplace team was facing challenges in determining which improvements would deliver the most impact. Prioritisation was often based on internal processes rather than real user scenarios. Additionally, there was no technology available to track and analyse user behaviour, making it difficult to gather data-driven requirements for designing effective solutions.
I implemented a phased plan to set priorities for feature improvements, using field evidence to guide decisions.
One Workplace uses Microsoft templates, which imposed significant customisation restrictions. And limiting my ability to declutter visuals, make text accessible, and adjust menu item priorities and order.
I adapted my strategy on-the-go by investigating existing components and incorporating those that better aligned with user experience requirements, ensuring usability within technological constraints. With support from the engineering team, I proposed the creation of a dedicated testing environment using existing technology which enabled us to create a Proof of Concept to validate the experience of new design solutions within the platform.
3000+
Sales agents impacted positively by Notifications, already released by the time I report this data.
97%
Tasks success rate during usability test (from an initial 57%), allowing agents to efficiently track their workflow.
Without available usage data to begin the investigation and no integrated technology to support my analysis, I tested the existing platform with sales agents from different countries to draw the starting point of the experience. The content for the test included the main user journeys of the existing platform, such as: finding assigned tasks, claiming new customer requests, tracking the team's progress, find newly generated requests.
57%
Success rate
I reported test results based on users' success or failure to interact as expected, revealing an average success rate of only 57% across both expert and inexperienced users. This prompted the business to recognise the urgency of usability improvements to enhance adoption rates.
During the test sessions, I dedicated time to observing people's challenges and investigating their sentiments, so as to have both a quantitative and qualitative picture of real users' needs.
Overuse of business lingo
The navigation's business jargon posed a significant challenge for users, requiring familiarity with acronyms and company-specific terms for successful navigation. Only highly trained users found the experience comfortable
Uncommon patterns
The Notifications component deviated notably from industry standards, causing users to overlook it. In tests, 100% of users failed to notice the feature, despite its prominent placement, due to their preconceived expectations of where it should be found
.png)
In addition to usability tests, I interviewed 5+ sales agent to learn about their processes and expectations. I collated that information to generate three pillars that have driven and kept the design on track moving forward.
I simplified the labels for each critical menu area and in-page navigation, aligning them with their core functionality and grouping similar features together. This approach, inspired by the Gestalt design principle of proximity, enhances and facilitates the navigation.
I relied on common industry-standard patterns for notifications and positioned the access point of the feature (the bell icon) in the top-right area of the main menu. This ensures users are familiar with its location, facilitating navigation.
I chose a code-based prototype to enhance the realism of navigation, a level of detail I couldn't achieve with Sketch mockups for every aspect of the app. My aim was to give users the freedom to explore every corner of the application and immerse themselves in a genuine experience while running tests. Moreover, due to the limitations of the template-based technology used to build One Workplace, I couldn't utilise the company's design system, leading me to opt for a code-based prototype to minimise the risk of extensive styling and streamline my creative process.
.png)
I validated the design concept by conducting a short round of usability tests with sales agents to capture major inconsistencies. Feedback was generally positive, and I was able to gather additional requirements by observing their interactions.
Guidance on tasks
Users strived for more clear guidance throughout the sales process, especially regarding pending required actions. Visibility of these tasks was crucial for boosting daily efficiency
Boost tickets search
The filter functionalities were buried away and difficult to navigate, prompting sales agents to request a more efficient method for searching specific cases, teammates, or customers
Reduce unused space
Sales agents needed detailed customer request information for prioritisation. However, the use of Kanban columns in the main view compromised visibility, precluding differentiation between cases
Allow bulk actions
With hundreds of tickets to manage daily, sales agents sought a more efficient way to address multiple assignments simultaneously, minimising the time spent navigating between screens
Despite receiving positive feedback from users and Stakeholders, concerns arose within the engineering team regarding the previous design's liberal approach to decluttering visuals, which technology limitations made unfeasible.
To address this, I adjusted my strategy by incorporating alternative existing components that better aligned with design requirements, ensuring usability within technological constraints. With the engineering team's support, we established a dedicated testing environment using the existing technology to create a Proof of Concept.
I overall conducted 15+ individual testing sessions lasting 15 to 30 minutes each, and involving participants of varying expertise levels. 11 out of 12 journeys have been fully optimised, resulting in user success rates ranging from 65% to 100%. This marks a significant improvement from the initial performance, where the execution of 5 journeys failed critically and 3 were performed with errors.
.png)
Using the coding language R and a customised database, I meticulously tracked and analysed results, monitoring the evolution of design experiences. By recording every participant's journey test results from each session and feeding them into the script, I could identify trends and fine-tune journeys that were underperforming to optimise adoption upon release.
One of the significant challenges I encountered in this project was the necessity to streamline the visual design to its bare essentials due to technological constraints. This experience highlighted the importance of efficient collaboration among team members, demonstrating that even in the most rigid environments, adhering to basic design principles can result in effective solutions. This served as a valuable reminder that functionality, rather than sleek visuals, is the foundation for digital success.