POOR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT END USERS
Overall poor knowledge about the end users of the application. General illiteracy concerning user needs and use context.
2017.08 - 2022.05 CASe: REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS FOR UX AND CX Customer; Visma public business Suite HRM
REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS regarding UX & CX
Background
Arriving at Visma I was assigned to put my focus on Visma Public Business Suite HRM, referred to as a “product” in the HRM-segment.
I quickly realized that this was no single product but a Suite of products, with a Portal solution attached to it.
It also had its own authentication and user management system. All packed with 40 years of legacy back- & front-end code.
Development of the suite was distributed across 4 teams, with members scattered all across Sweden and Riga, Latvia. In total about 35 people. In regards to UX and UI standards the quality was appallingly low. In addition to this there was also a low awareness of who the solution was serving, which users to prioritize and what to focus on. In short a huge effort in regards to UX.
I analyzed & broke down the issues into following challenges & initiatives that were pursued with during several years ahead.
2017.08 - 2022.05 CASE: REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS FOR UX AND CX CUSTOMER; VISMA PUBLIC BUSINESS SUITE HRM
Summary of challenges
NONE OR VERY LOW USE OF FEEDBACK
None or very low use of user & customer feedback, non-existing user testing & passive approach to customer involvement.
Non-iterative, Tech focused process
Concept and Development work generally tech focused, non-iterative and not design driven.
OUTDATED NAVIGATION FRAMEWORK
Outdated navigation framework that led to deep navigation & hampered possibilities for cross-sell of Visma offers.
Major “HYGIENE” issues
Huge issues regarding web standard, WCAG-compliance, language, & consistency - both regarding UI & workflow
AESTHETICS
Most applications looked like shit and not in line with Visma guidelines. In addition to this most views non-responsive
2017.08 - 2022.05 CASE: REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS FOR UX AND CX CUSTOMER; VISMA PUBLIC BUSINESS SUITE HRM
Efforts & Actions
1 User research & Personas
Contextual interviews with 30 users across 6 customers in Sweden
Desktop research;
Revisit of previous HRM research and Visma customer dataPersonas created based on research done
View sAMPLE WORK
2 Setup of CX framework
Inventory of current feedback sources.
Analysis and categorization of idea bank issues in order to identify improvement areas
Introduction of In moment NPS rating system
3 Agile UX approach
Introduction of more agile approach to UI spec
Encouraged use of personas among dev teams
Low-fi prototype & incremental enhancement of specifications rather than detailed specifications
Intro of quickNdirty user testing
4 New navigation framework
Research and analysis into the current Portal product Visma Window-platform
Developed new concept & setup for navigation
5 Aesthetics & Accessibility
Accessibility assessments of the system
Creation of design guidelines regarding accessibility and UX
Setup of guidelines for QC and developers for continuous WCAG testing
6 Redesign of applications
Classic UX work for several applications
Redesign and creation of sveral new concepts for applications within the suite
In many cases refactoring and refreshment of on-prem applications to browser format
2017.08 - 2022.05 CASE: REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS FOR UX AND CX CUSTOMER; VISMA PUBLIC BUSINESS SUITE HRM
Highlight - User Research & Personas
Personas for Visma Public Business Suite
I started off my work for Visma Public Business suite HRM with a major research effort involving secondary research, stakeholder interviews and more than 30 contextual interviews with users across 6 customers and sites.
This research helped identify major user pains and issues that we set up to resolve in redesign efforts in years to come.
Data about user and contexts was analyzed and synthesized into a set of persona descriptions that I set up to help the teams get a grip of whom they were designing for. These personas were set up into 4 pages as described below
1. profile page
Page describing basic features of the persona such as needs, motivations, attitudes and willingness to commit and engage, as well as pains & obstacles.
2. Main user journey
Description of main Journey and focus of tasks for the Persona in order to enhance understanding about them and what they focus on.
3. Common tasks
List of tasks according to frequency in order to convey understanding about what’s most and least important for the user.
4. Collaborators
Presents contacts across an axis in relation to frequency in order to show dependencies and relations important for the user & performance of tasks. Useful when setting up user stories and flows and track where communication flaws occur.
Outcomes from the User research & Personas activity
Identification of new target groups
A major insight and tangible result of the research & refinement into persona profiles was the discovery of a previously overseen target group, the Managers assistants, and the impact they had on efficiency, overall workflow and workload on internal support.
Persona features informing design
Another example was the Employee persona profile, which highlighted the common situation of limited access to the system on one shared computer in an open workspace. A fact that directed and informed us into how to redesign the summaries and salary specification pages for the system.
A tool for empathisizing with user
Last but not least; The value of the personas as aid for team members getting a grip of whom the system served was accomplished. In addition to this, the personas served as a place for anchoring and connecting new findings and insights continually revealed with customers and stakeholders.
2017.08 - 2022.05 CASE: REDESIGN & SETUP OF DESIGN OPS FOR UX AND CX CUSTOMER; VISMA PUBLIC BUSINESS SUITE HRM
Project Outcome
a modern, Visma style compliant HRM tool
Ending my work with Visma Public Suite HRM in 2022 I recollected the original state of the product and felt satisfied with what I and the teams had accomplished. We had transformed the product from being a legacy product with below average UX to being a modern Visma style compliant HRM tool.
Most important for me was the frameworks I had introduced. The backbone of keeping a product vivid, up to date & in par with customer & user needs.
User centered development process introduced
Introduced Agile UX work process for all the development teams in a product team that had no previous legacy for working with UX before
Personas as a tool for designing better apps
Created personas based on research which revealed pivotal user needs, requirements and helped team members gain perspective on the users
CX Framework setup & used for prioritization
Initiated the setup of CX framework and ability to continuously collect quantitative user & customer feedback
From legacy product to modern web standards
Completed several redesign effort based on my research and experience which transformed the product from being a legacy product with below average UX to being a modern Visma style compliant HRM tool