OVERVIEW

Managers in many organizations frequently process employee requests such as time-off requests, schedule changes, expense approvals, or other workplace needs. The legacy system used to manage these requests was inefficient and unintuitive, leading to delayed approvals, errors, and frustration for both managers and employees.

Objective

To redesign the mobile user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) of the manager approval workflow to improve usability, streamline decision-making, and increase overall efficiency.

The Problem

The old manager approval process had a poor design and lacked key information, forcing managers to navigate cluttered systems without proper context. This caused delays, errors, and inefficiencies, slowing workflows and reducing productivity.

ORIGINAL SCREENS

Sample of the original design for a SWAP request. Two employees want to swap shifts with each other.

KICK'N IT OFF

We interviewed 10 managers in healthcare, retail and grocery sectors.

User interviews revealed significant frustrations with the old manager approval flow, highlighting issues like lack of clarity, insufficient request details, and overly complex navigation.

Managers expressed a desire for a more intuitive process that provides all necessary information upfront, such as clear request context, supporting documentation, and deadlines, to make quick, informed decisions.

They envisioned a perfect flow as one that is simple, streamlined, and mobile-friendly, enabling approvals or denials with minimal effort, along with the ability to leave comments or request more information when needed. This ideal flow would save time, reduce errors, and enhance overall productivity.

User Interviews

Golden Nuggets

• Managers need complete context, such as reasons for requests, supporting documentation, and deadlines, to make confident decisions.

• A simplified, streamlined flow is essential for quick approvals or denials without unnecessary steps.

• Managers also required more research on certain employees on past transactions and seniority in certain situations.

INSIGHTS

Managers need complete context, such as reasons for requests, supporting documentation, and deadlines, to make confident decisions.

Including features for adding comments or requesting more details is critical to improving the decision-making process.

Outside research may be required in certain situations. Making that more convenient for the manager is key.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

We created a problem statement to clearly define the user's core need or challenge, ensuring the team stays focused on solving the right problem throughout the design process.

How might we create an experience that can save time, reduce errors, be more informative and boost overall efficiency in the approval process?

USER STORIES & MOSCOW METHOD

We created user stories that we used as our building blocks to form this feature.

From these user stories, we organized them using the MoSCoW method. The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used in UX to categorize features or requirements into four groups—Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have—helping teams focus on what’s essential for delivering user value within constraints.

IDEATION PHASE

My ideation process involves whiteboarding to brainstorm ideas, wireframing to visualize solutions, presenting to stakeholders for feedback, and validating wireframes through user testing.

Step 1: Brainstorming

During brainstorming, we sketched ideas, mapped user flows, and organized concepts to refine user-centered solutions

Step 2: Prototyping

Created prototypes for stakeholder presentation and usability testing

Step 3: Validation

Showing prototypes to users and gathering feedback

THE SOLUTION

This is just one sample of improvements that helps the manager fight through the confusion and get a clear understanding of the employee's request.

THE RESULTS

Results for the first quarter with this feature "live" was outstanding.

10/10

Manager felt this design was a huge improvement.

Managers that understood clearly what was going on with each request.

Increase in mobile approval requests.

100%

33%

LET'S GET IN THE WEEDS

If you want to get a detailed review of this project or any other project - please contact me. I would love to show you my in-depth use cases.