APPROACH
The concept car
Because of time constraints, I chose to design not just a Minimal Viable Product, but the entire application right away. This 'concept car' allowed me to quickly map all possible interactions and work out scenarios. This resulted in a list of design principles that could be applied by the development team without my active involvement.
Getting into the shoes of the employee
To get a good picture of how employees went through the approval process, I spent many hours with them during their work. Through interviews, I quickly gained insight into their working methods and was able to determine where to focus.
From concept to MVP
With the concept of the concept car fully developed, the technical capability could be effortlessly deployed to create the first Minimal Viable Product (MVP) version.
SOLUTION
Trust on the trained eye
The focus was on providing employees with quick overview. Since they had developed a trained eye in Excel, they knew exactly where to find what information. Organizing all information consistently was the basis, with each type of information given a fixed place in the overview, divided into different categories.
Clear overview
The main goal was to provide employees with a streamlined overview, leveraging their Excel expertise to quickly locate specific information.
Modal
To modify, add or delete data, I chose to work with modal windows. This allowed employees to quickly modify needed data, including the use of key combinations.
Visual Cues
Relying on color alone in the interface was not enough, as users who are color-blind, for example, would miss information. Therefore, icons were used in addition to color to display certain messages even more clearly.
LEARNINGS
Keep in touch with your users
To fully understand the work process, it is essential to keep in constant contact with the employees. Being able to work directly with the end users offered me a great advantage. During the process, however, I realized that I needed to constantly keep this validation. The power of the interface is often in the details, which can easily be overlooked in the bigger picture. By constantly retrieving and validating the wishes and requirements of the employees, I was able to create an optimal user experience.
Project details
Client
Hogeschool Utrecht
Year
2021 — 2023
Collaboration
Eight
My role
UX Designer
Skills
UX Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Tooling
Figma
Sketch
