Scheduling feature for a Payroll application

Imagine being a manager juggling dozens of shifts for employees—sounds stressful, right? That's exactly the problem we wanted to solve for Hourly App users.
Many clients from small businesses were using spreadsheets to handle employee shifts and relied on third-party tools that weren't connected with their payroll information. This led to inefficiencies, errors, and communication breakdowns.
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My mission: design an intuitive scheduling feature that makes shift management easy.
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Inspired by real user feedback and industry trends, I set out to create a solution from scratch. Our vision? A seamless, user-friendly tool that fits perfectly into our premium offerings and addresses our users' needs.

We focused on core functionalities to provide immediate value while laying the foundation for future enhancements. We defined two main user flows:
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Manager Flow:

• View a comprehensive calendar display.
• Assign, edit, or delete shifts for employees or roles.
• Navigate through different views to manage shifts efficiently.
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Employee Flow:

• Access a simplified interface to view assigned shifts.
• Accept or reject shifts as needed.
• Set up time availability.

This was developed through collaborative teamwork involving product designers, developers, and stakeholders. Here's a brief overview of our design journey:

Understanding Pain Points:

• Conducted user interviews and stakeholder meetings to gather insights into user needs and business objectives. Many users shared that managing shifts on spreadsheets was chaotic and prone to errors.
• Analyzed existing shift management tools and software, noting that many relied on disconnected third-party tools.

Crafting a Solution:

• Brainstormed ideas in collaborative sessions, considering both user feedback and industry trends.
• Created initial sketches and wireframes to visualize potential solutions. One promising idea was a drag-and-drop interface for scheduling shifts, which resonated well with users.

Prototyping and User Feedback:

• Built interactive prototypes using Sketch to simulate the scheduling feature's functionality.
• Conducted usability testing with representative users, gathering critical feedback to refine the design. Simplified the add shift flow based on user input, ensuring it was intuitive and efficient.

Refining Design:

• Iterated the design through multiple rounds of testing, focusing on usability and clarity.

• User Adoption:
  One of the primary challenges I faced was gathering and incorporating feedback from a diverse user base, which posed a challenge in ensuring that the Schedule feature met the needs and expectations of all users while maintaining coherence and usability.

• Cross-Platform Consistency:
  Maintaining consistency in design and functionality across different platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, web) presented challenges in terms of platform-specific design guidelines, feature parity, and user experience optimization for various devices and screen sizes.

• Balancing Complexity and Simplicity:
  Shift management can be inherently complex, with various factors to consider such as employee availability, scheduling conflicts, and labor laws. Balancing the need for robust functionality with simplicity and ease of use was a constant challenge throughout the design process.

This feature was a solid step forward for Hourly App. Here are some outcomes:

• Engagement Boost:
  The introduction of the Schedule feature sparked a wave of excitement among users, leading to a significant increase in engagement and interaction with the app.
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• Plan Differentiation:
  By making the Schedule feature exclusive to premium plans, Hourly App successfully differentiated its offerings, providing added value to customers and driving subscription upgrades.
  

• Competitive Edge:
  Through careful analysis of the market landscape, Hourly App identified the Schedule feature as a key differentiator among competitors. By being the first to market with this innovative solution, Hourly App solidified its position as a leader in workforce management technology.