Workflow Improvement

A context based dashboard to aid in individual workflows and increase productivity

Workflow Tool

Client: Apple Users: Individual Contributers
Project: Combine three existing tools into one dashboard to improve workflow and increase productivity.
Email
A mail update dashboard to track and close correspondences in 24 hours.
Productivity
A daily production tracker with real time updates and historical data at a glance.
Tasks
A list to claim, filter and process different workloads according to varying levels of importance.

Different teams with different workflows

Although the group included specialized teams with varying workflows, they all shared the following goals:
  • Keep the backlog down.
  • Process more than incoming each day.
  • Increase workflow efficiency and remove disruptive tasks.
  • Honor SLA agreement for vendor communication.

Review of existing tools against key heuristics important to daily workflows

Findable
Several screens to manage daily tasks and most of the information is not relevant.
Accessible
Information is only accessible on the user desktop and is broken up into several screens.
Clear
User path is free of obstacles and labeling used is understandable for internal use.
Useful
Much of the displayed content is not useful to many specialized teams and individual work.
Controllable
Lacks error feedback, has unclear controls, and some buttons do not work.
Learnable
Workflow includes unnecessary steps and messaging is not contextualized to the user.

Research and interviews led to the design goals

1

Simple, intuitive information architecture.

2

Account based content with collapsible fields.

3

Controls mapped for workflow mental models.

4

Visibility for use vs. importance.

Color pallette

Lisa
"Consider changing colors for more accessibility."
Ali
(Color blind user)
"This version is much more clear."

Card sorting for navigation buckets

From the research, I compiled a list of 38 different tasks that were part of every workflow, and asked people from different teams to put them in buckets according to their own workflows.

New design with Heads Up Display

After many iterations, the final design included a radial HUD for "sleep" mode. Users could still see their entire workload at a glance. The tool allowed users to manage their workloads and review meta content and quickly reference databases without disrupting their workflow.