Streamlining a Work Distribution Feature
Research-Driven Design that Cut Task Time by 30%
Role
Led UX Team of 3 Designers
Context
Enterprise-level system supporting 20K immigration officers
Experience
End-to-End, Usability Testing
Impact Highlights
Redesigned a workflow feature that allowed supervisors to distribute assignments 32% faster.
Achieved a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of 85%, exceeding industry benchmarks and driving user adoption.
Established a strategic partnership with 15+ developers and PMs enabling seamless project execution and faster decision-making.
Issues to be Fixed
Tedious and time-consuming workflow - Supervisors' current work assignment workflow requires opening multiple pages to view scattered information.
“There is no easy method for moving work from a supervisors queue to a subordinate’s” - Interview Participant A
“It’s difficult to assign work as I would need to assign work to myself before I can reassign them to someone else” - Interview Participant B
More filters needs - Supervisors want more filters to narrow down the specific work to give to their team members.
In our discovery survey, 75% (15/20) of supervisors said they did not have adequate filters to assign work.
Work capacity - Currently, supervisors must open a separate page to access work capacity.
In our discovery survey, 80% (16/20) of the supervisors said they need officer’s current workload to assign tasks effectively.
Our Process
During design workshops, we brainstormed different design options. After several rounds of design iteration we decided on the following requirements:
Use existing workflows that users are already familiar with
Implement a vertical side panel for filter to enhance visibility and support scalability
Use a summary box that automatically updates with user’s selections
Converging into a final solution, we collaborated with PMs and developers to assess feasibility, identify constraints, and prioritize features for the MVP. We also tallied up filter requests made by supervisors in our initial discovery survey. We divided them into highly requested and less requested filters to better prioritize which filters would be incorporated into the MVP.
Impact Highlights
Redesigned a workflow feature that allowed supervisors to distribute assignments 32% faster.
Achieved a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of 85%, exceeding industry benchmarks and driving user adoption.
Established a strategic partnership with 15+ developers and PMs enabling seamless project execution and faster decision-making.
Issues to be Fixed
Tedious and time-consuming workflow - Supervisors' current work assignment workflow requires opening multiple pages to view scattered information.
“There is no easy method for moving work from a supervisors queue to a subordinate’s” - Interview Participant A
“It’s difficult to assign work as I would need to assign work to myself before I can reassign them to someone else” - Interview Participant B
More filters needs - Supervisors want more filters to narrow down the specific work to give to their team members.
In our discovery survey, 75% (15/20) of supervisors said they did not have adequate filters to assign work.
Work capacity - Currently, supervisors must open a separate page to access work capacity.
In our discovery survey, 80% (16/20) of the supervisors said they need officer’s current workload to assign tasks effectively.
Our Process
During design workshops, we brainstormed different design options. After several rounds of design iteration we decided on the following requirements:
Use existing workflows that users are already familiar with
Implement a vertical side panel for filter to enhance visibility and support scalability
Use a summary box that automatically updates with user’s selections
Converging into a final solution, we collaborated with PMs and developers to assess feasibility, identify constraints, and prioritize features for the MVP. We also tallied up filter requests made by supervisors in our initial discovery survey. We divided them into highly requested and less requested filters to better prioritize which filters would be incorporated into the MVP.
Ideation Workshops
Usability Study Key Findings
What went well
100% (9/9) participants completed the tasks and understood the workflow.
67% (6/9) participants found the tool useful and said they would use the tool.
“That was painless. The info in the gray summary box is great. It gives you all the info right there."
What needs improvement
45% (4/9) participants were confused if the tool was distributing 5 tasks to each officer instead of a total of 5 tasks.
We changed the language in the summary box from “# of tasks” to “# of tasks total” to make that more clear.
Ways we streamlined research
We made a tracking table to quickly calculate task completion.
We held internal team debriefs at the beginning, middle, and end of the study.
Beginning: We adjusted our usability script and addressed any hiccups during the sessions.
Middle: We reflected on our progress and shared initial findings/insights.
End: We summarized our findings with Key Findings, Useful Quotes, and Updates that were made based on user feedback. The findings were communicated to the development team and product owners in a concise summary.
Usability Study Key Findings
What went well
100% (9/9) participants completed the tasks and understood the workflow.
67% (6/9) participants found the tool useful and said they would use the tool.
“That was painless. The info in the gray summary box is great. It gives you all the info right there."
What needs improvement
45% (4/9) participants were confused if the tool was distributing 5 tasks to each officer instead of a total of 5 tasks.
We changed the language in the summary box from “# of tasks” to “# of tasks total” to make that more clear.
Ways we streamlined research
We made a tracking table to quickly calculate task completion.
We held internal team debriefs at the beginning, middle, and end of the study.
Beginning: We adjusted our usability script and addressed any hiccups during the sessions.
Middle: We reflected on our progress and shared initial findings/insights.
End: We summarized our findings with Key Findings, Useful Quotes, and Updates that were made based on user feedback. The findings were communicated to the development team and product owners in a concise summary.
Lessons Learned
Streamline research and development timelines - We conducted usability research while the development team was setting up the backend infrastructure. The development didn’t need to wait for us to solidify designs which shortened production timlines.
Loop in the development team early - strengthened coordination efforts and helped foster a sense of shared ownership. Because the development team was looped in from the very beginning, we had efficient conversations and enthusiastic collaboration
The usability study, debriefs, updates with dev buy-in only took a week to complete!
Defining & Measuring Success
Collaborating with the business, we also defined success as tool is being used, time spent distributing assignments has decreased, and supervisors are able to distribute to multiple officers.
Once the product was launched, we measured performance and evaluated UX outcomes using Matomo Analytics and running SQL queries. We wanted to make sure the tool was performing as designed. We found that:
80% of users choose to use the new feature over the old one.
Users spend 32% less time distributing assignments.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of 85%.
"this is a one stop shop, very useful for me" - User
Lessons Learned
Streamline research and development timelines - We conducted usability research while the development team was setting up the backend infrastructure. The development didn’t need to wait for us to solidify designs which shortened production timlines.
Loop in the development team early - strengthened coordination efforts and helped foster a sense of shared ownership. Because the development team was looped in from the very beginning, we had efficient conversations and enthusiastic collaboration
The usability study, debriefs, updates with dev buy-in only took a week to complete!
Defining & Measuring Success
Collaborating with the business, we also defined success as tool is being used, time spent distributing assignments has decreased, and supervisors are able to distribute to multiple officers.
Once the product was launched, we measured performance and evaluated UX outcomes using Matomo Analytics and running SQL queries. We wanted to make sure the tool was performing as designed. We found that:
80% of users choose to use the new feature over the old one.
Users spend 32% less time distributing assignments.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of 85%.
"this is a one stop shop, very useful for me" - User
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