1HR - A complete HRMS Platform

TLDR;

OVERVIEW

Organizations of all sizes face challenges in managing their HR processes due to their dependence on manual systems. There is a need for a streamlined, automated solution that can integrate HR functions into a single platform that can be accessed on any device using a simple web browser.

DURATION

07/2024 to 10/2025 (4 months)

ROLE

Product Manager, UX Designer

RESPONSIBILITIES

End-to-end product lifecycle management (up-to implementation), market research, problem definition, personas, user stories, feature prioritization, user journey, user flow, visual design, wireframing, prototyping, user testing.

PROBLEM

Employees, managers, and HR require a consistent, simple, and robust digital platform that streamlines and automates HR processes. The current processes are manual or utilize an extensive method to maintain data regarding attendance, payroll, job applications, employment details, etc. Employees and Managers also find the process for attendance and time-off requests tedious and irregular.

REQUIREMENTS

Employee Features:

• Remote clock-in and clock-out

• Check attendance, correct wrongful attendance report

• Time-off

• Meetings

• Payslips and benefits

• Performance reviews

• Internal job portal applications

• HR policies of the organization

• Organization chart

• Tax documentation

• List of holidays

Manager Features:

• Approve/deny time-off, attendance correction, meeting rescheduling requests

• Upload performance reviews

• Schedule meetings

Admin Features:

• Payroll setup and deployment

• Internal job portal management

• Upload organization chart, HR policies, holiday list, tax documentation.

• Add employees, roles, departments, admins

• Edit permissions

Super Admin Features:

• Add organization, super admin, admin

• Edit permissions for each level

GOALS

A web app that can be accessed on any browser.

A color palette and typography that follows predetermined brand guidelines.

Basic HR features for employees of all levels.

Manager features to address requests for time-off, attendance, meeting rescheduling, etc.

Admin features to manage the organization, payroll, job portal, HR policies, tax documentation, etc.

Super Admin features to create organizations, admins, and edit permissions.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Organizations of all sizes face challenges in managing their HR processes due to their dependence on manual systems. There is a need for a streamlined, automated solution that can integrate all HR functions into a single platform.

Employees, managers, and HR require a consistent, simple, and robust digital platform that streamlines and automates HR processes. The current processes are manual or utilize an extensive method to maintain data regarding attendance, payroll, job applications, employment details, etc. Employees and Managers also find the process for attendance and time-off requests tedious and irregular.

>98%

Interviewed users prefer to have a single platform that streamlines and automates HR functions easily.

70%

Interviewed users would be willing to switch HR platforms if their specific requirements are fulfilled and the platform allows for mirgration of data.

PERSONAS

PAIN POINTS

1. Current HR processes are performed using MS Excel, with separate spreadsheets for attendance, employee records, and payrolls. The lack of automation, manual entry, and management of records is frustrating, time consuming, and prone to errors which take extensive time to identify and fix.

2. Performance reviews are manually maintained and coordinated through individual meetings without transcripts and poorly maintained records. Integration of appropriate tools would make the process streamlined and reduce inconsistencies.

3. Compliance with labour laws and regulations is difficult when tax filing, benefits management, etc., are done manually. Potential legal issues and non-compliance lead to significant stress and risk of expensive fines.

4. Lack of insights and analytics to present to senior management regarding employee satisfaction and performance. Absence of reports and analytics limit her ability to make data-driven decisions to improve the workforce and optimize HR operations.

5. Current recruitment processes are manual, with individual recruitment posts happening through LinkedIn and manual linking to internal records. Screening of resumes is manual and tedious.

PAIN POINTS

1. Delays in approvals of casual and sick leaves due to manual application processes, and delayed responses from managers and concerned authorities

2. Payslips and salary transfers are manual. Payslips and benefits documents are delayed on occasion

3. Tax documents are sometimes flawed due to manual processes. This leads to issues in filing tax documents during tax season

4. Attendance system is manual and flawed (sign-in book at security). In case of remote work or travel, attendance has to be corrected after return, leading to discrepancies in salary calculation

5. Performance review meetings are delayed due to scheduling conflicts. Lack of transparency in reviews, and in many cases, no feedback is taken from the employee side

6. Lack of self service options for basic HR processes, over-reliance on archaic techniques, lack of automated processes.

Note: the personas and pain points are for the entire HRMS platform (1HR), both desktop and mobile.

Interviewed users: HR managers, employees, managers across various professions

IDEATION

The research and interviews indicated that companies of various sizes had some form of an existing HR system in place. 2 key factors were an influence on the level of sophistication in their HR methods - the age of the company and the size of the company.

To put it simply, companies had either a mostly manual system, a mix of manual and digital systems, or a completely digital system. The ease of usage varied with each system and was a key influence on the satisfaction of employees with their current HR system.

Therefore, the concept involved identifying the core elements that employees and HR staff find critical to the functioning of the organization. The MVP (minimum viable product) would involve these core functions, with additional features to be included in a development pipeline and prioritized based on data.

Color Palette

Typography

INTER REGULAR

INTER MEDIUM

Aa

The entire user journey was broken down into sub-journeys that were associated with specific levels of access, namely Employee, Manager, HR/Admin, and Super Admin. As you go down the hierarchy of access, the number of features outside the core functions reduces. Based on this, the journeys were designed to be intuitive and require the least number of steps to complete the desired action.

Based on continuous feedback, the final feature set for the app was decided as follows.

INTER BOLD

SETUP & LOGIN

With respect to the colors, a palette that was simple and minimalist was chosen. The primary color chosen was the same as the brand logo (a shade of orange), and the secondary color was a shade of white to create a clear contrast. The same primary and secondary colors were used for the Call-To-Action buttons, focusing the primary color on the positive/affirmative action and the secondary color on the negative/contrary action. The rest of the colors are used in sections that occupy significantly lesser space. They were chosen based on what the actions represented. A shade of red to indicate penalty attendance days, a shade of blue to indicate a holiday, a shade of green to indicate the successful completion of a task, and a faded shade of the brand's orange was chosen for highlighting.

The typeface chosen was Inter, a type that is commonly seen in software applications or similar to the those seen in applications. It is also a typeface that is clear and the alphabets aren't clumped together, making it readable.

Employee Features:

• Remote clock-in and clock-out

• Check attendance, correct wrongful attendance (regularization)

• Time-off

• Meetings

• Payslips and benefits

• Performance reviews

• Internal job portal applications

• HR policies of the organization

• Organization chart

• Tax documentation

• List of holidays

Manager Features:

• Approve/deny time-off, attendance regularization, meeting rescheduling requests

• Upload performance reviews

• Schedule meetings

Admin Features:

• Payroll setup and deployment

• Internal job portal management

• Upload organization chart, HR policies, holiday list, tax documentation.

• Add employees, roles, departments, admins

• Edit permissions

Super Admin Features:

• Add organization, super admin, admin

• Edit permissions for each entity

HOMEPAGE & REMOTE CLOCK-IN

HOMEPAGE & REMOTE CLOCK-OUT

ATTENDANCE & REGULARIZATION

REGULARIZATION HISTORY & WITHDRAWAL

SUBMIT TIME-OFF REQUEST

TIME-OFF REQUEST HISTORY & WITHDRAWAL

MEETINGS - RESCHEDULE REQUEST

MEETINGS - CANCELLATION REQUEST

PAYSLIPS & BENEFITS

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

TAX DOCS, HR POLICIES, ORG CHART

HOLIDAY LIST

APPLICATIONS & JOB PORTAL

PROFILE

ORGANIZATION, SETTINGS & HELP CENTER

MANAGER, HR/ADMIN & SUPER ADMIN FEATURES

MANAGER - REQUESTS (ATTENDANCE, TIME-OFF & MEETINGS)

MANAGER - ADD PERFORMANCE REVIEW

MANAGER - SCHEDULE NEW MEETING

HR/ADMIN - SETUP & DEPLOY PAYROLL

HR/ADMIN - INTERNAL JOB PORTAL

HR/ADMIN - ORG CHART, TAX DOCS

HR/ADMIN - ADD HOLIDAY LIST

HR/ADMIN - ADD DEPARTMENT

HR/ADMIN - ADD ROLE

HR/ADMIN - ADD EMPLOYEE

HR/ADMIN - ADD ADMIN

HR/ADMIN - EDIT PERMISSIONS

SUPER ADMIN - ADD ORGANIZATION

SUPER ADMIN - ADD SUPER ADMIN

SUPER ADMIN - EDIT PERMISSIONS

LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

FINAL RESULT

Upon multiple iterations of the wireframes and prototypes, the final mockup of the web app was completed. Changes were made to the wording used in certain CTA buttons, and the overall journey was adjusted based on feedback. Multiple rounds of user testing were completed with HR personnel and non-HR staff to identify any gaps in the flow and design. The test results were satisfactory and relevant feedback was recorded for future versions.

HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

SETUP & LOGIN

REMOTE CLOCK-IN & CLOCK-OUT

ATTENDANCE & REGULARIZATION

TIME-OFF

MEETINGS

PAYSLIPS, PERFORMANCE REVIEWS, HR POLICIES, ORG CHART, TAX DOCS

APPLICATIONS & INTERNAL JOB PORTAL

PROFILE

MANAGER - ADD PERFORMANCE REVIEW

MANAGER - REQUESTS (REGULARIZATION, TIME-OFF, MEETINGS)

HR/ADMIN - PAYROLL SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

HR/ADMIN - JOB PORTAL, ORG CHART

HR/ADMIN - ADMINISTRATOR FEATURES

SUPER ADMIN FEATURES

HR/ADMIN - HR POLICIES, HOLIDAY LIST, TAX DOCS

TAKEAWAYS

1. User research showed that the chosen functions were appropriate and helpful for users.

2. The requests to managers were compiled under one single menu option named "Requests" for easy access and approval/denies.

3. Users requested a feature to link social platforms like X, LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. to create job posts as well as social media posts from the platform.

NEXT STEPS

1. Implementation of accessibility features such as dark mode, screen reader support, etc.

2. Linking social platforms to create and post information simultaneously.