Timecard Redesign Prototype Testing

Project Type: Concept & Usability Research
Project Length: 6 Months

Case Study

The Problem

The TSheets mobile app currently lacks an intuitive user interface, causing user difficulties in locating their timesheets, submitting time-off requests, and navigating other critical functionalities. To address this issue, a redesign and usability enhancement project was initiated from February 2019 to June 2019. Through a series of unmoderated usability tests and iterative design improvements, the third round of redesign was deemed ready for real user testing. To gain a comprehensive understanding of user needs and working environments, contextual inquiry interviews were conducted. The problem at hand is to improve the TSheets mobile app's design and usability to enhance user experience and address the identified pain points effectively.

My Role

As a User Experience Researcher in this project, my role encompasses a range of critical tasks and responsibilities that contribute to enhancing the TSheets mobile app's usability and overall user experience. Below is a detailed breakdown of my role in this research initiative:

1. Research Proposal Writing:

I initiated the project by crafting a comprehensive research proposal that outlined the research objectives, methodology, and key deliverables. This proposal served as the roadmap for our research efforts.

2. Unmoderated Usability Tests:

I was responsible for setting up and managing unmoderated usability tests using the Usertesting platform. This involved configuring test parameters, selecting diverse user samples, and ensuring the usability test environment was conducive to collecting valuable user insights.
Collaborated closely with the designer to iteratively refine the app's design based on user feedback obtained from the usability videos. These iterative design adjustments aimed to align the app with user needs and expectations.

3. Contextual Inquiry Interviews:

Partnered with two companies willing to participate in our research, coordinating the on-site visits where employees were provided with a prototype of the app on dedicated phones.
Conducted contextual interviews during these visits, observing users in their natural work environment, and gathering in-depth insights into how they interacted with the app and any workarounds they employed to address pain points.

4. Data Analysis and Report Compilation:

Following the usability tests and contextual inquiries, I took on the responsibility of analyzing the collected data. This analysis provided the foundation for the research report.
Wrote a comprehensive research report that detailed the findings, user insights, and design recommendations. This report was a collaborative effort with the designer, ensuring that design changes based on research insights were well-documented.

5. Presentation to Leadership:

Prepared a clear and compelling presentation summarizing the research methodology, findings, design improvements, and the anticipated impact on the app's user experience.
Presented the research findings and design recommendations to the leadership team, seeking their input and approval for the next steps in the project.

As a User Experience Researcher, my role was instrumental in ensuring that the TSheets mobile app's design and usability were improved to enhance the user experience effectively. The process involved a combination of planning, testing, analysis, and collaboration with the designer to deliver a user-centric and enhanced app design to the leadership team.

The Solution

Key aspects of our solution include:

User-Centric Design: Our solution prioritizes the user experience, enabling TSheets employees to effortlessly engage with the app, focusing on their core tasks without the burden of a steep learning curve. By collaborating closely with QB, we ensure that the design aligns with best practices while catering to both current and future customers, thereby avoiding any disruption to existing users.
Seamless Integration: We work towards creating a seamless experience between TSheets and the QuickBooks suite, enabling smooth collaboration with the payroll, QBSE, and QBMMobile time clocking apps. The goal is to make the interaction between these apps as straightforward as possible.
Real-Time and Effortless Operation: Our mobile app is designed to be smart in real time, minimizing manual input, and streamlining the process for employees. This ensures that time tracking is efficient and requires minimal effort from users.
Transparency: Recognizing the importance of transparency in data tracking, we leverage the prevalence of smartphones among employees to provide easy access to app data. This transparency is not only beneficial for employees but also aligns with payroll's interest in using the time clock/timesheet screen as a foundation for workforce management.
Responsive Design: Taking into account QBSE's responsive design approach for the web version, our solution complements their efforts by delivering a mobile time tracking tool that seamlessly integrates with their platform, catering to the needs of users who predominantly interact with their website via smartphones.

Results

The data showed, after the release of the new timecard design, calls to support went down by 40% and usage of the automatic clock out went up 30%. These numbers, along with follow up research interviews conducted, concluded that the redesign should continue and is successful in solving usability issues.

Our collaboration with QB, the focus on user experience, and our commitment to providing a seamless and intuitive mobile app experience for TSheets employees positions us to meet the evolving needs of our users and contribute to a more efficient and productive work environment. This solution also supports the future goals of QB, aligning with their roadmaps and evolving mobile development support for QBSE and QBM.