Kazoo HR: Redesigning Check-Ins–an underutilized performance feature
Increasing feature adoption by designing a more intuitive interface that provides real value to employees and managers by having accurate and productive development conversations.
My role
Market research • Interviews (internal and customer) • Product direction and strategy • Journey maps & user flows • Rapid, iterative wireframe feedback • Stakeholder reviews • High-fidelity mockups & prototypes • Usability testing & validation
Project Team
Lead Designer (Me)
Design Manager
Product Manager
Engineering
Additional Stakeholders
Design Duration
2 months
The problems
Employees and Managers did not see the value in using the feature. It was more frustrating to use than helpful, causing the adoption and renewal rates to be very low.
Usability issues
The #1 complaint from both Employees and Managers was that the legacy Check-Ins feature was not intuitive to use. There was clunky UX, functionality issues and poor visual hierarchy.
Lack of Value
Employees and Managers did not see value in completing Check-Ins. They didn’t feel like there were actionable items to help them grow or functionality to highlight their achievements.
Outdated Interface
Users felt like the tool was too administrative and sterile, making the process of completing a Check-In feel unenjoyable, like “homework”.
The Goal
Create a best-in-class Check-In solution for both Employees and Managers. It will accurately synthesize performance so Employees can have more productive, efficient, and accurate development conversations with their Managers.
Success Metrics
Increase user adoption of Check-Ins by boosting active monthly users, user engagement, and completion rates.
Year
2020
Existing Screens
Employee Check-In
Employees were not provided with clear instruction or guidance for the Check-In tool. As a result, Managers had to spend additional time showing employees how to use and what to expect during the Check-In, instead of the tool providing them with the necessary guidance.
Creating a Check-In for Managers
Managers had to learn how to create a Check-In by attending a tutorial with Customer Success. The form lacked guidance, instruction, and had unclear labels and copy.
Design Timeline
One of the first steps taken for this project was to work backwards from the desired Engineering start date. It was important to map out the design milestones I wanted to hit in my process to have everyone onboard and get full visibility into my plan of action. This timeline also allowed for Stakeholders and other key players to see where they would be included in the process.
Research
Market research
Uncovering previous research existing within the organization
Competitive analysis of performance management tools
Interviews
Internal interviews
Informal internal discussions with individual in Sales, Product Marketing, HR and Customer Success
Customer interviews
Who?
4 current customers (2-3 users within each company)
Selected users within each company that fall under our 3 personas: Employee, Manager and Admin
After talking with 4 different companies, I started to hear repetition in pain points and new areas of improvement within the current feature
What?
What is the main purpose of Check-Ins within your organization?
What areas or details of Check-Ins are the most frustrating?
How is the Employee vs. Manager vs. Admin using Check-Ins?
What do you wish you could have in Check-Ins that isn’t currently there?
Why?
Gain insights on how to ease the current pain points and frustration around Check-Ins
To improve the experience from the Admin setting up the Check-In to creating an enjoyable and valuable experience for employees and managers
How?
45 minute sessions
I was the moderator with a volunteered note taker
Created a structured outline of questions for each persona (Employee, Manager, Admin)
User journey map
This journey map was formed based off of customer feedback and lays out every stage of the Check-Ins user experience at a high level. It documents at each stage in the journey, the actions each persona is taking, pain points they are experiencing, opportunities for improvement and their overall sentiment during each stage.
Legacy user flows
I created user flows to show the user’s movement through the feature, mapping out each step the user takes — from entry point to the final interaction or goal they are trying to achieve in the product.
Affinity Mapping
After our interviews and internal discussions, we had a long list of pain points and ideas so we used this method of affinity mapping to organize the many ideas into groups with common themes under each persona.
We knew we wanted to fix the majority of the pain points listed but wanted to get CS input on which new feature ideas were top priority.
Strategy
Create a best in class Check-In experience that is:
Approachable and easy-to-use
Offers guidance, support and actionable items
Supports varying review needs (cadence, performance ratings)
Summarizes real-time activities within the platform
Saves employees’ and managers’ time
Provides real value to Managers and Employees
How did the PM and I come up with this strategy?
This strategy was developed from everything we discovered from the research phase and it would guide and influence the new designs. We approved the direction of this strategy with Stakeholders and Executives.
Customer validation on wireframe concepts
What I was looking for feedback on:
Validation on overall direction
Reactions to 2 different concepts (A/B testing)
Can the user complete a list of tasks
Additional areas of improvement
The Solution
Employee Experience
Offers guidance by showing the Employee what to expect through a clear step-by-step process
Summarizes overall performance of quarterly Goals, Recognition and Feedback
Provides resources for Employees to have the most helpful Check-In experience
Captures Employee’s sentiment because it’s an important part of performance
Visibility into what to expect at each stage of the Check-In process
Actionable items to help the Employee continue to grow
Manager Experience
Offers guidance by showing the Manager what to expect through a clear step-by-step process
Clear statuses of all Employees Check-Ins
Summarizes Employees’ overall performance of quarterly Goals, Recognition and Feedback
Provides resources for Managers to have the most productive Check-In conversations
Provides Talent Assessment to analyze, display, and compare employee work performance and potential
Visibility into what to expect at each stage of the Check-In process
Impact
Qualitative Feedback
Both Employees and Managers found Check-Ins to be intuitive and valuable, contrary to their previous feedback that it was a waste of time
Managers felt they would be able to provide more helpful feedback to employees after gaining better insight into their performance
Employees felt less overwhelmed and found the new process approachable. They were also able to understand their actionable next steps more clearly to grow in their role.