Connecting project and employee management with a centralized profile
The company’s project management tool was used only by PMs to manage projects.
My role was to introduce an employee profile feature to synchronize project and employee management processes, centralize employee data, ensure its reliability, and make it accessible to all key departments.
My role
I was responsible for research, designing the entire employee management process, and handing it off to the developers.
Team
I led the feature design and research, with help from an intern and the design lead. The team also included a project manager and four developers.
Timeframe
2023
Problem statement
When we started working on the employee profile feature, the app was mainly used by project managers for project allocation. Employee data was limited to just names, positions, and rates, and other data was scattered across various spreadsheets used by different departments. To get the information they needed, people had to ask spreadsheet owners, and sometimes it wasn’t possible to share full records due to different access levels. This led to duplicated and outdated information. Our goal was to create a system where employee data is centralized, reliable, and accessible to the right team members based on their roles.
Employee profile users
Different departments need to access and manage different details about employees. Our users include HR managers, finance managers, project managers, people managers, recruiters, and the management team. Each has their own goals and responsibilities. When creating the employee management feature, we made sure to address the needs of everyone involved.
HR Manager
Oversee the full lifecycle of employee profiles and ensure information is accurate and up-to-date.
Project Manager
Check project allocation and access employee information such as skills and availability.
Finance Manager
Review employee compensation data and billable projects allocation.
Management
Access high-level employee information.
Recruiter
Create new hire profiles.
People Manager
Track pay raises and project allocations.
Process
We started with a kickoff meeting with stakeholders to establish business goals. Next, we conducted research by interviewing HR team members, recruiters, project managers, finance managers, people managers, and the management team to understand their processes, needs, and how we could address their current problems. We had multiple detailed interviews with the HR team to clearly define their processes. We also researched the HR domain and explored existing solutions.
Based on the data from these interviews, we defined what employee data would be stored in the system, its dependencies, access levels, and user roles. We worked closely with other teams to establish a consistent terminology for the data. We designed the information architecture and, after confirming priorities with stakeholders, created the detailed flow. We worked closely with developers to ensure the designs could be implemented and that the design documentation was clear. We also held weekly feedback sessions with stakeholders.
Project results
We created an employee profile that meets the needs of HR, finance, recruitment, project management, and management teams. Since the employee profile contains sensitive data, we ensured that only the right people have access to it. We also planned future features like reporting and employee onboarding and offboarding trackers.
This project gave me the opportunity to learn a new domain and work on a product that involves managing a lot of data and supporting a wide range of user roles.
