Sympa is a complete, fully customisable HR software that lets you focus on your people and smart decision-making.
UX design
Project Overview
Problem
The situation at Sympa was tough: They had to deal with an old system falling behind competitors and lacking a distinct identity. They also had to fix issues within their design processes, as there were tensions between design and other teams. Plus, they needed to grasp the importance of design and how it impacts their product.
Solution
By talking to other teams in the company and sharing what design can do, I built strong connections with many teams. Open communication and clear guidelines helped us set up better processes for everyone.
Empowering our Product Managers and Engineers to understand design and bring their ideas to life helps everyone take control and see how design choices affect the product.
Realizing that design isn't separate from everything else helps us make better choices for the product and create a consistent experience across all our channels.
After consulting engineers, clients, and product members, we identified several key issues:
Users are frustrated with inconsistent system behavior, lack of responsiveness on mobile devices, and difficulty understanding admin configurations.
Lack of a UX process results in poorly targeted features and discontinuation.
Low visibility and importance of UX due to communication gaps and inadequate specifications.
Old UX specifications
Old product UX
Ideate
To address these challenges, we tackled them from various angles:
Prioritized user-centric approach. We established and promoted channels where users and colleagues could share their feedback, this help us to easily see patterns and decide on where to work to maximize the impact for the business. We also did more recurrent meetings with customers and involved them early in the design process.
Implemented Design Thinking. By implementing Design Thinking, the team could take a more structured and empathetic approach to addressing challenges.
Improved communication. Better communication with developers and product managers.
New UX specifications
Refine
A new cohesive experience was created taking into account the brand experience and following stablish pilars every time that we developed a new feature:
Accessible. Each individual is important and we aim to provide an accessible experience for all of our users. Designing for people with disabilities improves usability for everyone.
Relevant. We design for our users. Our main goal is to fulfill their needs and offer the best experience possible. Keep in mind this principle when starting a project and taking decisions.
Consistent. Every element is meticulously designed and based in our design foundations. This ensure a consistent and cohesive user experience.
Clear. Simplicity and clarity above all. We try to deliver minimalist experiences and help the users achieve their goals as clear and simple as possible eliminating ambiguities.
Outcome
Sympa has undergone a significant transformation:
Established a clear UX process for feature design, benefiting designers, product managers, and developers.
Enhanced user involvement through feedback collection, continuous interviews, and prototype demonstrations to key customers.
Improved specifications through structured documentation and collaborative meetings with engineers.
Unified product and brand experience, leveraging marketing expertise to align software with brand essence.
Embraced empathy-driven design, fostering a more human-centered approach.
Empowered others by educating product managers on design principles and tools like Figma.
Developed guides and UX patterns for easier navigation and decision-making across design, product, and engineering teams.
