Designing employee services for frontline workers
Research with workers, managers, and supervisors examined access to employee services and task completion when a personal work device, private sign-in, uninterrupted time, or a direct route to support could not be assumed.
The research started with workplace routines and the support people used to reach employee services.
I led the phased research program, from fieldwork with workers, managers, and supervisors through concept evaluation and task-completion research with product partners.
Fieldwork in retail and manufacturing
Site research in retail and manufacturing settings examined work routines, devices, routes to employee services, and the assistance people used. Workers’ experiences were considered alongside those of managers and supervisors, whose support could make a service usable.
- FieldworkRoutines, devices, service access, and the help people used.
- AnalysisRecurring use cases and the conditions needed to complete a task.
- Concept and task testingEntry, authentication, request status, and shared-access experiences.
Device access and support changed who could finish a task
Analysis prioritized recurring issues by use case, severity, and frequency. Device access, time, privacy, authentication, and assistance provided concrete design requirements across workplaces.
Managers and supervisors enabled access when a direct route was unavailable. Their involvement also created responsibility for relaying information and updates, making assistance and coordination part of the service design.
How does the update get back to the worker?
A manager can help someone reach an employee service. The service also needs to account for how that person learns what happened and whether they need to do anything next.
Getting an update through a manager
Illustrative access scenario based on research findings.
- 1The access constraint
The worker cannot reliably check the service.
A personal work device or direct service route is unavailable. Independent sign-in and checking for updates cannot be assumed.
- 2Assistance makes access possible
A manager helps reach the service.
The manager provides a workable route to information or support. The worker still needs to understand who is helping and what they are doing.
- 3The added coordination
An update reaches the manager.
Information reaching the helper does not, by itself, tell the worker what happened. Relaying it becomes part of the assisted service.
The useful assistance and the extra coordination belong in the same service design. A direct route remains appropriate where device access, time, and privacy support it.
Testing entry, sign-in, and task completion
Concept evaluation and task-completion research tested service entry, authentication, request status, and shared-access and kiosk experiences. The work connected fieldwork findings to how employees completed tasks and received updates.
For a direct route, access and privacy have to make independent use possible. For an assisted route, the worker’s permission, the helper’s responsibility, and the return of updates need to be understandable.
From access requirements to shipped capabilities
The research informed requirements for direct and assisted access, authentication, focused tasks, clear responsibility, and visible request status.
DeviceOffer direct and assisted routes.
Shared or personal access. Make the direct route work when a usable device and service access are available. Make assistance a supported option when they are not.
TimeKeep the task focused.
A short or interrupted window. Let people identify the action they need, leave safely, and understand how to continue unfinished work.
Privacy & identityMake sign-in and exit workable.
A shared screen or sensitive request. Account for authentication, confidential help, and ending a session on a shared device.
AssistanceMake responsibility and updates clear.
Someone else helps reach the service. The worker should understand who is acting, what permission is needed, and how status or a next step will reach them.
Shared-access and kiosk capabilities shipped and were deployed with customers. The research informed the product questions and design recommendations that supported that delivery.