Project Overview
Background
TechData, a leading technology firm, recognized the need to enhance internal communication, resource sharing, and project collaboration among its employees. The existing employee portal, known as “The Hub”, built on SharePoint, faced challenges such as low user engagement, difficulty in navigating, and outdated information, which hindered productivity and employee satisfaction.
About the Client
Tech Data is a large multinational distribution company specializing in IT products and services. As of my last update in April 2023, it was one of the world’s leading distributors of IT products, software, and services, acting as a crucial intermediary between the technology vendors and the IT professionals and resellers who purchase their products.
Tech Data offers a vast array of services and solutions tailored to specific customer needs, including supply chain management, logistics, product procurement, and technology solutions. Its business model focuses on helping its partners in the technology ecosystem optimize their operations, reach new markets, and offer comprehensive solutions to end-users.
Objective
The primary goal was to redesign “The Hub” to create a more intuitive, user-friendly, and resource-rich platform that would serve as the central point for all employees for information sharing, collaboration, and company-wide announcements. This involved improving the user interface (UI), optimizing the user experience (UX), and ensuring the portal is up-to-date with the latest company news, resources, and tools.
Role: Lead Researcher
Responsibilities:
- User Research: Conducted extensive interviews, surveys, and focus groups with employees across different departments to gather insights into the challenges they faced with the current portal and their expectations for the redesigned portal.
- Data Analysis: Analyzed the feedback to identify common pain points, user needs, and features desired by the employees. This included ease of navigation, personalized content, and mobile accessibility.
- Prototype Testing: Led the testing phase by creating various prototypes and conducting usability tests to validate the design concepts with end-users, ensuring the proposed designs met the users’ needs and expectations.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Worked closely with UX/UI designers, developers, and company stakeholders to communicate the findings and insights from the research phase, influencing the redesign strategy and decisions.
- Performance Metrics: Established key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of the redesigned portal in terms of user engagement, satisfaction, and productivity improvement.
Project Implementation
Design and Development
Based on the research findings, the project team embarked on the redesign of “The Hub”. The design emphasized a clean, modern UI with intuitive navigation and a personalized dashboard for users. Development efforts focused on integrating new features such as a dynamic news feed, a comprehensive search function, and mobile responsiveness.
Launch and Feedback
The redesigned portal was launched with an extensive communication plan to ensure high adoption rates. Initial feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with employees appreciating the ease of use, improved accessibility of resources, and personalization options.
Results and Impact
- Increased Engagement: Post-launch metrics showed a significant increase in daily active users and longer session durations, indicating higher engagement with the portal.
- Improved Satisfaction: Employee satisfaction surveys demonstrated a substantial improvement in user satisfaction regarding the portal’s ease of use and availability of resources.
- Enhanced Productivity: The streamlined navigation and personalized content delivery led to reduced time spent searching for information, thus boosting overall productivity.
- Ongoing Improvement: Established a continuous feedback loop with users to gather insights for future enhancements, ensuring the portal remains aligned with user needs and expectations.
Conclusion
The redesign of “The Hub” stands as a testament to the importance of user-centered design and the impact of thorough research in creating effective digital solutions. As the lead researcher, the insights and data gathered played a pivotal role in guiding the redesign process, ultimately leading to a successful transformation of TechData’s employee portal into a more engaging, intuitive, and productive platform.
