The product
The product is a user-friendly mobile app designed to allow restaurant managers/owners to easily create and manage employees' schedules. Also, the restaurant staff can easily see their schedule, and request time-off or a shift change.
My role
UI/UX Designer
User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping & Testing, Interaction, Visual design
User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping & Testing, Interaction, Visual design
The problem
Restaurant owners and managers in my town often struggle with the manual and time-consuming process of creating and managing employee schedules. This leads to errors, miscommunications, and inefficiencies in daily operations. Employees face challenges in requesting time off and swapping shifts, further complicating the scheduling process. There is a clear need for a local solution that addresses these pain points and streamlines workforce management for my community's restaurants.
The goal
My goal is to develop a user-friendly staff timesheet app specifically tailored to meet the needs of restaurants in my town. By providing intuitive scheduling features, streamlined time-off requests, and seamless shift swapping capabilities, the app aims to empower local managers to efficiently create schedules and improve communication with their staff. My mission is to support the local restaurant industry, optimize staffing operations, and foster a more productive and harmonious work environment in our community.
In the next sections, I will take you through the step-by-step journey of my comprehensive research and design process, which led to the creation of a user-centric and efficient app design, specifically tailored to meet the needs and preferences of restaurant staff.
Understanding the users
After defining the research goals and the target audience, interviews with 4 participants conducted, so that their needs and pain points are identified. Based on the outcomes of the interviews, there are several features that can be incorporated into the app design to cater to a variety of users:
User-friendly interface
Ensure that the app has a clean and intuitive interface that is easy to navigate for users with varying levels of technological proficiency.
Ensure that the app has a clean and intuitive interface that is easy to navigate for users with varying levels of technological proficiency.
Automated shift scheduling
Implement a feature that allows managers to create and modify staff schedules easily. This feature would benefit both the restaurant owner and the manager, as it streamlines the process of creating schedules and reduces the chances of errors or conflicts.
Implement a feature that allows managers to create and modify staff schedules easily. This feature would benefit both the restaurant owner and the manager, as it streamlines the process of creating schedules and reduces the chances of errors or conflicts.
Real-time attendance tracking
Enable employees to clock in and out through the app, providing real-time attendance information to managers. This feature would be useful for the restaurant owner, the manager, and employees like Ioanna, as it eliminates the need for manual tracking and provides accurate data.
Enable employees to clock in and out through the app, providing real-time attendance information to managers. This feature would be useful for the restaurant owner, the manager, and employees like Ioanna, as it eliminates the need for manual tracking and provides accurate data.
Time-off request management
Incorporate a feature that allows employees to request time off directly through the app. This functionality would benefit both employees and managers, simplifying the process and reducing the reliance on traditional methods like phone calls.
Incorporate a feature that allows employees to request time off directly through the app. This functionality would benefit both employees and managers, simplifying the process and reducing the reliance on traditional methods like phone calls.
Shift swapping and trade management
Include a feature that facilitates easy shift swapping and trade management among employees. This functionality would benefit all users, as it simplifies the process of managing shift changes and ensures smooth workflow without causing scheduling conflicts.
Include a feature that facilitates easy shift swapping and trade management among employees. This functionality would benefit all users, as it simplifies the process of managing shift changes and ensures smooth workflow without causing scheduling conflicts.
Overtime calculation
Implement an automated overtime calculation feature that accurately calculates and tracks overtime hours. This feature would benefit employees like Nikos and the manager, as it simplifies the process and ensures accurate record-keeping.
Implement an automated overtime calculation feature that accurately calculates and tracks overtime hours. This feature would benefit employees like Nikos and the manager, as it simplifies the process and ensures accurate record-keeping.
Reporting and analytics
Provide comprehensive reporting capabilities that generate detailed reports on work hours, overtime, time-off balances, and other relevant data. This feature would be valuable for managers like Maria, the restaurant owner, and the payroll department for record-keeping, analysis, and payroll processing.
Provide comprehensive reporting capabilities that generate detailed reports on work hours, overtime, time-off balances, and other relevant data. This feature would be valuable for managers like Maria, the restaurant owner, and the payroll department for record-keeping, analysis, and payroll processing.
Building personas
Persona 1
"Technology is my ally in balancing my studies and work, and a convenient app would optimize my time and success."
"Technology is my ally in balancing my studies and work, and a convenient app would optimize my time and success."
Ioannis Papadopoulos
Age: 22Education: 4th year university student
Hometown: Athens, Greece
Family: 2 sisters
Occupation: Waitstaff & project management intern
Ioannis, a tech-savvy 22-year-old student and project management intern, seeks a mobile app to simplify his part-time job as waitstaff at a local restaurant. Frustrated with manual schedule management, he desires real-time access to his work schedule, easy shift changes, and convenient time-off requests. With such an app, Ioannis envisions a streamlined work life, allowing him to focus on his studies and career growth.
Goals
Easily check work schedule.
Request time off in a simple and convenient manner.
Swap shifts and communicate schedule changes efficiently.
Frustrations
Time-consuming process of contacting the manager or colleagues for schedule-related matters.
Difficulty finding someone to cover shifts or swap shifts with.
Lack of real-time access to work hour information and schedule updates.
Persona 2
"Simplifying staff management is the key to a more efficient and productive restaurant environment."
"Simplifying staff management is the key to a more efficient and productive restaurant environment."
Maria Ioannidou
Age: 44Education: Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Managemen
Hometown: Thessaloniki, Greece
Family: Single, no children
Occupation: Restaurant manage
Maria, a 44-year-old restaurant manager from Thessaloniki, Greece, has a strong background in the hospitality industry. While she excels at overseeing daily operations, she finds the manual process of creating schedules and managing employee work hours to be time-consuming and prone to errors. Maria seeks a staff timesheet app that can streamline these tasks, automate shift scheduling, and provide real-time visibility into employee attendance. She believes that embracing technology will not only improve efficiency but also create a more organized and productive work environment for her staff.
Goals
Streamline scheduling and timesheet management processes.
Reduce manual effort and minimize errors in tracking employee work hours.
Improve efficiency and productivity in staff management.
Frustrations
Time-consuming manual creation of schedules and timesheets.
Potential errors and discrepancies in recorded work hours.
Difficulty in managing shift changes, swapping shifts, and time-off requests through manual communication.
Creating user stories
User story 1
As a waitstaff, that also works as an intern,
I want to efficiently request time off through a user-friendly app
so that I can save time and avoid the inconvenience of making phone calls or engaging in in-person discussions.
I want to efficiently request time off through a user-friendly app
so that I can save time and avoid the inconvenience of making phone calls or engaging in in-person discussions.
User story 2
As a restaurant manager,
I want an efficient app that allows me to effortlessly create and manage employee schedules so that I reduce the risk of errors and save valuable time in the process.
I want an efficient app that allows me to effortlessly create and manage employee schedules so that I reduce the risk of errors and save valuable time in the process.
Creating storyboards
The goal of storyboards is to visualize potential solutions to problems that users are facing. Two storyboards were created at this stage. The first one is the big-picture storyboard, which focuses on the user, indicates the environment or context where the user is located and focuses on the specific need or pain point experienced by the user. So, Maria is struggling with creating manually employees' schedules, and discovers the app that can solve her problems.
Creating user flow
Creating digital wireframes
After creating hand-drawn wireframes, the design of the digital wireframes in Figma followed. The user flow concerns the basic functionality of the app, which is the shift creation.
Conducting usability study
A moderated study was conducted in order to find out if the main user experience (creating a shift), is easy for users to complete. Based on the research insights, the necessary changes were made to the designs, so that the difficulties that users face during the process are eliminated.
Establishing Visual Design
Building low and high-fidelity prototypes
