Employee Time Tracking and Payroll Systems for Walmart Global Tech
Introduction
The Wal-Mart Employee Time Tracking and Payroll Systems project was launched to increase efficiency in the payroll systems, insure Wal-Mart was adhering to United States, State and Federal law and make the Wal-mart Payroll experience better for their employees. This project required working with difference product owners and product teams and obtaining approval from legal, technical and marketing directors. Using personae, journey maps, user flow diagrams and rapid high fidelity prototyping in Figma I got consensus on what to do and then quickly produced everything needed for testing and eventually production of the final product.
The Goal
Coordinate the requirements, directives and enhancements from multiple groups in a way that would increase time tracking efficiency and adherence to state and federal law in one seamless easy to use system for three major user groups.
The User Groups
We identified approximately 12 distinct personas, categorized into three primary groups: Payroll Administration, Hourly Employees, and Salaried Employees. Although each group had its own specific objectives, they all required a system designed with consistent user patterns. Furthermore, there was a universal need for reliable labeling and interactions to enable the users to complete their respective tasks efficiently.
Unified User Journey
The shared user experience was primarily focused on Walmart employees who needed to generate, modify, and oversee data related to their work hours or "clock-in" status. Users from all categories required precise information regarding either their own employment status or that of a colleague. Additionally, a universal tool for collaboration was essential. While the existing system laid the groundwork for these functionalities, certain design and technical shortcomings in various processes led to a less-than-optimal user experience. Consequently, some users found themselves stuck, unable to utilize the tool as originally intended.
Strategic Approach
The Walmart Time Tracking and Payroll Systems redesign initiative involved a collaboration among multiple products, their respective teams, and managers. The project initially had a set of directives, each originating from diverse concerns—ranging from the technical challenges faced by different development teams to usability considerations and lingering requirements from past projects. During the preliminary meetings, I gained insights into the legal, technical, financial, and design facets of the project and how they influenced each product team.
Walmart's payroll system is particularly sensitive to legal issues. For instance, under California law, failing to pay an employee for overtime within a specified timeframe could expose Walmart to class-action lawsuits and expensive payroll audits. Therefore, any technical or design hiccup that failed to record an employee's clock-out time could have significant financial implications.
Recognizing the need for enhanced coordination among the various product teams' directives, I undertook a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the user journey. I identified more than 12 scenarios, each with over 20 different flows. My subsequent analysis revealed several inefficiencies, particularly concerning legacy systems that didn't fall under the purview of any single product owner. These inefficiencies existed in a nebulous zone involving hourly and salaried employees, as well as off-site warehouse and delivery personnel. Time tracking spanned several employee categories, from in-store retail staff to warehouse and delivery teams, complicating communication and logistics across various management levels.
UX Design Process I reverted to fundamental heuristic principles to highlight systemic issues within the platform. I compiled a detailed report pinpointing the specific junctures where the user experience faltered. Initially, I presented these findings to the Senior Design Manager and subsequently to the Principal Product Manager at Walmart Global Tech. I suggested several UX modifications aimed at simplifying the user's journey.
Recognizing the value of my suggestions, the Principal Product Manager agreed to expand the project's scope to include adjustments to the time management system. I then shared this revised strategy with the full team of product owners, and we collaboratively discussed optimal solutions for the identified grey areas. Following a coordinated production timeline among all product owners, I revised existing user flows and introduced new ones using Figma. Collaborating with the research team, we fine-tuned these high-fidelity, interactive prototypes within Figma.
Once the prototypes were finalized, I presented them to the respective product teams for approval. I continued to support these teams during the implementation of each new workflow. The project portfolio includes several user flow diagrams and snapshots of some of the developed prototypes.
