Workfront
Workfront is a cloud-based work management platform that helps organizations plan, manage, and collaborate on their projects. When I joined, it was known as AtTask, then rebranded as Workfront, and was eventually acquired by Adobe.
At Workfront, I worked with product managers to design new features for the software, based on the company’s roadmap and customer feedback. I then worked with developers and quality teams to ensure their successful delivery.
My role
UX / Product design
Prototyping
User testing & research
Time tracking widget
Problem: Time tracking is buried within the current SaaS app, and frequent users need fast access, especially when away from their laptop
User: Professionals who bill hourly or are paid an hourly rate
Constraints: Following Android widget guidelines, needs to map to the existing app, and MVP needs to make minimal changes to its interface
Solution: A mobile widget that provides quick access to track time and upload it into the work management system.
Process: I created mockups and a prototype, tested with users, and redesigned some areas of the app while working with the remote Android development team in Armenia.
One of the challenges was creating a simple widget that kept most of the workflow within the existing application while requiring minimal changes. To increase our time-to-value, we optimized the task list screen to sort items by most recently active.
Outcome: Time tracking was initially a very small segment of Workfront’s user base, and improving these features enabled them to accelerate growth across consulting companies.
Document approvals
Problem: Document approvals are not well tracked in the application, and clients want an explicit process
Constraints: MVP to have basic approval ability for fast launch, using components from Workfront’s design system
Solution: The ability to tag a user within the comment system and track an item’s approval
Process: I created wireframes and a prototype, which we tested internally and then conducted remote tests with our users.
Outcome: Delivered a highly requested feature very quickly. We gathered insights during user testing about typical workflows to understand approval hierarchies for a fast-follow story, providing additional control while maintaining the basic MVP through progressive disclosure.
Document management system
I collaborated with a product manager to integrate folder sharing into our document management system, enabling teams to work together on groups of files within a project quickly.
NYC contextual inquiry client visits
I traveled to New York City with a product manager and VP of Product to conduct in-person interviews with large clients, helping to build out our roadmap.
Upon returning, we collaborated with the team to create an affinity diagram of our findings and categorize them into focus areas and user stories.
We were able to identify areas for improvement, discover tasks clients were performing outside of our software that we could build to improve workflow, and prioritize quick wins for client adoption.
Chart design
During part of my time at Workfront, I led UX in the tool’s reporting area. I worked to improve the existing charts and reports to help users better understand their data. Simplifying this chart included removing unnecessary colors, drop-shadows, text bolding, applying smarter sorting, and reducing the background color.
Report delivery workflow
To optimize the speed of report delivery, we worked on a system of caching large reports. This complicated project required working across all areas of the company, including UX, product, development, and architecture.
