SIS Shift management

Tablet

B2B

Personnel management

UX

Research

Testing

Personnel management

Testing

Impact
Impact
100% reduction in record tampering
100% reduction in record tampering
70% reduction in customer complaints
70% reduction in customer complaints
50% increase in unit adoption
50% increase in unit adoption
Overall improvement in user satisfaction
Overall improvement in user satisfaction
Project introduction
Project introduction
In today's dynamic work environments, managing shifts efficiently is paramount for businesses across industries. Whether it's scheduling, swapping shifts, or ensuring adequate coverage, the process demands seamless coordination and communication.

This case study delves into the design process behind the SIS shift management application.
My role
This project was initiated by the product management team at SIS and is a collaboration of two teams. In my team, I worked as a UX Designer alongside a visual designer. The client team consisted of product management and developers.

I documented and understood requirements, conducted user research and testing, and delivered wireframes and final designs.
Client
SIS India or Security and Intelligence Services (India) is a private security firm in India, Australia and New Zealand.

They provide security personnel as a service to their clients such as banks, hotels, institutions, IT & ITES, residential colonies, retail and commercial establishments.
Business goal
Ensure customer satisfaction by improving quality of service and efficiency of their security officers.
Business objectives
Create a tablet based application that can help security officers manage shifts and rosters of their security guards in their unit.
Who is the user?
Who is the user?
My name is Rajesh Kumar
My name is Rajesh Kumar
Rajesh Kumar works as an associate security officer at a large bank in Hyderabad. He manages 25 guards across two branches.

Due to common no shows in staff, the bank has raised several complaints with his manager. He hopes for an easier way to manage staff in locations he is not present.
Rajesh Kumar works as an associate security officer at a large bank in Hyderabad. He manages 25 guards across two branches.

Due to common no shows in staff, the bank has raised several complaints with his manager. He hopes for an easier way to manage staff in locations he is not present.
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User goals
  • The user needs to organize shifts based on the requirements set up by the client.

  • The user needs to ensure the right personnel is positioned at the posts on time during each shift.

Paint points
  • Performing shift management through a book does not give the user an overview of shortages or available replacements.

  • Registers are often tampered with by other guards, creating false reports.

  • Evaluating employee performance requires the user to go through many old reports, costing the user a large amount of time.

The problem in a nutshell
The security officers are having a hard time managing guards in their shifts. There have been numerous customer complaints of security guards being absent due to shortages in personnel. 
Security officer
Posts
Guards
Security officer
Posts
Guards
Security officer
Guards
Posts
Posts
Product goals
This product should allow the user to...

- Create, review, edit and delete shifts and posts in each shift.
- Allocate employees to shifts and to specific posts within them.
- Generate reports for each shift and be able to download and email them for client approval.
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Challenges
Challenges
After multiple conversations with the client's product managers, I found myself facing the following challenges to design a solution.
Users are technologically challenged
Users are technologically challenged
The security guard officers have very little experience using digital products, most have only used smartphones with the most basic applications.
The security guard officers have very little experience using digital products, most have only used smartphones with the most basic applications.
No internet access
No internet access
The security officers may be posted in very remote and rural areas. Here the user will not have access to wifi and internet, therefore the user should be able to perform their main tasks in isolation.
The security officers may be posted in very remote and rural areas. Here the user will not have access to wifi and internet, therefore the user should be able to perform their main tasks in isolation.
But wait, there's more...
Users can't speak English
Users can't speak English

The users we are targeting have either the most basic education or have never been to school at all. The education the users received is not in English and I do not speak their language.

The users we are targeting have either the most basic education or have never been to school at all. The education the users received is not in English and I do not speak their language.
App cannot be localized
App cannot be localized

The client insisted that the app must be implemented in English with no plans to localize or provide guides and translations. 

The client insisted that the app must be implemented in English with no plans to localize or provide guides and translations. 
Users will not be trained
Users will not be trained
The client expects the app to be intuitive enough for the user to pick up and start using right away. The client did not have resources or budget approval to provide training for the users to be able to use the app.
The client expects the app to be intuitive enough for the user to pick up and start using right away. The client did not have resources or budget approval to provide training for the users to be able to use the app.
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-me at the moment
Research
Everything we have learnt so far has been from the client, it is necessary for us to speak with the users directly to better understand their needs and pain points.
Research goals
Find out how the user currently does shift management.
Understand what level of expertise do they have with android tablets.
What applications do they use on their phones, what interactions are they familiar with.
What words do they understand in written English.
Research insights
Most security guard officers could read English at a beginner level, terms used by their managers such as "Vacancies", "Buffer" and "Shifts" were well understood by them.
The officers use social media like Whatsapp and Facebook on their phones. While testing the android tablets, the officers consistently grasped drag and drop interactions very quickly.
The officers use social media like Whatsapp and Facebook on their phones. While testing the android tablets, the officers consistently grasped drag and drop interactions very quickly.
Wireframing and prototyping
Wireframing and prototyping
I began my design process by sketching out rough ideas on paper. I would upload them onto a computer to create working prototypes and use those to get a buy in from the client and their development teams.
I began my design process by sketching out rough ideas on paper. I would upload them onto a computer to create working prototypes and use those to get a buy in from the client and their development teams.
Once the initial sketches are approved by the client teams, I made a prototype on a design software. I used this to get more internal and client feedback.
Once the initial sketches are approved by the client teams, I made a prototype on a design software. I used this to get more internal and client feedback.
Usability testing
Using prototypes created from the wireframes, we once again returned to the users to conduct testing. We spoke to 8 different users.
Research goals
What interactions used in the designs are the most intuitive for the user?
Do the users understand the English words used in the design?
What should be the scope of training for new users?
Testing insights
Users were able to quickly grasp the interactions of dragging and dropping cards, making tasks of assigning posts learnable.
Users found any tasks of entering form fields difficult and time consuming due to not being used to the English keyboard.
Users liked the functionality being able to check employees in using the tablet and not worrying about the register being tampered with.
Users were able to understand most of the copy, especially words that have to do with their main tasks.
With these insights, we concluded the user needed the most help with the infrequent task of creating shifts and posts and this would be the focus for the training.
Final designs
After minor tweaking based off the usability insights, I coordinated with the visual design team to align the styling with the client's brand. Here are the final designs:
Employees
Description
Under the employees screen the user can get an overview of their unit strength and a list of the guards at their branch.
Value by design
This page provides the following points of value:
  • The user now gets an overview of their unit, being able to gauge the overall health and if needed request help from their managers, addressing their main pain point.
  • By being able to view employee attendance data, they are able make better informed choices of who to post and where.
  • The user also gets license and kit expiry alerts, these were recognized as pain points in our usability tests and provide additional value for the user and the business.
Shifts
Description
Here the user can view all of their shifts for that day in a chronological order. The user would then close a shift after the shift time has ended.

The user can drill down into each shift to view posts created under them.
Value by design
This design provides the following points of value:
  • This screen gives the user an at a glance view of their shifts in the day, this addresses pain point of security officers having difficulty managing multiple shifts.

  • Each shift also gives the user high level information about shortages in each shift, this helps the user address shortages

Shift roster
Description
Here each column represents the rank requirements of the shift. Under each column, the user can see the posts mapped to each of the ranks.

The user can tap on the column to bring up the employee menu in order to fill up slots in the column to complete the roster.
Value by design
This design provides the following points of value:
  • The system provides the user a list of employees that are applicable for that post. This saves the user time without needing to go over their register.
  • The users grasped drag and drop interactions quickly and we leveraged the same here. During testing, the users were able to complete the task of setting up their rosters without need for training.
Shift closure
Description
After the end of a shift the user needs to officially close it in order to generate a report that will be sent to the customer.

Here the user can verify the punch in and out times of the employee. If an employee has not performed duty according to the hours recorded in the app, the user can make edits to the final report.
Value by design
This design provides the following points of value:
This screen allows the user to generate accurate reports to send to the client, preventing the tampering problem when the reports were made using the register.
This design provides the following points of value:

This screen allows the user to generate accurate reports to send to the client, preventing the tampering problem when the reports were made using the register.
Impact
After the providing the designs to the client, they began work implementing it. The roll out of the app started in phases and the client provided training to help users set up shifts and posts for their units. After 6 months, the client shared the following statistics:
100% reduction in record tampering
With the app able to track exact punch in and punch out times, the employees are unable to tamper or falsify the reports generated.
100% reduction in record tampering
The biggest value addition is the assistance the app provides when addressing shortages. Users are able to quickly find replacements, do temporary up-ranks or send requests to their managers. This has helped ensure no shortages and less things for the customer to complain about.
50% increase in unit adoption
Users who learnt how to use the app were able to pass on their teachings to new users. This strategy helped bring the application to more branches quickly.
Improvement in user satisfaction
With the main tasks becoming easier, the client saw better retention of staff at locations where the app was deployed. Users reported a much higher job satisfaction by use of this app.