Timeline
My role
Tools used
Figma, OptimalWorkshop (OptimalSort), Excel, FigJam, Microsoft Word
Project Lead, Design Lead, Head of Communications, UX Researcher
January-April 2025 (10 weeks)
How Might We...?
How might we design an accessible and user-friendly HR Digital Toolkit that empowers small businesses in Grand Erie to improve recruitment, HR management, and employee development while minimizing costs and effort?
Project Scope 🎯
Small businesses in the Grand Erie region face significant operational challenges. This project aims to provide practical, easy-to-access HR solutions to help overcome these barriers.
👥
Labour Shortages
Limited access to talent, especially in rural areas, creating recruitment difficulties.
⚙️
Limited HR Capacity
Lack of dedicated HR personnel leading to inefficient HR operations.
💰
Financial Constraints
Time and budget restrictions limiting investment in HR technology and training.
Environmental Scan 🔍
📈 Economic Trends
Small businesses face rising costs and labour shortages, making it difficult to compete with larger firms.
🤝 Social Trends
Employee expectations shifting towards workplace culture, DEI, and work-life balance
Rise of remote and hybrid work poses adaptation challenges
📋 Regulatory Trends
Employment law changes require compliance without dedicated HR staff
Limited awareness of available government support programs
💻 Technological Trends
Increasing adoption of AI-driven recruitment and digital HR processes
Digital literacy and infrastructure gaps remain significant barriers
Research & User Needs 🔬
🎯 Primary User Challenges
👥 Recruitment & Staff Development
– Finding and retaining skilled employees
⏰ Time & Resource Constraints
– Managing HR without dedicated personnel
💻 Technology Limitations
– Limited experience with HR software and digital tools
📊 Research Methods
🌳
Evaluated toolkit findability on existing website
Tree Testing
🔍
Contextual Inquiries
Gathered direct insights on HR approaches and needs
🃏
Organized HR content for intuitive navigation
Card Sorting
Design Process
Competitive Analysis
The Double Diamond design framework guided the process by first Discovering and Defining the problem through research and analysis, then Developing and Delivering a solution through ideation, prototyping, and testing.
We conducted a early competitive analysis of different HR Resources to compare to the WPBGE after meeting with our clients:
Discover
Research
Define
Insights
Ideate
Brainstorm
Prototype
Test
Diverge
Diverge
Converge
Converge
Understand user needs
Define initial ideas
Develop & test ideas
Deliver & implement
Generative Research
We conducted "think aloud" contextual inquiries with small business owners (n=5) around the Grand Erie Region, specifically targeting organizations with fewer than 20 employees. Each session lasted between 15-25 minutes, providing focused insights into their daily HR challenges and operational pain points.
🎯
We connected with local establishments including Middlekoop, Lookout Lounge, Urban Parisian, and Slaman's Flowers.
🔍
Our compact sessions were designed to respect the busy schedules of small business owners while capturing their authentic HR experiences.
💡
Business owners demonstrated their current approaches to employee management, hiring processes, and workplace policy implementation.
Our research revealed several consistent patterns across these small businesses:
Technology Barriers
73% of participants expressed frustration with complex digital HR tools, preferring simple, straightforward solutions.
Resource Management
90% maintained minimal or no formal HR documentation, citing time constraints as the primary barrier.
Daily Operations
Information Access
All participants relied heavily on Google searches for HR information, often feeling overwhelmed by the volume of results.
"I spend most of my day in the kitchen. When HR issues come up, I handle them on the fly. There's no time to learn complicated systems or read through pages of documentation."
— Owner, Urban Parisian
Following these sessions, we conducted a hybrid card sort to evaluate how business owners naturally organize and interpret HR-related information. This exercise revealed that:
📊
85% of participants struggled with current category labels, finding them too technical or unclear
🎯
Users consistently grouped practical resources together (templates, guides, checklists) separate from theoretical content
💡
All participants expressed a desire for a "quick start" or "essentials" section for common HR tasks
These insights directly informed our approach to simplifying the HR toolkit, focusing on practical, accessible solutions that integrate seamlessly with the daily operations of small businesses.
Our Journey
Understanding Our Users
Through conversations with 5 small business owners, a clear pattern emerged: HR tasks were overwhelming their daily operations.
"I do not have time as a business owner to sit and go through HR processes and run a business! There's not enough hours in the day."
— Owner, Midlekoop Sheet Metals
Initial Explorations
Our first wireframes focused on simplifying complex HR processes into digestible steps.
Low-Fidelity Testing Results
Our initial testing revealed varying success rates across three critical tasks:
1
Mental Health Resources: 90% overall success rate, but only 40% found it directly without backtracking
2
Financial Support Information: 40% success rate, indicating significant navigation issues
3
Specialized Training (HVAC): 60% success rate, showing room for improvement
Mid-Fidelity Prototype Demo
Watch our prototype in action to see how we've implemented the key improvements.
Key Features Demonstrated
• Streamlined navigation paths for mental health resources
• Improved specialized training program discovery
• Enhanced financial support information accessibility
Refining Our Approach
We focused our mid-fidelity prototype on improving these three critical task flows.
Mid-Fidelity Testing Results
1
Mental Health Resources: Achieved 100% success rate, though directness remained a challenge at 42%
2
Financial Support Information: Improved to 57% success rate, indicating better but still suboptimal findability
3
Specialized Training (HVAC): Significant improvement to 85% success rate, with 42% directness
Current Status
This project is actively evolving as we continue to gather user feedback and refine the experience.
In Progress
Additional user testing sessions and creation of hi-fidelity prototype
Goal for Next Step
Focus on improving direct navigation success rates
Timeline
High-fidelity prototype expected by Mid-July 2025
Next Steps
While we've made significant progress, our comprehensive roadmap includes several key initiatives:
🔄
Technical Implementation
Restructure links to improve accuracy & seamless interaction
Convert prototype into a functional coded version
Assess & refine job maps & mobile interface for improved accessibility
🎯
Website Refinement
Refine Grand Erie Workforce website for better usability
Improve landing & workforce resource pages through redesign and restructuring
Rename unclear tabs (e.g., Grand Erie Jobs) for better clarity
✅
Compliance & Standards
Ensure compliance with WCAG, AODA, and OSHA standards
Document accessibility improvements and compliance measures
🔍
Ongoing Testing
Continue usability testing to optimize navigation and information architecture
Track and analyze user behavior patterns
Implement iterative improvements based on user feedback