Building a comprehensive HRM system
Project Goals
Product Designer: designed new HRM modules, ran workshops with stakeholders, created user journeys and personas, and ensured alignment with the existing design system.
Team: 1 Product Designer (me), 2 Product Managers, 1 Business Analyst, 6 Developers
When I joined the project, the core features were already in place. My responsibility was twofold: identify and fix any issues in the existing features and design new modules to extend the platform’s functionality.
My initial step was to get a hands on understanding of the platform. I received test login credentials and explored the environment to understand existing workflows, features, and user interactions.
To gain a deeper understanding, I scheduled meetings with business analysts, the previous designer, and the product manager, gathering insights about the product’s purpose, business goals, and the different user groups it serves.
I explored user demographics, pain points, goals, and needs, and examined how these were already addressed in the platform.
Since the product was also used internally within the company, I conducted sessions with internal leads to observe how they interacted with the system and understand why certain workflows mattered.
Based on these insights, I created a solution blueprint, mapped key user journeys, and developed high-level personas, which served as the foundation for designing the new modules and ensured they fit seamlessly into the existing platform.
For each feature, I followed a structured approach:
Once small features were polished, I was assigned two larger, complex modules:
People module: Introduced a separate employee directory to manage profiles, roles, and other employee information.
Attendance & time tracking module: Designed to track employee time, including clock-in/clock-out, work breaks, and total hours worked, giving both employees and managers clear visibility into attendance patterns.
For both modules, I followed a structured, user-centered approach:
1. Brainstorming & team collaboration
I conducted workshops with product managers, business analysts, and internal leads to define workflows, expectations, and key requirements. We used a structured sticky-note template to capture ideas, which included:
Participants added stickies under each section, which we discussed and grouped. These sessions helped define the identity of the module, user expectations, and priorities before starting design.
2. User flows & Journey mapping
From the brainstorming insights, I created detailed user flows and journey maps for Super Admins, Managers, and Employees. This included:
These maps served as the foundation for intuitive and role specific experiences
3. Design & States Consideration
Once the user flows were finalized, I began designing high-fidelity screens. My approach was iterative and parallel: as I designed screens, I simultaneously mapped out all interaction states for each feature, including errors, confirmations, and edge cases.
Before starting, I reviewed the design system. Whenever a required component or UX pattern was missing, I created new components and updated the design system to maintain consistency across the platform.
Throughout the design process, I:
After finalizing designs and receiving approvals I created responsive and mobile views.
4. User Testing & Feedback
After designing the modules and validating them with stakeholders, I conducted scenario based user testing with internal leads. I created realistic tasks that reflected actual workflows in the platform and observed how users interacted with the new features.
Through these sessions:
5. Collaboration with developers
Once the designs were ready, I spent a lot of time working closely with the developers. I shared the high-fidelity screens and walked them through all the interaction states, edge cases, and how each feature should behave. During development, I stayed in touch, answering questions, clarifying doubts, and making sure everything looked and worked as intended. I also checked that the modules were fully responsive and functional on both desktop and mobile. This close collaboration made sure that what we had envisioned in the designs translated perfectly into the final product.
What Went Well
The structured approach to designing these modules worked really well. Starting with brainstorming sessions helped me understand the users’ needs and pain points clearly, and creating detailed user flows made the design process smoother. Working iteratively with weekly reviews and mid-way workshops with stakeholders ensured the designs were aligned with expectations before moving to development. Updating the design system while designing also paid off—it kept everything consistent and saved time later.
Challenges Faced
One of the main challenges was balancing multiple user roles and workflows, especially making sure new modules integrated seamlessly with existing features. Coordinating feedback between stakeholders, product managers, and developers sometimes slowed down the process, and designing high-fidelity screens for complex interactions while considering all edge cases was time-consuming.
How I Would Approach Similar Projects Differently
If I were to tackle a similar project again, I would start with quick wireframes or low-fidelity prototypes for stakeholder approvals before moving to high-fidelity designs. This would save time and allow faster iterations. I would also plan more structured check-ins with developers early on for technically complex patterns to avoid rework later.
Personal Growth
This project reinforced the importance of user-centered thinking in complex systems and strengthened my skills in end-to-end module design, stakeholder collaboration, and iterative testing. I also gained a lot of experience in maintaining design consistency across multiple modules and balancing feedback from different teams while keeping the user journey seamless.
