Case Study

Timesheet Exceptions

January 2024

Streamlined care staff timesheet exception handling, reducing a Finance department workload and improving the client experience.

Situation

At a prominent care agency, I initially served as a Senior UX Designer before formally transitioning to a Product Manager role. The company faced a significant challenge in their timesheet management process. After each shift, care staff would get their timesheets signed off via their work management app. However, approximately 10% of these timesheets had issues requiring intervention from the Finance department and local office staff. This process was time-consuming, inefficient, and caused considerable inconvenience to clients.

Task

My initial task as a Senior UX Designer was to research and design a solution to streamline the timesheet exception handling process. As the project progressed, I transitioned into a Product Manager role, where I was responsible for leading the development team, writing user stories for sprints, and ensuring the timely delivery of a high-quality solution.

The project aims were to:

Reduce agency overhead costs
Minimise client inconvenience
Improve overall efficiency

Action

Research and Design Phase (as Senior UX Designer)

Collaborated with the Finance department to categorise timesheet issues into six groups, identifying that 73% could potentially be resolved through our new feature.
Created user flows, wireframes, and prototypes for a new "Timesheet Validation" section in the client booking platform.
Conducted usability tests and iterated on the design based on user feedback.

Development and Implementation (as Product Manager)

Led the development team, writing user stories for sprints to ensure clear communication of requirements.
Collaborated with UI designers to integrate the new feature seamlessly into our new design system.
Developed Pendo product tours to introduce and explain the new feature to users.

Strategic Launch

Implemented a two-phase launch strategy to deliver value quickly:
Phase 1: Resolving Location and Signature issues (59% of total issues)

Phase 2: Addressing Start Time, End Time, Break, and Mileage discrepancies (an additional 14% of issues)

Results

The project exceeded expectations:

Week 1 of Version 1: 69% of Location and Signature issues were resolved by clients on the platform, resulting in a 40% reduction in Finance department workload.
One Month After Version 2: 89% of all targeted issues were resolved on the platform, leading to a 64% reduction in Finance department workload.

These improvements translated to:

Significant time savings for both the Finance department and branch staff.
Reduced client inconvenience.
Estimated savings of six person-days per week in the Finance department alone.

Key Learnings

Cross-functional collaboration is crucial: Working closely with Finance, Development, and Design teams ensured a comprehensive solution.
User-centric design pays off: Our focus on usability testing and iteration led to high adoption rates.
Phased launches can accelerate value delivery: By releasing features incrementally, we were able to demonstrate value quickly and gather feedback for future improvements.

Areas for Improvement

Implementing a comprehensive change management plan, including a go-to-market product marketing plan for clients, could have led to faster adoption.
Introducing incentives for clients to use the new system could have led to higher engagement.
Exploring AI solutions for validating the remaining 8% of Receipt Photos that need manual checking.

Conclusion

This project not only solved a significant business problem but also marked my successful transition from Senior UX Designer to Product Manager. By leveraging my design background and developing new product management skills, I was able to lead the creation of an impactful feature that saved the company money, improved efficiency, and enhanced client satisfaction.