KrowD Redesign Use Case | Jin-Joo McCain

KrowD Application Redesign

Skills

User Research

Wireframing

UX/UI Design

Application

Figma

Overview

The KrowD Application is used by employees under the Darden Restaurant portfolio of brands. With KrowD, employees and managers can oversee shifts, message other coworkers, and ask for time off.

Problem Statement

These days most restaurant workers don't have to rely on a paper schedule to know when they have a shift. Though having KorwD on your phone makes communication convenient, users still need a seamless platform that allows them to easily navigate through KrowDs many features.

Competitive Analysis

To better understand the scheduling application market, I conducted a competitive analysis of three existing products: HotSchedules, 7Shifts, and Humanity. All three offer users the ability to access their schedules, though they differ in a few significant ways.

Strength

Allows users to clock in and clock out from their phone

Integrate schedule with Google Calendar

View pay and time/attendance

Weakness

Does not automatically update changes to Google Calendar

Does not implement employee feedback surveys

Cannot change availability from app

Automated satisfaction surveys after every shift

Automated shift reminders

Strong brand identity and appealing image-heavy visual design

Does not allow personal calendar integration

Can not view current pay

Cannot change availability from app

Users can adjust their availability from the app

Simple minimal visual design

Advanced search and filter features

Does not allow personal calendar integration

Does not implement employee feedback surveys

Can not personalize profile except for photo

After looking over three existing applications, having a clear focus on making the employee a priority while incorporating new features that enable more efficiency for the restaurant would help set KrowD apart from existing products on the market.

Understanding the User

With a better understanding of existing scheduling applications, I conducted a survey on 10 Olive Garden servers in Lubbock, TX to gain a better understanding of their work values and struggles.

Analyzing the results, here are some of the conclusions noticed:

90% of the servers work at least 20 hours a week.

From that 90%, 30% use KrowD to get shifts picked up and the other 60% use an employee made Facebook page.

The three features all 10 servers said that they found to be most important were My Shifts, Time-Off Requests, and Messaging.

Screen Shot 2021-02-04 at 1.49.36 PM.png

The information gained from the survey informed the creation of the Matt Johnson persona that is representative of potential users’ goals and frustrations with restaurant scheduling.

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The Process

I began wireframing by sketching out screens that represented areas of the application users used the most. Many screens had a few different iterations in the initial sketches in order to visualize different layouts and placements for the schedule and availability.

My sketches were a bit rough around the edges... so I created some basic digital iterations of the different pages on Figma.

Screen Shot 2021-02-10 at 3.42.43 PM.png

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Screen Shot 2021-02-10 at 3.44.37 PM.png

Final Design

Before

After

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Screen Shot 2021-02-11 at 5.32.44 PM.png

What I Included:

New Design

In the survey I conducted, many users said that the design felt outdated and "stale". When I was redesigning the theme I incorporated a new modern font, updated to softer colors, and used more white space for a minimal feel.

Availability

Normally in the KrowD application, there is not a page to change your weekly availability. Not having this feature wastes a lot of employee's and manager's time by having to do it manually in the restaurant's office. With an added availability page in the app, employees can have the power to change when they can work and not miss any shifts.

Dashboard

Before, the main dashboard was crowded and unhelpful to most. With the redesign, I decided to showcase the elements that users used the most on the app. You can not only see your upcoming shifts and available shifts but also how many hours you're at and your current income for the week.

Lessons Learned

The process of redesigning KrowD emphasized the importance of creating a solid foundation of research upon which to build a design. During the later stages of this project, I often went back to my notes from the user survey and the user personas to make sure that I was keeping the users at the forefront and not veering off course.

What I Would've Done Differently:

Looking back, I wish I had created user flows to better understand the flow of the application and have a well-versed knowledge of its structure.

Creating a prototype. By creating a usable prototype it would have enabled me to get feedback and create a better product.

Done more research into the scheduling market. Knowing current trends and past mistakes could have aided me in the design process.

KrowD Application Redesign

Skills

​

Application

​

Overview

The KrowD Application is used by employees under the Darden Restaurant portfolio of brands. With KrowD, employees and managers can oversee shifts, message other coworkers, and ask for time off.

Problem Statement

These days most restaurant workers don't have to rely on a paper schedule to know when they have a shift. Though having KorwD on your phone makes communication convenient, users still need a seamless platform that allows them to easily navigate through KrowDs many features.

Competitive Analysis

To better understand the scheduling application market, I conducted a competitive analysis of three existing products: HotSchedules, 7Shifts, and Humanity. All three offer users the ability to access their schedules, though they differ in a few significant ways.

Strength

Allows users to clock in and clock out from their phone

​

Integrate schedule with Google Calendar

​

View pay and time/attendance

Weakness

Does not automatically update changes to Google Calendar

​

Does not implement employee feedback surveys

​

Cannot change availability from app

Automated satisfaction surveys after every shift

​

Automated shift reminders

Strong brand identity and appealing image-heavy visual design

Does not allow personal calendar integration

​

Can not view current pay

​

Cannot change availability from app

Users can adjust their availability from the app

​

Simple minimal visual design​

​

Advanced search and filter features

Does not allow personal calendar integration

​

Does not implement employee feedback surveys

​

Can not personalize profile except for photo

After looking over three existing applications, having a clear focus on making the employee a priority while incorporating new features that enable more efficiency for the restaurant would help set KrowD apart from existing products on the market.

Understanding the User

​With a better understanding of existing scheduling applications, I conducted a survey on 10 Olive Garden servers in Lubbock, TX to gain a better understanding of their work values and struggles.

Analyzing the results, here are some of the conclusions noticed:

​

90% of the servers work at least 20 hours a week.

​

From that 90%, 30% use KrowD to get shifts picked up and the other 60% use an employee made Facebook page.

​

The three features all 10 servers said that they found to be most important were My Shifts, Time-Off Requests, and Messaging.

The information gained from the survey informed the creation of the Matt Johnson persona that is representative of potential users’ goals and frustrations with restaurant scheduling.

The Process

I began wireframing by sketching out screens that represented areas of the application users used the most. Many screens had a few different iterations in the initial sketches in order to visualize different layouts and placements for the schedule and availability.

My sketches were a bit rough around the edges... so I created some basic digital iterations of the different pages on Figma.

Final Design

Before

After

What I Included:

​

​New Design

In the survey I conducted, many users said that the design felt outdated and "stale". When I was redesigning the theme I incorporated a new modern font, updated to softer colors, and used more white space for a minimal feel.​

​​

Menu

In the menu, I updated some of the icons and eliminated a lot of the buttons that users said they have barely ever used.

​

Availability

​

Dashboard

Before, the main dashboard was crowded and unhelpful to most. With the redesign, I decided to showcase the elements that users used the most on the app. You can not only see your upcoming shifts and available shifts but also how many hours you're at and your current income for the week.

Lessons Learned

​

What I Would've Done Differently:

​

Looking back, I wish I had created user flows to better understand the flow of the application and have a well-versed knowledge of its structure.

​

Creating a prototype. By creating a usable prototype it would have enabled me to get feedback and create a better product.

​

Done more research into the scheduling market. Knowing current trends and past mistakes could have aided me in the design process.

Simple minimal visual design

With a better understanding of existing scheduling applications, I conducted a survey on 10 Olive Garden servers in Lubbock, TX to gain a better understanding of their work values and struggles.

New Design

In the survey I conducted, many users said that the design felt outdated and "stale". When I was redesigning the theme I incorporated a new modern font, updated to softer colors, and used more white space for a minimal feel.