RDM Pro: An Employee Onboarding App
Project Overview
Redemptive Dance Ministries: a Christian Dance Studio/nonprofit founded in Littleton, CO.
RDM has chapters in Colorado, Kenya, and Zimbabwe, with plans to expand globally in the coming years.
RDM’s CEO, Heather Johnson asked our team to deliver 1 prototype of an employee onboarding app for use across all RDM chapters.
RDM requested downloadable materials for the app to support dance teachers in Kenya and Zimbabwe, where internet access is unreliable. This user-focused approach ensured the final product's accessibility.
The Team
Kelsey Buckley (me)
UX Research Analyst
Project Secretary
Lia Janeiro
UI Lead
Client Communication
Mark Amella
Information Architecture Lead
Priya Ramakrishnan
Project Coordinator
Client Communication
Process
We started by conducting 10 User Interviews with RDM Employees, RDM management, and dance instructors of various dance styles.
Trends From User Interviews
“When you’re starting out teaching, there’s a check-list of things you need to do”
“Updating profile progress in Teams is kind of challenge”
“Onboarding’s biggest struggle is that stuff is all over the place- everything needs to be all in one place ”
After discovering user pain points, the team conducted Market Research on existing employee education management platforms.
Market Research
This site is designed for multiple use cases, including administrative tasks. However due to project constraints, we prioritized one use case: newly hired employees of Redemptive Dance Ministries.
Platforms that inspired RDMPro:
Microsoft Teams
CLI Studios
General Assembly’s My GA
Linkedin Learning
Our team began the design phase by sketching what the new landing page might look like based on our research findings. We then combined our sketches and data from market research to create the look of RDMPro.
Below: initial sketches depicting the landing page and the side drawer menu that opens upon swiping left.
Problem
The Problem:
Users need to track progress to avoid confusion or incomplete documents/training.
Users need to organize and easily refer to resources or content during classes.
Users need to be able to download materials, as internet access can be unreliable in Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Now, the on-boarding process isn’t fully digitized, and is managed through Microsoft Teams
Currently, their process can feel disorganized and lead to miscommunication between the various locations/teams.
only 40% of users are satisfied with communicating via Teams
60% struggle with RDM’s Teams content organization
Solution
Solution: RDMPro is a mobile app that enables new hires to seamlessly track their onboarding tasks, submit their paperwork, and access downloadable RDM files all in one platform.
RDMPro streamlines onboarding so nothing is missed, and teachers feel supported in teaching their classes.
Call To Action Button
, we moved it to the bottom of the screen and highlighted it.
This change made the next step more clear to users.
Tabs
Users can easily jump to different pages, saving them time
Channels
Ensure the right information is shared between and across locations
Landing Page
App opens to user dashboard and welcomes user.
Pinned Content
Ensures users don’t miss important announcements.
Percentage Indicator
Our mid-fidelity prototype showed user progress, which was not clear enough to users in usability testing
Breadcrumb Visual
In our high fidelity prototype, we added this to show users where they are in the module.
Once the team agreed on the layout, we created low-fidelity wire frames.
We conducted two rounds of usability testing with three users each to evaluate UI learnability, memorability, error recovery, and satisfaction. Insights from user interviews guided our iterations from low- to mid- and mid- to high-fidelity wireflows.
Training Screen from our Mid-Fidelity Prototype
Training Screen from our High-Fidelity Prototype
Prototype
Prototype welcomes a return user to RDMPro’s landing page/Home screen.
Reflection
This design sprint taught me and my teammates the importance of understanding client needs. Transparent communication enabled us to deliver a design that supports RDM’s team and future growth.
In addition to the prototype, we also handed off a style guide to keep future changes to RDMPro consistent.
We recommended that RDM's next steps include hiring a developer to build the framework and expanding the UI to include a flow for management to track and manage individual onboarding progress.
Next Steps as of 12/12/23
RDM confirmed plans to get iPhones for the Zimbabwe school, and hire a developer to build RDM as an iOs app.
Lia walked Heather Johnson through RDMPro’s style guide, to be used across all chapters.