MySalsify
A one-stop shop for everything a Salsify employee needs.
My Role
UX Designer and Project Lead
Tools Used
Google Sites
Google Drawings
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Team
1x UX Designer
1x Project Manager
Duration
5 Weeks
Key Contributions
Concept Ideation
User Research
Branding
Project Management
Stakeholder Handoff
Salsify
Connecting brands and retailers through e-commerce software.
At this time, Salsify was in a high-growth stage; raising its Series E round and closing on a global acquisition. As part of the People Experience team, we were tasked to build our own "Salsify" to manage employee resources and establish internal processes in preparation for a headcount influx.
Showcasing Salsify's culture @lifeatsalsify
The Dilemma
In the midst of a newly remote-first culture, there is no central platform for employees to find documents, processes, or resources.
How can we streamline the internal navigation of Salsify resources?
Mapping out Success
Project Goals
With the platform I'd create, the goals revolved around the general consolidation and organization of resources and were catered to the person who would be in charge of updating their pages of content once I handed off the project.
Goal #1: Consolidate various sites and pages into one location
Goal #2: Use Google Sites to stay tied to the Salsify Drive
Goal #3: Intuitive for employees to adopt and navigate
Goal #4: Make all content editable to allow for easy updates
Getting to Know the Key Players
Key Insights from User Interviews
In my first interview with the head of People Experience, she gave me an overview of current methods of internal organization and things they have tried to combat the confusion from employees. I gathered additional insights from the PX team who is in charge of curating the employee experience at Salsify.
Insight #1
Repeated Questions
The People Experience team was repeatedly asked the same questions from employees regarding where to find content or who to go to for specifics.
Result: The platform would include a living FAQ, easy access links, and key contacts for each section.
Insight #2
Underutilized Resources
L&D Resources that Salsify provides for employees were underutilized due to a lack of awareness.
Result: All internal offerings would be housed in the platform and advertised in the company all-hands and newsletters, linking back to the site.
Insight #3
Scattered Quick Fixes
The lack of organization of internal documents and resources led to teams creating their own siloed solutions.
Result: The platform would pull together relevant content from each team to build a company-wide solution, allocating a content owner to manage the page.
Learning about our Employees as Users
Card Sorting
I led a card sorting workshop with 12 employees from various departments to learn how they grouped content that would be stored on the internal platform.
Result: I based the information architecture of the platform on these buckets in order to align the site with employee's mental modals to ensure efficient adoption and usage of the platform.
Coordinating Multiple Workstreams
Iterating with Key Stakeholders
Although I was the project lead and designer for the site, the majority of the content was owned by various team leads. I honed in on a process to simultaneously coordinate content and work with each of the 8 stakeholders to efficiently move from concept to final design and handoff.
Turning Sketches into Prototypes
Building the Solution
With the project goals, research, and conclusions in mind, I started to build the platform. I first drew up some ideas to get my vision on paper, sought feedback from my teammates, and then brought the final prototype to life in Google Sites.
Can users actually use it?
User Testing
I conducted five user testing sessions, including users from the employee perspective as well as the content owner perspective to ensure that the information architecture of the internal platform made sense.
Change #1
Added Quick Links
I added Quick Links to give users immediate access to relevant topics rather than a user having to click through all the tabs or directly ask a team lead.
Change #2
Repositioned Nav Bar
With a horizontal nav bar, the majority of the labels were cut off and the hierarchy of information was not clear. The new vertical menu clearly laid out all the labels in a digestible way that led to efficient navigation of the site.
Addition After Testing
Before Testing
After Testing
Making sure it can scale
Tweaking the Mobile Version
Thankfully, Google Sites automatically adjusts content for all mobile devices. I made sure all the sections were grouped properly in order to stack in the same order and proportions as the desktop version.
The Final Product
High Fidelity Designs
After implementing the changes, the site was launched to the company. I led the maintenance of the site for the following weeks and then handed it over to the team leads who would own their pages.
Secondary Assets
Supporting Assets
In conjunction with MySalsify, I launched supporting assets that enhanced the final product. I wanted to make sure that the platform was positioned to successfully scale once I wrapped up my job at the company.
Secondary Asset #1
Google Drawings
Due to the constraints of Google Sites, creative content layouts are very limited; however, I Google Drawings allowed me to create graphic content and embed it in the site.
Secondary Asset #2
Google Analytics
I set up Google Analytics to be able to collect data on employee usage, gauge adoption success, and guide future iterations.
Secondary Asset #3
PX Rebrand
A secondary part of this project was extending the new People Experience branding to additional internal assets. I used these brand guidelines to revamp the Salsify Instagram and slide decks.
Final Thoughts
Cheers all around
The PX team was extremely proud of the platform we'd created (35+ pages) and how it will streamline the internal employee experience. In the first week of launching, 100% of the 400+ Salsify employees had used MySalsify with an average of 4 sessions per user.
Personally, I was thrilled to have adapted my design skills to work within the parameters of Google Sites and ship such an extensive platform. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with the various team leads and bringing their visions to life within the site.
Just wanted to express my gratitude for a tremendous effort putting together such a wonderful site for our company and our colleagues... congratulations on producing such a meaningful result!
Lee Feigenbaum, EVP Customer Success
Feedback on the design? Want to chat over coffee?
Feel free to get in touch!