Mobile time tracking
Rethinking the usability of a key feature set within the QuickBooks Workforce app.
Client: Intuit
Role: Senior Product Designer
Date: Jan 2020 – Jun 2022
TL;DR
I redesigned the core time tracking functionality of the QuickBooks Workforce app, leading to 78% engagement in a more streamlined workflow that reduced clock-in time by 3x.
Overview
Since the QuickBooks Workforce (formerly TSheets) mobile app launched on the Google Play and iOS App Stores in 2013, there had been no established framework for implementing new clock-in methods. This led to a more convoluted user experience for our over 1 million users, as reflected in app review scores, customer feedback, and product usage metrics.
Despite the app being packed with features to help users accurately track time, discoverability became a growing issue. Additionally, some of our most requested features—geofencing and project-based tracking—saw abysmal usage, with less than 5% of total monthly clock-ins post-launch. By the end of 2019, the app had five different, disconnected ways for workers to clock in.
The design process
For this project, we followed the design thinking framework: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. My UX research partner, Julie, and I conducted in-person interviews with local businesses using QuickBooks to better understand their needs and identify what was or wasn’t working in the current experience. Along with these interviews, we analyzed usage metrics and app store feedback to spot behavior trends.
Our three main takeaways were:
Workers, on average, track time to three different job codes per pay period.
Less than 30% of monthly active users have notifications enabled.
Workers expect to find what they’re looking for quickly (in 5 taps or less).
We realized we needed a user experience that prioritized quick clock-ins and centralized the various methods for tracking time. Over two sprints (4 weeks), we tested four different concepts through 20 unmoderated tests and 12 in-person, moderated studies:
Using the Overview tab as the main “hub” for workers
Centralizing all clock-in methods within the Time Clock tab
Displaying a modal on app open for quick clock-in access
A “Spotify-esque” persistent card above the tab bar
In the end, 87% of participants chose concept #2 as their preferred workflow.
For most workers, the Time Clock tab is the primary time tracking experience, and quick access to timesheet details like notes and attachments is crucial. By tapping the main “Clock in” button, users would see a bottom sheet that surfaces the most relevant items, enabling them to start tracking time quickly and efficiently.
While our team had a clear design direction, we needed to refine the interaction flow for clocking in. Questions remained about the bottom sheet’s appearance and the arrangement of its elements. Through 30 unmoderated A/B tests and 6 interviews with current QuickBooks users, the new bottom sheet design took shape. We discovered that pairing icons significantly improved glanceability and helped us correctly order the various clock-in methods. Here's a look at the evolution of the drawer:
During those same research sessions, we also tested a change to the navigation. Previously, Time Clock and Timesheets were separate tabs in the bottom navigation. As we added more features to the app, it became increasingly difficult to decide which items should be in the first four tabs and which ones should be tucked away in the "More" menu.
We combined Time Clock and Timesheets into a single tab using a segmented control, making it both user-friendly and easy to discover, especially with the help of a first-use tooltip. We also tested several tab names, and “Track Time” emerged as the clear winner, effectively summarizing all the time-tracking features in this new consolidated experience.
The beta test
As more users started opting into the new time-tracking beta experience, we gained valuable insights into what was working and identified opportunities to refine and improve the original design. Here are two key insights we discovered:
Inherent resistance to change
We quickly found that 10-15% of beta users were resistant to the new experience because they were accustomed to their existing workflow. For them, the clunky and unintuitive processes had become the norm, and learning a new way to use the app felt overwhelming. To address this, we introduced additional FTU tooltips to guide users without disrupting their workflow and made it easy for them to opt out of—or back into—the beta as needed.
Research can only inform so much
One element of the beta that tested extremely well in both unmoderated and in-person research was our consolidated time options menu. Grouping less frequently used actions, like taking breaks and switching jobs, seemed logical on paper. However, we noticed a significant drop in the usage of breaks and job switches compared to the original UX, along with consistent negative feedback. Ultimately, we reverted back to a triple-button design to reduce friction and improve usability.
Outcomes
The opt-in time tracking beta experience started with a small group of users and gradually expanded to include all new and current users over a 10-month period. During that time, our three key metrics showed impressive results:
In-app sentiment score averaged 84% positive (targeted 75%).
78% of clock-ins came from the new bottom sheet experience (targeted 75%).
Speed to clock in increased by 3x (targeted 2x).
Additionally, we saw a 7% reduction in timesheet edits compared to the previous experience. I was also awarded a patent in November 2022 for “User interfaces with auto-population tools for time tracking using mobile devices.”
Mobile time tracking
Rethinking the usability of a key feature set within the QuickBooks Workforce app.
Client: Intuit
Role: Senior Product Designer
Date: Jan 2020 – Jun 2022
TL;DR
I redesigned the core time tracking functionality of the QuickBooks Workforce app, leading to 78% engagement in a more streamlined workflow that reduced clock-in time by 3x.
Overview
Since the QuickBooks Workforce (formerly TSheets) mobile app launched on the Google Play and iOS App Stores in 2013, there had been no established framework for implementing new clock-in methods. This led to a more convoluted user experience for our over 1 million users, as reflected in app review scores, customer feedback, and product usage metrics.
Despite the app being packed with features to help users accurately track time, discoverability became a growing issue. Additionally, some of our most requested features—geofencing and project-based tracking—saw abysmal usage, with less than 5% of total monthly clock-ins post-launch. By the end of 2019, the app had five different, disconnected ways for workers to clock in.
The design process
For this project, we followed the design thinking framework: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. My UX research partner, Julie, and I conducted in-person interviews with local businesses using QuickBooks to better understand their needs and identify what was or wasn’t working in the current experience. Along with these interviews, we analyzed usage metrics and app store feedback to spot behavior trends.
Our three main takeaways were:
Workers, on average, track time to three different job codes per pay period.
Less than 30% of monthly active users have notifications enabled.
Workers expect to find what they’re looking for quickly (in 5 taps or less).
We realized we needed a user experience that prioritized quick clock-ins and centralized the various methods for tracking time. Over two sprints (4 weeks), we tested four different concepts through 20 unmoderated tests and 12 in-person, moderated studies:
Using the Overview tab as the main “hub” for workers
Centralizing all clock-in methods within the Time Clock tab
Displaying a modal on app open for quick clock-in access
A “Spotify-esque” persistent card above the tab bar
In the end, 87% of participants chose concept #2 as their preferred workflow.
For most workers, the Time Clock tab is the primary time tracking experience, and quick access to timesheet details like notes and attachments is crucial. By tapping the main “Clock in” button, users would see a bottom sheet that surfaces the most relevant items, enabling them to start tracking time quickly and efficiently.
While our team had a clear design direction, we needed to refine the interaction flow for clocking in. Questions remained about the bottom sheet’s appearance and the arrangement of its elements. Through 30 unmoderated A/B tests and 6 interviews with current QuickBooks users, the new bottom sheet design took shape. We discovered that pairing icons significantly improved glanceability and helped us correctly order the various clock-in methods. Here's a look at the evolution of the drawer:
During those same research sessions, we also tested a change to the navigation. Previously, Time Clock and Timesheets were separate tabs in the bottom navigation. As we added more features to the app, it became increasingly difficult to decide which items should be in the first four tabs and which ones should be tucked away in the "More" menu.
We combined Time Clock and Timesheets into a single tab using a segmented control, making it both user-friendly and easy to discover, especially with the help of a first-use tooltip. We also tested several tab names, and “Track Time” emerged as the clear winner, effectively summarizing all the time-tracking features in this new consolidated experience.
The beta test
As more users started opting into the new time-tracking beta experience, we gained valuable insights into what was working and identified opportunities to refine and improve the original design. Here are two key insights we discovered:
Inherent resistance to change
We quickly found that 10-15% of beta users were resistant to the new experience because they were accustomed to their existing workflow. For them, the clunky and unintuitive processes had become the norm, and learning a new way to use the app felt overwhelming. To address this, we introduced additional FTU tooltips to guide users without disrupting their workflow and made it easy for them to opt out of—or back into—the beta as needed.
Research can only inform so much
One element of the beta that tested extremely well in both unmoderated and in-person research was our consolidated time options menu. Grouping less frequently used actions, like taking breaks and switching jobs, seemed logical on paper. However, we noticed a significant drop in the usage of breaks and job switches compared to the original UX, along with consistent negative feedback. Ultimately, we reverted back to a triple-button design to reduce friction and improve usability.
Outcomes
The opt-in time tracking beta experience started with a small group of users and gradually expanded to include all new and current users over a 10-month period. During that time, our three key metrics showed impressive results:
In-app sentiment score averaged 84% positive (targeted 75%).
78% of clock-ins came from the new bottom sheet experience (targeted 75%).
Speed to clock in increased by 3x (targeted 2x).
Additionally, we saw a 7% reduction in timesheet edits compared to the previous experience. I was also awarded a patent in November 2022 for “User interfaces with auto-population tools for time tracking using mobile devices.”