Overview
Role
Product Designer
Industry
Enterprise SaaS · Workflow Design
Company
Johnson Controls
Timeline
5 months
In the midst of the global pandemic, Johnson Controls faced a critical operational challenge: the manual, email-based process for approving office access was creating significant delays and frustration for employees. I led the design and strategy for a cross-platform application that streamlined this process, enabling safe and efficient access to the office facilities.
The solution was rapidly adopted by over 200 employees and rolled out to 14 international offices within the first month, directly improving operational efficiency and employee satisfaction during a time of unprecedented disruption.
Let the numbers do the talking
My team and I created a desktop and mobile application using Microsoft Power Platform to enable remote work approvals during the pandemic. The application allowed employees working from home to request access to visit the office.
I led the end-to-end UX for this initiative: from framing the problem with stakeholders, to defining workflows, designing interfaces, and supporting rollout and training. I worked closely with engineering, facilities, and HR teams to ensure the solution met operational and compliance requirements.
The sudden shift to remote work brought existing processes to a halt. The manual system for requesting office access was not built for this new reality.
The business need
The company needed a way to manage workplace access that was secure, efficient, and compliant with rapidly changing health and safety regulations. The reliance on PDF forms and email chains was slow and posed a security risk, as sensitive employee data was difficult to track and manage. This inefficiency was costing the company valuable time and resources, and hindering the company's ability to adapt to the new normal.
The user need
Employees were frustrated. The process was opaque, and they had no visibility into the status of their requests. Managers were bogged down in administrative tasks, taking them away from more critical work. As one manager told me during initial research:
"I feel like I spend half my day just chasing down approvals. I have no idea who has approved what, and my team is getting antsy. We need a system that just works."
Given the urgency of the situation, a lean UX approach was adopted, focusing on rapid research, prototyping, and iteration.
Discovery and research
We conducted over 10 interviews with employees across different roles (line managers, facility managers, HR heads). The research confirmed that the manual process was the primary source of frustration. Key insights included:
A lack of a centralized system for tracking requests.
No visibility into room capacity or team availability.
Security concerns.
These insights directly informed the design goals: to create a system that was organized, automated, trackable, secure, and portable.
Ideation and design
We began by sketching out user flows to visualize the ideal approval process. This helped to align the team and stakeholders around a shared vision.
One of the biggest constraints was building on Microsoft Power Platform. Instead of fighting the platform’s limitations, I leaned into its strengths: automation, notifications, and list-based data models, and deliberately designed a solution that favored speed, clarity, and reliability over visual complexity.
Design tradeoff
A key trade-off was choosing a simple, list-based approval view instead of a more visual calendar or seating map. While a richer visualization could have improved spatial awareness, it would have slowed development and increased failure risk under tight timelines. Given the urgency, we optimized for reliability and adoption first, with the option to layer complexity later.
The final solution was a clean, intuitive application that simplifies the office access process from start to finish.
Delivering on the Design Goals
Organized: The centralized dashboard created a single, intuitive hub for all information, eliminating confusion.
Automated: Automated notifications removed the need for manual follow-ups, saving managers valuable time.
Trackable: The "My Approvals" screen with real-time status updates gave users the transparency they desperately needed.
Secure: By moving the process from PDFs and emails into a controlled application, we significantly enhanced data security and compliance.
Portable: The accessible design ensured employees could manage requests from their mobile devices, adapting to the new flexible work environment.
We conducted a final round of user acceptance testing with a larger audience. This surfaced crucial edge cases and usability improvements. Acting on this feedback, we rapidly implemented key features, like the ability to change an approver and assign specific seats or meeting rooms, that proved critical for a smooth rollout.
Measurable results
By streamlining the approval process, the application delivered clear value to the business:
Improved Operational Efficiency: Reduced administrative overhead and saved countless hours of manual work.
Enhanced Security & Compliance: Moved sensitive data from insecure emails to a controlled, auditable system, ensuring compliance with health regulations.
What did the employees think?
The qualitative feedback was just as important, validating that the solution solved the core user problem. One employee shared:
"This is a game-changer. I can now request office access in a matter of seconds, and I always know where my request is in the process. It's taken a huge weight off my shoulders."
More importantly, the system restored structure in a critical workflow during a period of uncertainty.
The sudden shift to remote work brought existing processes to a halt. The manual system for requesting office access was not built for this new reality.
This project reinforced that in high-pressure environments, the best solution is rarely the most sophisticated one. Designing for clarity, speed, and structure, especially under constraints, often creates more value than feature-rich experiences.