Revamping rostering experience
Redesigning Rostering
The GH platform started as a rostering and workforce management tool for small businesses in the NDIS industry. As the platform scales, it struggles to meet the diverse needs of larger service providers. This redesign aims to create a seamless, flexible rostering solution that works for businesses of all sizes and their challenges.
WHAT IS NDIS
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an Australian government-funded program that supports people with disabilities, aiming to improve their quality of life.
MY ROLE
Uncovered systemic issues in the current rostering experience.
Led the end-to-end design of the rostering platform.
Developed a scalable design system aligned with the new brand identity.
Collaborated with product manager and stakeholders to shape product roadmap and direction.
Worked closely with key service providers to co-design solutions and present prototypes.
THE TEAM
Partnered with 1 product manager and 5 engineers
METHODS
Used mixed research methods combining data from customer support team, flow audits, user interviews and on-site observation.
Key highlights
Signed a large enterprise provider
with over 1,000 employees, valuing at $500k, reinforcing the platform’s ability to scale for large business needs.
Transition from manual spreadsheets
to a fully integrated digital workflow, empowering service providers to streamline their daily operations.
Optimised operational efficiency
by enhancing accuracy and reducing administrative overhead.
Improved navigation and usability
by consolidating multiple siloed pages into a unified experience.
Designed for scalability
to allow seamless adaptation to new service types and ensure long-term growth.
Who will benefit from this
The rostering platform is designed to support various roles in large-size providers (more than 100 employees).
Rostering coordinator
Responsible for roster planning, including scheduling customer bookings and allocating suitable support worker shifts.
Operation manager
Oversee day-to-day operations and resolve scheduling conflicts that arise in real-time.
Service delivery manager
Supervise workers during shifts and resolve shift-related issues.
Seamless switch between bookings, shifts, and sessions
View information by specific groups without navigating away, reducing context switching and saving time.
Rigid rostering drives errors and overhead
The platform was originally built around a 1:1 booking model, which no longer aligns with evolving user needs. As new service types emerge, the limitations of the platform and its rigid rostering structure become increasingly evident.
Manual workflow to fill the gap
Service providers rely on manual spreadsheets to bridge operational gaps. For instance, while bookings can be filtered by assigned support workers, there is no unified view to manage all shifts across multiple workers.
This inflexibility has significantly increased rostering complexity for service providers, leading to higher operational overhead and more frequent scheduling errors, particularly when managing high volumes and booking conflicts.
Service providers manually organise shifts in spreadsheets before entering them into the platform.
Lack of role-based customisation
Service providers hold diverse roles, each with distinct responsibilities. For example, a rostering coordinator focuses on scheduling, while a rostering manager is more concerned with cost overhead.
The platform currently shows the same view to all roles, making it overwhelming and hard to find relevant information. The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) analysis is used to identify gaps and understand each role’s specific tasks and goals.
As a rostering coordinator,
I want to be notified when the assigned support worker is on annual leave
so I can fill in the unallocated shift.
As a rostering manager,
I want shift allocations to comply with contracted hours
to prevent cost overhead.
Example of some roles that are explored using the JTBD method.
Siloed screens cause disjointed workflows
Mapping the user journey across multiple touchpoints shows that navigation feels confusing and fragmented. There is no unified view for all same-day bookings, 1:1 and group bookings appear on separate pages.
Key pages such as customer details, support worker profiles, and service details are spread across multiple screens, leading to frequent context switching, increased cognitive load, and a disjointed experience.
User feedback snapshot from Zendesk.
Poor navigation and disrupted workflow
Reviewing Zendesk tickets reveal recurring issues and common feedback: rostering tasks require too many steps and complicated navigation, slowing workflows. Users also found filters confusing and struggled to resolve conflicts.
How might we unify the rostering experience and reduce inefficiencies?
Building a strong foundation
Each service type is analysed to identify both shared and unique information. To create a more intuitive structure, services are categorised by engagement length, as time directly impacts how services are scheduled and staffed. This approach shapes how information is grouped and accessed, enabling users to quickly find relevant details.
Optimising layouts
Multiple layout modes are explored, such as timeline, calendar, kanban, and list views. The goal is to find the most effective combinations for supporting different rostering tasks and user workflows.
The layouts are designed to handle large volumes across timeframes, with the flexibility to zoom in for detail or zoom out for a broader overview.
Dynamic cards
A modular card system is introduced to present information from different service types while maintaining a consistent layout. Each card displays key details that remains persistent, alongside secondary information that users can customise based on what’s most relevant to their role.
Available tools to manage rostering efficiently
Quick drag and move action
Users can easily drag shift cards to extend hours or reposition them on the timeline to adjust shift times. This help users make schedule adjustments faster and more efficiently.
Improving filtering and search
Robust filtering and search capabilities are introduced to help users quickly locate specific data while retaining their search queries. This reduces time spent navigating large datasets and prevents the loss of search context in the workflow.
Personalised your own view
Users can customise and save their preferred display settings, tailoring the information and controls that fit their specific roles and workflows. This includes custom filters, visible data fields, and grouping options. These features reduce unnecessary noise and highlight the most relevant information.
Unified experiences
The navigation flow is improved by introducing a side panel, eliminating the need to jump between pages. This approach consolidates the rostering view to present all relevant information in context, including:
In-line customer and support worker details.
Real time status updates.
Contextual conflict alerts with direct resolution actions.
This designs helps users make informed decisions quickly without losing context.
From spreadsheets to scale
This redesign delivers a scalable and efficient rostering experience tailored to the diverse needs of service providers across industries. It empowers users to manage schedules with greater ease and accuracy.
Designed for growth, the platform adapts to evolving service models and supports long-term scalability. By streamlining workflows and improving navigation, it reduces cost overhead and enhances operational efficiency.
