This redesign project aims to transform the Tyson Access Request System (ARS) from a legacy complex maze into a sleek, intuitive enterprise SaaS application.

30% ~ 50% steps reduced performing average tasks.
69% of users reported performance improvement.

July 2023 ~ March 2024 (First Launch)

User Research Insights
User Interface Design

Kay Zhang (Me), UX Designer
Theresa Sanders, Product Manager
Shelly Gardner, Senior UX Designer
Austin Dixon, Database Specialist
Kranthi Kishore, Lead Developer
Front-end Development Team of 5

If you are a team member at Tyson Foods, and you need access to a specific digital resource. You need to go through our Access Request System (ARS). Search for the access you need. Make a request. Wait until it gets approved. Done.

But when you log into ARS, you will see complex navigation, poor usability, super slow loading speed, along with outdated visuals.

Complaints from our team members were heard. The UX team was brought into this project to do a complete design upgrade.

And speaking of design upgrade, we don’t want to just update the visuals and call it a day.

Instead, we focus more on upgrading the whole process and hoping to save user’s time and sanity.

We followed an agile development flow, we could go back at any stage and iterate, and possibly with some chaos in the mix.

Before jumping right into the redesign, we need to better understand the problem space. Our discovery research is unfolded in 2 parts:

• Understanding the User, by conducting user research.
• Understanding the System, by doing Object-Oriented UX and aligning with stakeholders.

User Roles

Before any research, we Identified 4 roles in the current ARS. After discussion with stakeholders, we prioritized the roles and decided to start with Requestors, then slowly extend to Manager, Resource Owner, and finally Admin.

User Interviews

Now let’s start with Requestor users. We interviewed 7 users from various backgrounds, from interns to plant managers, observing how users do their daily tasks, identifying needs and pains.

Use Cases

From there, we observed 3 common use cases: requesting for a specific access, onboarding a new hire, and following up on a request.

Object-Oriented UX

In parallel to understanding the user, we also researched into the system.

We conducted Object-Oriented UX (OOUX) research, bringing together Product Managers, Backend Developers, and Database Specialist to untangle the complexity of the current system by identifying:

• Objects
• Relationships
• Call-to-actions

And what’s great about OOUX is that it also help aligning the user’s mental model to the system’s data model, guiding upcoming UI designs.

High-Level Action Points

Bringing the research all together, we condensed the insights into 4 high-level action points that guide our ideation and design process:

• Surface Actions
• Enhance Search-ability
• Batch Actions
• Provide Feedback

Ideating the Flow

We started ideating and see how we can surface actions and simplify the user flow.

Brainstorming the Data Table

We also started brainstorming how can we improve search-ability and add batch actions on data tables.

OOUX Wireframes

As mentioned earlier, OOUX comes in handy when ideating wireframes using the concept of objects, relationships and call-to-actions.

Now showing some highlights of our final design craft:

1. Surfacing Actions

To shorten the user's action path, we did a complete re-design of the home page, and we also enable users to skip the cart when they are only requesting for one item.

2. Enhancing Search-ability

To help user find accesses more efficiently, we added sorting, filtering and expanding details on the data table. We also added profile images for users to better recognize team members.

3. Batching Actions

To ease users from selecting multiple accesses, we added batch actions on data tables.

4. Providing Feedback

To let users easily track their requests, we added request trackers.

Usability Testing

Immediately after designer reviews, we conducted a couple Guerrilla Testing sessions with colleagues in our office building.

We observed how users interact with the new design, noting down any possible areas of improvement.

Now showing some iteration highlights...

1. Auto-save Selection

Adding auto-save and selection count in multiple selections.

2. Table Toolbar Iterations

Iterating on the table toolbar based on observations of user behaviors.

3. Redirection

Iterating on the redirection after submitting a request.

First Launch

The ARS beta version was launched in March 2024 to over 1500 Tyson users.

For the primary task of submitting requests, we achieved a 50% reduction in the steps required. Similarly, for other tasks within the system, we reduced 30%~50% steps on average, enhancing the app's overall efficiency.

User Satisfaction

We also sent out a satisfaction survey on July 2024 to all beta users, gathering their honest feedbacks. We got 91 responses, and the result shows 69% of users reported that the performance has improved.