Engineering managers go through a tedious process to plan their team's workload

<aside> 📌 Part of the project is under NDA

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User problems:

• Engineering managers spend too much time calculating the workload for their team
• Lack of features leads to inefficient assignment processes
• Some users discontinue using the product
• Use of third-party and team-built tools as a workaround

Business problems:

• Need to increase the number of teams who are using the product
• The tool requires a lot of resources and training to get started
• No success metrics have been established
• High development cost

Estimated effort per person

Workload calculation

Role

• Solo Designer Responsibility: Spearheaded the entire design process as the solo designer, taking ownership of the project's creative vision.
• Design Leadership: Led design direction, shaping the visual and user experience
• Alignment with Apple: Collaborated with Apple Project Managers and stakeholders, aligning designs with project goals and timelines.

Team

• Apple: 5 Project Managers, 2 Engineers, 10+ Stakeholders
• Epam: 10+ Front End-Engineers, 4 Back-End Engineers, and 4 Quality Assurance Specialists

Simplifying team’s workload calculation for engineering managers

The team had been working without a designer for months. When I joined, stakeholders kept saying we needed to enhance the reporting page. I started with a product audit and heuristic evaluation of core features to address this. Findings, such as lack of consistency between pages and limited functionality, helped me to articulate the need for user research.

User research showed that:

• Future project planning is ineffective and requires a lot of back-and-forth communication
• The project assigning process required too many steps, causing dissatisfaction
• Lack of functionality led to 3rd party tool use, team-build tools
• Performance issues with page content loading cause massive frustration among users

I collaborated closely with the product management and engineering team to ensure the product strategy aligned with the overall business goals and user needs.

Solution

The solution is an improved project planning system that covers engineering needs for effective project planning, assignment, and workload calculation, ensuring every team member has an adequate workload and is not overloaded with projects.

Team workload

Conflict resolution

Impact to Apple

• Stronger competitive advantage

  By offering a more efficient and user-friendly project planning system, Apple can differentiate itself from competitors, attracting new organizations and teams and retaining existing customers who value the improved solution.

• Time savings for planning and onboarding Engineering managers now spend less time calculating their team's workload, saving an average of 10 hours per week. Streamlined interface and enhanced functionality have cut onboarding time and resources.

• Decreased reliance on external tools

  Reduction in the use of third-party or team-built tools has led to significant cost savings due to reduced licensing fees and maintenance costs for these tools.

• Increased product adoption The improved user experience and additional features have led to an increase in product adoption by engineering teams at Apple.