Workday: Architecting the Future of Enterprise Experience

In the evolving landscape of enterprise software, Workday has established itself as a pioneer in delivering intuitive workplace solutions that seamlessly connect HR, finance, and operations for organizations worldwide. Behind their user-friendly interfaces and streamlined workflows lies a meticulous approach to information architecture and user experience design powered by Optimal's platform.

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By leveraging Optimal, Workday has transformed how they organize complex enterprise systems and optimize experiences for diverse user groups.

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Challenge: Navigating Enterprise Complexity

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Workday faced a significant challenge in organizing their extensive suite of enterprise tools across a diverse user base with distinct needs. With different requirements between students and  faculty, finance, HR professionals, and frontline managers, Workday needed to develop intuitive navigation systems that would resonate across various organizational roles.

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Additionally, the company needed to ensure their internal systems—from design standards to content creation guidelines—maintained consistency while evolving to meet changing enterprise demands.

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Solution: Building the Optimal Enterprise Experience

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Workday implemented Optimal's platform to address these complex content challenges with precision:

• For their user-facing interfaces, Workday conducted specialized card sorting exercises at both primary and secondary navigation levels. This multi-tiered approach allowed them to validate navigation structures not just at the top level, but also within critical subsystems like CareerHub, ExpenseHub, and Workday Cloud.
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• For their internal systems, Workday deployed a combination of tree testing and first-click testing to evaluate how effectively users could navigate key areas including search results, payroll interfaces, and their newest global navigation changes. This approach helped them evaluate navigation efficiency with the explicit goal of improving information organization across their platform ecosystem.
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Results: Metrics That Matter

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Workday's strategic use of UX research tools delivered tangible results:

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• The multi-level card sorting exercises revealed distinct navigation preferences between different user groups, enabling Workday to create role-specific interfaces that increased task completion rates and reduced training time.
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• By conducting targeted first-click tests on homepage tasks ranging from common to infrequent, Workday gained critical insights into how interface design influences user behavior and task success rates.
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• The tree testing for their global navigation identified pain points that, once resolved, streamlined workflows for all user groups. This improvement reduced support tickets and accelerated user adoption.
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Supporting Long-Term Innovation

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Workday's investment in user experience continues to deliver sustained benefits:

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• Their iterative testing approach has established a continuous improvement cycle, where each navigation enhancement builds on previous learnings.
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• The qualitative interview studies have strengthened their understanding of specific user journeys, from manager performance tools to content authoring experiences, informing product roadmaps with rich contextual insights.
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• Their dedicated testing for specialized features demonstrates a commitment to optimizing even the most complex aspects of enterprise software experience.
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Workday's case demonstrates how sophisticated UX insights transform enterprise software from functional utility to strategic advantage, directly impacting user satisfaction, organizational efficiency, and ultimately, business performance in the competitive enterprise software landscape.

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Want to learn how you can get started gathering meaningful user insight with Optimal? Reach out to us today.