Starfield TMS/LMS Mobile (Starfield)
Role: Front-end developer, UI/UX Designer Timeline: 2013-2014 Tools: HTML/CSS, Adobe Photoshop, JQuery, Javascript, JIRA
Overview: Starfield was a company that focused on creating software for two main purposes, TMS and LMS. Their TMS or talent management system helped companies manage their employees when it came to things like tracking skills, accomplishments, goals, and performance reviews. Their LMS or learning management system provided a catalogue of online courses and exams that could be accessed online by employees wanting to learn new skills or become certified in particular items. Starfield invested in their mobile app during 2013-2014 to bring these tools to mobile users with the mission of bringing real-time feedback to the forefront, potentially eliminating the need for annual reviews in favor of more immediate feedback.
How I worked: The Starfield mobile app was my first professional project. Starfield was a small startup, and despite being hired on as a front-end software engineer, I saw a strong need for a designer role within the company. Starfield had no resources at the time to hire for the role, so I stepped into the position in addition to my engineering role to help fill the needed gap for our team. I found myself falling in love with the role and from there eventually sought my way into a formal design position after Ascentis acquired Starfield.
Much of what I brought as a designer stemmed from my formal education (B.S. Interactive media), and from self-taught methods (reading books and articles, participating in community tech meetups). I met with our stakeholders and other engineers to gather insights about our customers and engage in brainstorming sessions. I took notes from these sessions and created rough wireframes either on paper or using Adobe Photoshop. These sketches were shared with the team and with clients to help solidify our design direction.
We were able to create a mobile app that, especially for the time, I am quite proud of. It had all the core functionality needed for an LMS and TMS offering and was positively received by many of Starfield’s users. It utilized several design patterns way back in 2013 that I see trending in the modern day, such as the bottom navigation icons, commenting, and feed-style elements.
The app included a page where users could create and review their goals, rate them with their manager, and view and provide feedback on each one. Color was used to draw the eye to goals that might be in peril or need some kind of attention.
This page allowed users to enter their accomplishments and to view or leave any related feedback. Many pages in the app have a similar feedback feature built-in.
The activity catalogue was a place users could search for online videos or courses. We tied the courses directly to employee competencies or skills, so it was possible to find content relevant to the user's needs.
Skills and goals could be rated in the app by the employee and their manager. It was designed to visually show any distinction between the two ratings, which indicated a potential for conversation. This shows both ratings are in alignment.
Skills and goals could be rated in the app by the employee and their manager. It was designed to visually show any distinction between the two ratings, which indicated a potential for conversation. This shows the ratings are out of alignment.
We added in a multitude of filters to ensure users could narrow down the activity catalogue to fit their specific needs.
Leaving and receiving real-time feedback was core to the design philosophy. We believed it was better to hear feedback not only during an annual review but right away when it is likely most relevant.
Companies desired a way to represent their brand in the app. In response we built a way for them to customize the app using their own themes.