MyRoster

A digital timesheet and rostering app for Disability Support Workers.

Rostering for Disability Support Workers should be simple but one variable makes this a big hassle. Shift swapping.

This is a short story about finding a cost and time-saving solution.

This is window into the world of lived experience. A story about caregiving, love, sacrifice, money and the cost of lost time.

However, I don't want to be a debbie-downer. So, please trust me with your time and i'll give you a peak into an important part of delivering support for vulnerable people.

Let's see if we can do something that redeems time for disability support workers and saves money for NFPs?

A short while ago, in a bid to better understand the world of social work, I started a Cert IV in Community Services with TAFE Digital consequently discovering issues within the industry that require medium to long term solutions.

I found a myriad of problems but found one recurrent frustration. Most staff related processes within the industry are highly paper dependent.

My Role

UX/UI Designer

I conducted user interviews with 8 Disability Support Workers (DSW) in Orange, Bathurst, Penrith and Darwin.

The insights gained led to proto personas, user journey maps and user flows and more.

I developed wireframes and prototypes based on the initial research outcomes.

Presently testing the 2nd iteration of the prototype with DSW's.

Timeline

3 Weeks

Tasks

Research, Wireframing and Design

Goals

Eliminate the use of paper based timesheets and rostering.
Reduce the frustrations of shift swapping process between DSW's.

Discovery - A very short sprint

The right answer to a wrong question is always pointless.

A picture embodies unspeakable truths but numbers prove so much more.

Questions I had about Disability Support Workers (DSWs).

What is their origin story? What motivates them? What parts of their work frustrates them?

$32/Hour

Average hourly pay rate of Disability Support Workers.

3/8

Average number of DSWs with relevant lived experience.

110 Hours

Average monthly hours rostered per casual DSW's.

*30 Minutes

Lost time spent on calls trying to swap shifts with other DSW's.

3/5 new migrants first job in Australia is in Social Work.
5/8 DSWs are young adults with school aged children.
7/8 DSWs feel overwhelmed by paperwork.
4/8 DSWs have 2 or more jobs.

User Research - A focus on Disability Support Workers.

To acquire truthful insights, I decided to go "undercover".

I chose an unorthodox method of user research.

I already had some vague understanding about DSWs, afterall i'm married to one but this still leaned on hearsay and my proximity tainted my perceptions.

Being acquainted to many people working within community services, I simple caught up with them over coffee, had phone conversations with others and easily found valuable nuggets to work with.

I believed this approach could give me truthful responses to unscripted questions.

So, how did it go?

My early assumptions were close to the facts but without these "stealth interviews", I wouldn't have found what mattered the most to DSWs.

I spoke with 8 DSWs working in Regional New South Wales, Newcastle and finally in Darwin, Northern Territory.

I almost always distill my research into a minimum of 3 problem relevant questions.

Why do casual DSW's frequently drop shifts?

Is there a more efficient way to do shift swaps?

Will older DSW's adopt a non-paper based system?

You don't know these people, why should you care?

User Persona 1

"I just want to avoid the stress of having to call all my mates...all the time"

Stacey Appiah

Disability Support Worker | Married with a child

The Career Changer

Who is she?

A 37-year-old migrant from Ghana. Prior to moving to Regional NSW, she built a career in Banking. She has a deep drive to live a meaningful self-sacrificing life.

What is her lifestyle?

Linda lives in Orange, Central West NSW. She is married to an Accountant who works with the Bathurst Regional Council.

She works between 32 to 48 hours a week. She treasures spending time with her 7 year old son who has Asperger's syndrome.

What are her concerns?

She dislikes paperwork and is discouraged that she consistently has to bater shifts with other DSW's when she needs to drop some shifts usually to care for her son.

User Persona 2

"I spend too much time calling my colleagues trying to find a suitable shift to batter".

Bradley McPherson

Disability Support Worker | Grandparent

The Veteran

Who is he?

A 63-year-old grand dad. He spent his youth working first as a tradie, then a carpenter before settling on a career in community services. He has been a DSW for over 17 years and finds joy in helping people in need.

What is his lifestyle?

He's an animal lover and lives on a "small farm". He tend to donate most of the money he makes and has a proclivity for buying gifts for every Tom, Prince and Becky. Whenever he's not working, he spends time with his 7 grand children.

What are his concerns?

He thinks the world has lost its collective compassion. He feels that kindness has become a lost concept and thinks "people" lack the patience of the good old days.

Technology is becoming too important to our lives and has caused us to forgot what it means to be neighbours. One thing he appreciates though, is the ability to turn voice dictations into text messages.

It's something he frequently uses.

A problem worth solving?

Every single week, Disability Support Workers drop between 3 to 7 shifts due mainly to personal challenges.

When this happens, DSWs, Team leads and HR are burdened with a very manual process of call, texts and negotiation to find available and willing casual staff on very short notice. This ends up being a time drain on all resources thereby distracting from care giving.

LiveBetter currently uses a paper based system of rostering.

This is both time and cost inefficient.

Looking to fill previously rostered shifts takes a lot of effort and time for HR,

Team leads and DSWs. This is essentially money lost to all parties.

How might we find a solution which saves time, money and ensures DSWs

are able to fill dropped shifts more efficiently?

Finding a Solution

User Insights

There were 5 consistent issues uncovered through my "stealth interviews".

So, I did what any rule breaking - well meaning human-centred designer would do.

I simply ignored card sorting, listed the 5 issues, brainstormed in Miro and designed a journey map.

They think there's favoritism in how droped shifts are awarded.

Some want extra shifts but usually don't receive any calls from anyone

She doesn't know why there are so many dashboards but we all have to fill manual rosters

Swapping shifts is a chore so i'm okay with minimum hours

When changes are made to my roster, i'm the last to know

A low feature high value solution

90% of DSWs dislike paperwork but have little choice.
70% of them will at one point this week drop a shift.
They all wish they didn't have to frantically batter shifts with colleagues.

So, what did I say?

"You do know... there's an App for that, right?".

The Solution - MyRoster

Good for HR?

A digital rostering app with a simple twist. The ability to easily drop and/or swap shifts with other DSWs.
Casual and Permanent part time disability support workers receive and confirm their allotted rosters. The receive widget and in-app based notifications when rosters are set and when new shifts are available.
Phase 1: A simple calendar based rostering app.
Phase 2: Integration with all LiveBetter staff specific platforms. This gives a single timesheet and shift resolution solution.

Good for Support Workers?

DSWs finally have a way to self manage their own rosters and also gain the ability to efficiently swap shifts when they need to.
They will no longer have to spend valuable time calling every team member in a bid to swap shifts
They can speedily pick up newly available shifts via instant notifications

Initial Wireframes

Robin Hood may have had good intentions but stealing is only justified when it's skillfully done.

I'm proud to be a thief. Absolutely never original.

Once the problem and its primary causes were understood, how to design a product was rapid.

Although I ran through multiple ideas, I quickly settled on a simple mobile app based on Google calendar, Acuity scheduling and Slack.

Fusing parts of 2 or more ideas is starting to become my calling card.

My initial wireframes mimicked digital calendars and scheduling platforms. However, that was just the starting point. I ended up tinkering with the ideas until 3 key features surfaced.

At first there was no plan for a nav bar. It seemed unnecessary but by adopting a co-design approach, I was able to adapt to users.

I made the early choice of having a user review instead of proper usability testing as I wanted to "hear from the horse's mouth". This helped focus my thinking before moving to hi-fidelity wireframes.

Most important desire was to quickly swap shifts instead of dropping them.

Testing the Solution

This is where my "stealth interviews" both backfired and amazed in equal measure.

I could only do usability testing with 4 DSWs. One of whom is probably biased (since she's married to me). An older DSWs suggested the DSW chat feature while two middle ages DSWs were very positive.

My wife was over the moon but let's not forget, she's already compromised.

So far, i've had 2 rounds of iteration but it's far from ideal.

"I like this but is the chat really necessary?"

"Wow! my entire week on just one screen - easy as"

"This is quite fancy but i i'll stick to my paper forms"

Early prototypes

Following the first round of user testing, the app has undergone some iterations and is currently in a new phase of usability testing.

From initial feedback, It's clear i've solved a small part of a big problem but as feared, i've received some resistance from veterans.

While I implement changes based on the initial user feedback, I'll need to find a way to ensure its utility and accessibility for older support workers.

This is something i'm currently investigating.

Did I muck this up?

A lot of things seem to have gone well but let's not focus on positives today.

I usually don't beat myself up so hard when something doesn't go as planned but I'll make an exception on this occasion. Here goes noth...

I should have done actual user interviews instead of trying to smart about it.
Although it's clear i'm solving the right problem, only interviewing 3 older aged DSW's was obviously a mistake. Their feedback indicates this.
I'm still unsure if "confirm shift" is necessary
I needed an actual design system and that's what i'll build next

This solution is just starting, there's a ways to go.

Do you fancy my work? Let's talk.

Contact me