Ernst & Young · Case study
Workforce tools for a global firm.
- Enterprise UX
- Workflow Design
- Data-dense Interfaces
- Internal Tooling
- Design Systems
- Mobile Activation
- Role
- Lead Product Designer
- Timeline
- Jun 2017 — Mar 2018
- Platform
- Web · Mobile
- Surface
- IOWP · IML · Internal
Overview
Two internal tools, one operating model.
The work covered two adjacent internal products: the Integrated Workforce Planning Tool (IOWP), used by partners and engagement leads to forecast and reconcile staffing, and the International Mobility tool (IML), used to coordinate cross-border talent and visa programs.
Both were dense, data-driven applications used at global scale. The mandate was to bring them under a shared design language while letting each product’s workflow stay domain-correct.
Strategy
Shared system, separate jobs.
- 01
One component library, two product surfaces
Tables, modals, filters, and form patterns shared across IOWP and IML. Visual identity stayed distinct enough to signal context.
- 02
Modal-driven data editing
Editing in place was unreliable at this density. Modal flows let partners reconcile staffing or visa templates without losing context.
- 03
Template-first workflows
Repeatable task templates carried the operational logic, so individual users worked from configured defaults rather than from scratch.
Design
IOWP and IML, made to feel related.
IOWP: hours-mix planning, made tractable
Engagement leads model supply and demand against hours mix. The redesigned modal pattern brought scenario editing inside the dashboard, so reconciliation happened next to the data rather than away from it.
Editing without losing context
Modal flows replaced inline edits where data density made inline editing unreliable. Each modal carried the dashboard state, so reconciling a number never required rebuilding the picture.
IML: a task center for mobility ops
The IML side organized work around assignable task templates. Visa, immigration, payroll and compliance steps moved from email and spreadsheets into a structured center with clear ownership.
Templates that carry the policy
Visa workflows are policy-heavy. Templates let compliance configure once, and let coordinators run cases without having to know the policy by memory.
Applying templates inside a live case
Apply-template was the connective tissue between configuration and execution. The flow surfaced what would change before it changed, which mattered in a system where audit trails are not optional.
Outcome
Two products under one design system.
2
internal products on a shared component library
Global
rollout across engagement teams and mobility ops
Template
-first workflows replacing ad-hoc work
Reflection
Enterprise UX is mostly policy, by another name.
Most of the design work was negotiating what a workflow was allowed to do, with compliance and operations as the other authors. Templates were the abstraction that gave each stakeholder a place to live in the system.
The shared system held because the two products had genuinely similar shapes underneath, not because we forced one onto the other.