Designit, a global strategic design agency, was preparing to implement a new Enterprise Resource Planning system, Workday. With more than 500 employees spread across 16 offices, it was crucial that all Designit’s employees adopted and used the new system.

My challenge was to make the existing Workday UX copy easier to understand and more user-friendly. I also needed to introduce the Designit brand voice to support a consistent employee experience across all touchpoints.

I could see that Designit’s typically playful tone would be inappropriate for what’s often a frustrating or stressful experience. It would also contrast starkly with the system’s hard-coded copy.

I helped find a middle ground, using Designit’s voice in a more serious tone – but more “human” than the default copy. I made sure that all of Designit’s internal terminology was aligned (for example, using “People Team” not “HR Department”) and established a tone that was conversational but clear. Brief but not brusque. And empathetic to what the user might be feeling.

I was also responsible for writing the training materials, including quick-start infographics, video scripts, and in-depth manuals. We found more room for fun and humor here. We included gamification elements such as scavenger hunts to support the learning process, complemented by a more light-hearted tone and some self-deprecating jokes.

Throughout the project, I collaborated closely with service and UX designers, technologists, and HR specialists to write, test, and implement multiple parts of the system at the same time.

Together, we got all 500+ employees onboarded to a tight deadline and received positive feedback from employees, advanced users, and leadership.