Mobile Design
Overview
Note: This is a Colombian-based client. For this case study, the majority of the language has been modified to English, and all Colombian-specific terminology have been translated to best represent its closest equivalent within the United States.
Project Scope & Details
Duration: 3 weeks
My Role: Project Manager / Lead UX Designer
Team: 3 other UX Designers
Stakeholders: CTO (primary), CEO, VP of Marketing, VP of Customer Support
Impact: Usability testing showed that 100% of users were able to complete the process successfully, reducing the time spent on validation from over 10 minutes to under 3 minutes.
When I first met Symplifica, I was immediately hooked by their mission: helping Colombian families legally employ domestic workers. The project felt bigger than just another platform redesign. It was a chance to make a real difference in people's lives.
The challenge? Only one of us spoke Spanish (not me), the platform was entirely in Spanish, and our understanding of the cultural context was limited. But this wasn’t just about designing an app. It was about truly understanding the way of life.
To overcome this, I leaned on the CTO, used Google Translate, and asked a lot of questions. My first step was clear: listen and learn. Understanding the users was key to creating something user-friendly.
The Problem
Symplifica’s mission was powerful, but the user experience didn’t match the platform’s potential. Over 80% of users struggled to complete the formalization process, making it clear that clarity and support were missing.
Users were getting stuck and frustrated. The platform was difficult to navigate, the help center was overwhelmed, and the value of the premium membership wasn’t clear to users. The cost of formalizing also felt intimidating.
With 12,000 households enrolled and over 33,000 domestic workers registered since 2016, the impact of improving this experience was enormous. We needed to simplify the process, build trust in the membership, and create an experience that guided users through the maze instead of adding to their stress.
Our Persona, Gabriela!
I didn’t speak Spanish, which made conducting interviews with users in Colombia a challenge. However, I knew that by interviewing people with similar demographics, such as freelancers and HR professionals, I could still gain valuable insights. While their language might differ, their relationships with employees and professional challenges reflected many of the same challenges Symplifica’s users faced. So, I interviewed people who hired domestic workers, domestic employees, freelancers, and HR professionals, knowing their experiences would provide the insights needed to inform the design process.
Through user interviews (I conducted roughly 7 interviews, each lasting around 30-45 minutes), I created Gabriela, a representation of our target user. Gabriela is a new Symplifica Prime member who wants to formalize her domestic workers’ employment but is overwhelmed by the process.
Her challenges were clear: the cost of formalizing felt intimidating, she was unsure of her membership’s benefits, and the navigation of the platform was confusing.
We knew that to help Gabriela succeed, we needed to focus on three core goals:
Empower Gabriela to formalize her domestic workers confidently
Ensure she understood her Prime membership’s benefits
Make the platform easy to navigate without the need for constant support
Understanding the Roadblocks
Before diving into design, I led a full heuristic analysis to identify where the platform was falling short. Key issues included:
Color Accessibility: Text and background contrast didn’t meet accessibility standards, especially for aging users.
Inconsistent UI Elements: Buttons and icons varied across screens, which confused users.
Alignment & Layout Issues: Misaligned text and poor hierarchy led to cognitive overload.
Overcrowded Navigation: The navigation bar initially had six icons, three of which were intended to perform similar tasks. The issue stemmed from the term “novedades” (translated as "novelties"), which referred to tasks such as adding vacation time or Sunday hours for an employee. However, users misunderstood that these tasks were all employee-related. Even users familiar with the term “novedades” couldn’t grasp this concept, leading to confusion and frequent support requests.
This highlighted an urgent need to clarify the navigation, especially since tasks related to employees were scattered across multiple, seemingly unrelated icons. The term "novedades" was creating a barrier to understanding for users, even if they were familiar with the term in their everyday lives.
Before
After
Refining the Navigation: Less is More
To address the navigation issues, we needed to simplify how users accessed key tasks and eliminate confusion.
First, I ran a card sort study to see how users naturally grouped tasks. I involved several Spanish-speaking friends from different dialects, including one from Argentina. When he saw the term “novedades,” his immediate response was, “I’ve never seen this word... ‘new things?’” This comment made me realize how important it was to test how different dialects would interpret this term. Despite the variations (albeit interesting!), we concluded that “novedades” remained the correct term for what needed to be done in Colombia. The challenge was making the term more intuitive and accessible for the users.
The results from the card sort study were telling: users preferred fewer categories. No more than four. This insight directly informed the redesign of the navigation. By consolidating employee-related tasks (like adding vacation or Sunday hours) into a single “Employees” page, we made the platform more intuitive. Each task now had a clear, logical home, eliminating the confusion that came from scattered icons and making the platform more intuitive overall.
From Sketch to Screen
The design process started with sketches and wireframes, where I quickly noticed friction in the layout.
Initially, we tried using two horizontal scrolls, but the result was far from ideal. The layout looked messy, and there was too much white space underneath the scrolls, making the design feel unbalanced. While I appreciate white space for clarity, this felt excessive, so we decided to switch things up. The content-heavy nature of the second set of actions led us to implement a vertical scroll instead. This change kept the user engaged by providing a more intuitive, infinite scrolling experience that felt smoother and more natural.
Once the layout was sorted, we turned our attention to color. Symplifica’s original purple was a key part of their brand identity, but we struggled to get it to pass accessibility tests with their other color choices. After tweaking the hue slightly, we were able to darken the purple just enough to meet all accessibility requirements without losing the brand's essence. This small change made a big difference, allowing us to create a design that was not only visually inviting but also fully accessible.
Instant Feedback, Fewer Guessing Games
One major pain point was the lack of feedback during the process. Users weren’t sure if they were on the right track, which led to confusion and frequent calls to the help center.
I implemented instant feedback by adding error messages to guide users, green checks when completing the task, setting default values for calculations, and introducing a “Save & Exit” button so users could pause the process and return later.
During our initial meeting, the CTO demoed the process of formalizing, but made a mistake that prevented him from continuing. He couldn’t find where he went wrong, which highlighted the need for clearer feedback. This feedback system was crucial, and it resulted in a 20% increase in retention. In usability testing, 100% of users completed the process successfully without needing help.
Empathy > Fluency
By simplifying navigation, clarifying the user flow, and adding instant feedback, I made the platform more human. Users no longer had to guess their way through the process. They could formalize confidently, understand their membership's value, and feel supported throughout.
While I didn’t become fluent in Spanish during the project, empathy is the universal language. Listening to users' frustrations and designing with care made all the difference.
Next Steps & Conclusion
The next phase of the project will focus on improving the employee side of the app. We need to make sure that all of the tasks we had moved to the new "Employees" page are fully functional. Simplifying the navigation bar was just the first step. Now, we need to verify that none of the important tasks have been lost or overlooked in the redesign.
Additionally, we want to ensure the employee experience is clear, especially for non-tech-savvy users. This includes highlighting a feature for reporting domestic abuse, which is essential given the high percentage of female-identifying domestic workers on the platform (over 85%).
We also will need to address annual bonus payments for employees. Employers need to know when bonuses are due, so we plann to implement notifications to keep them informed. By law, Colombia requires employers to pay their employees bonuses at specific parts of the year.
With over 12,000 households enrolled in Symplifica and more than 33,000 domestic workers registered since 2016, the impact of improving this experience could be immense. Symplifica plans to implement the designs and continue iterating based on user feedback.
"I am pleased to recommend Ian McAndrew, whose work with Symplifica stood out for both his proactive mindset and his exceptional commitment to our success.
Ian consistently went above and beyond what was expected of him. Even when certain aspects fell outside his direct responsibilities, he took ownership to ensure our needs were fully addressed. His willingness to step in, adapt, and support our goals demonstrated a level of professionalism and dedication that is rare and deeply valued.
What made Ian's contribution especially impactful was his genuine effort to understand the challenges we were facing. He approached problems with curiosity and care, making sure that his support was relevant, thoughtful, and tailored to our context. On top of that, Ian brought forward creative ideas and valuable insights that helped shape better outcomes and informed our decision-making.
Ian’s work ethic, empathy, and collaborative spirit made a lasting difference for us. I wholeheartedly recommend him for any endeavor that values initiative, thoughtful problem-solving, and true partnership."
Camilo Ospina
CTO, Symplifica