This project is protected under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), so specific details and assets have been omitted. What follows is a high-level look at my approach, outlining the research, design thinking, and problem-solving methods that drove the project’s outcomes.

Payroll App Overview

Payroll App Overview

Client: General Organization for Social Insurance

Client: General Organization for Social Insurance

SaaS

Web

B2B

SaaS

Web

B2B

SaaS

Web

B2B

Payroll app is developed to improve the quality of payroll systems in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia by offering innovative digital solutions to small and medium establishments. This will support the WPS initiative and assist MOL in wage protection policies.The scope of this project is to bundle a set of services that would assist establishments to manage and process their employees data and payroll

KPIs

Reduction in Payroll Processing Time :

80% decrease in time taken to process payroll compared to the manual system.

Error Rate in Payroll Calculations:

95% reduction in errors from manual entry and calculations.

User Satisfaction Score (Post-Launch Survey):

90% satisfaction rate among SME owners and payroll administrators.

Reduction in Bank Report Processing Delays:

75% faster turnaround from payroll submission to bank confirmation.

Problem Statement

Small and Medium Establishments (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia have traditionally relied on manual processes to manage payroll. In the existing workflow, the establishment owner compiles a list of employee details and sends it to the bank, which then processes salary payments. Once the Payroll Report is received from the bank, the owner must manually prepare and submit a Wage Protection System (WPS) report to meet compliance requirements. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and lacks efficiency, often leading to delays, data inconsistencies, and compliance risks.

To address these challenges, the goal of this project is to digitalize the payroll system for SMEs, enabling seamless integration between payroll processing, bank transactions, and WPS reporting. This solution aims to improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance, reduce manual errors, and save valuable time for establishment owners.

Small and Medium Establishments (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia have traditionally relied on manual processes to manage payroll. In the existing workflow, the establishment owner compiles a list of employee details and sends it to the bank, which then processes salary payments. Once the Payroll Report is received from the bank, the owner must manually prepare and submit a Wage Protection System (WPS) report to meet compliance requirements. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and lacks efficiency, often leading to delays, data inconsistencies, and compliance risks.

To address these challenges, the goal of this project is to digitalize the payroll system for SMEs, enabling seamless integration between payroll processing, bank transactions, and WPS reporting. This solution aims to improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance, reduce manual errors, and save valuable time for establishment owners.

My Role and Responsibilities

The scope of this project was to digitalize a payroll system for SMEs in Saudi Arabia. I collaborated closely with stakeholders, the business team, and the product manager to align on requirements, compliance needs, and business objectives. I began with secondary research, exploring various payroll applications and industry best practices to understand feature requirements, user pain points, and regulatory considerations. This research informed the design strategy by identifying the most relevant concepts for the target market.

My Role and Responsibilities

The scope of this project was to digitalize a payroll system for SMEs in Saudi Arabia. I collaborated closely with stakeholders, the business team, and the product manager to align on requirements, compliance needs, and business objectives. I began with secondary research, exploring various payroll applications and industry best practices to understand feature requirements, user pain points, and regulatory considerations. This research informed the design strategy by identifying the most relevant concepts for the target market.

STEP 1 - OBSERVE

Getting to know the users
& understanding the context

In order to ensure that our solution directly solves the problem and benefits the users, we started with user interviews as part of the discovery process. The objective was to get a good understanding of the processes that are in place and evaluate areas where users go through challenges that they have to work around.

Approach

Carefully selected a diverse group of users who interact with the system daily, including both primary users and stakeholders.

The interviews focused on understanding the current workflow, challenges faced during task completion, user satisfaction levels, and any gaps in the existing system.

I interviewed 8 users, representative of our 3 key user groups (Establishment Owner, Payroll officers, and GOSI employee), in order to understand the hopes, fears, and goals that motivate them.

View Script

Outcome

The interviews revealed critical pain points, such as cumbersome navigation, lack of real-time updates, and the need for better integration with other tools.


The insights gained from these interviews became the foundation for our design process, ensuring that the solution we developed was user-centered and effectively addressed the identified challenges.


Understanding competitors

Commercial competitors such as ZenHR and Bayzat offered superior user experience, payroll automation, and integrated HR features, but their weaknesses lay in higher complexity, cost for SMEs, and less direct compliance authority.

SMEs faced several pain points, mainly around compliance with Saudi labor and wage protection laws.

Here’s a structured list of the major issues:

STEP 2 - REFLECT

Defining
User persona

The following persona were created based upon my research about different categories of people who might be using this digital product. It helps me recognize that different people have different needs and expectations. By identifying the user I’m designing for I could easily tailor this product to satisfy their needs and provide delightful experience.

Primary Features

Payroll Management

The owner of the Establishment can save and process payroll data for his employees, adding discounts and providing allowances and fees

Employee Management

The system provides all employee data directly through Social Insurance system. Admin can add/edit the employee details.

SME Management

Allows business owners or administrators to manage essential SME data, including company information, employee records, and payroll settings.

User Journey

User flow is the path taken by a prototypical user on a website or app to complete a task. The user flow takes them from their entry point through a set of steps towards a successful outcome and final action, such as processing a payroll.

Closed Card Sorting

Asked the participants to organize topics into categories based on what made sense to them. Used actual cards/pieces of paper and grouped them accordingly

Information Architecture

STEP 3 - MAKE

Initial wireframes &
prototyping

Low fidelity designs allowed us to test and iterate on our initial designs without having to spend too much time or resources on ironing out the details.

Visual Design

visually consistent interface that aligns with the brand’s identity and enhances usability. Before finalizing the visual design, I conducted multiple iterations of wireframes to explore different layouts, information hierarchies, and interaction patterns. This iterative process allowed me to validate design decisions early, address usability concerns, and ensure that the final visual design not only looks aesthetically pleasing but also supports a seamless user experience

Thank You

Thank You

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