Post-Pandemic era...

After 777 days, Toronto's Mayor John Tory officially lifted the COVID-19 emergency declaration on May 09, 2022, marking the commencement of a gradual return to normalcy for the city and its thousands of employees.

Back-to-Office concern...

Post-pandemic, companies face the challenge of prioritizing "return to work," with employees hesitant about transitioning back to the office after working remotely for the past two years, underscoring the urgent need for a secure and reassuring solution.

What did employees think about returning?

Due to time constraints, we opted for secondary research over user interviews, directing the team's attention to existing literature and documents pertaining to people's perspectives on the return to the office.

91%

hoped to work from home at least a few days a week

1 in 3

thought return-to-office negatively impacted their mental health

54%

wish to divide their work hours between their homes and offices

Safe and flexible check-in

Our research revealed that employees prefer a hybrid working model to minimize time spent in the office, reducing the risk of infection and work-related stress to prevent burnout.

Pivot 1.0:
Burnout prevention - break planner + online therapy

Despite the availability of digital solutions for booking in-office hours, our research indicated a low willingness among employees to return to the office. Acknowledging the early stage of the project, we decided to shift focus towards a new onto burnout prevention.

Unlike the break-friendly work-from-home setting, the return to the office resulted in burnout from overworking. Our solution involves creating a break planner to remind employees to take breaks during office hours, as well as providing employees access to online therapy sessions during breaks for emotional support.

Pivot 2.0:
Safe check-in + flexible booking + In-office events

Finally, we decided to make a combination of results from both of the brainstorming sessions we had previously.

Employees would be asked to submit their health status before getting to offices to ensure people's safety. Then they could flexibly book their in-office working hours.

In addition, the online therapy booking feature was expanded into in-office event booking feature where more different kinds of events were involved.

Wireflow

To transfer our design decisions into a tangible framework, I helped the team build a set of wireframes and connected them into a wireflow, which was used for an initial handoff.

Handoff 1.0:
Lo-fidelity framework

Extra design considerations shortened our design and development timeline. So we initiated an early handoff, involving developers for a basic understanding of the main workflow, facilitating their preparation.

Handoff 2.0:
Hi-fidelity deliverables

Our second handoff, aimed at assisting developers to fulfill a pixel-perfect user experience via high-fidelity UI.

Handoff early and often...

Handing off the high-fidelity prototype isn't the sole interaction point with developers in the design process. In fact, involving developers early on is a best practice, particularly in projects with tight schedules.

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