Case Study Overview

Client: FreeAlliance, LLC

Platform: Internal Talent Management System (TMS)

Timeline: Multi-phase product design and implementation

My Role: Senior UI/UX Designer & Front-End Developer

Tools Used: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Angular, REST APIs, WCAG Accessibility Tools

Project Summary:

The Talent Management System (TMS) was designed as a centralized workforce platform for managing employees, skills, certifications, resumes, contracts, projects, and approval workflows. The goal was to replace fragmented manual processes with a streamlined, role-driven enterprise system supporting both employees and managers in real time.

The Challenge

Before TMS, workforce operations relied on:

• Scattered spreadsheets
• Manual resume tracking
• Email-based skill approvals
• Limited visibility into project staffing
• No centralized certification tracking
• Delayed onboarding and contract readiness

Key challenges included:

• No standardized method to validate employee skills
• No real-time project-to-resource alignment
• Poor visibility for managers overseeing multiple teams
• No unified notification or task tracking system

The platform had to support two entirely different primary user groups:

• Employees managing profiles and skills
• Managers overseeing approvals, projects, and staffing

Goals & Objectives

• Create a centralized employee skills and credentials platform
• Automate manager approval workflows
• Improve project staffing visibility
• Enable resume and certification uploads
• Provide real-time notifications
• Improve search, filtering, and data discovery
• Ensure accessibility and usability at enterprise scale

UX Research Process

Research Methods Used:

• Stakeholder interviews with HR, managers, and delivery leads
• User journey mapping for employees and managers
• Workflow gap analysis
• System usability evaluations
• Accessibility audits

Key UX Insights:

• Employees wanted faster, clearer profile updates
• Managers needed rapid filtering by skill and experience
• Notifications were critical to prevent process delays
• Approval systems needed confirmation, feedback, and audit trails

Information Architecture

The system architecture centered on role-based access and task clarity:

Core Areas:

• My Skillset (Employee View)
• Employees Directory (Manager View)
• Projects & Contracts
• Notifications & Approvals
• Profiles, Resumes & Certifications

Task-Driven Structure:

• Skill Updates → Manager Approval → System Validation
• Project Assignment → Staffing Visibility
• Resume Upload → Profile Sync
• Certification Tracking → Contract Readiness

This reduced process friction and internal bottlenecks.

Wireframes & Ideation

Low and mid-fidelity wireframes explored:

• Table-based enterprise data layouts
• Modal-based skill update workflows
• Multi-step submission processes
• Expandable project rows
• Inline editing for efficiency
• Progressive disclosure for complex data sets

Every interaction was designed for speed, clarity, and auditability.

Visual Design & UI System

The UI design emphasized:

• Clean, modern enterprise layout
• Strong grid-based data presentation
• High-contrast accessibility-safe color system
• Consistent iconography and action placement
• Clear primary vs secondary actions
• Visual status indicators (Pending, Active, Awarded, Ended)

The design system ensured consistency across employee and manager experiences.

Prototypes & Interaction Design

Interactive prototypes validated:

• Step-by-step skill submission flows
• Manager approval and rejection actions
• Inline feedback and review comments
• Notification interactions
• Resume and certification upload behaviors
• Profile editing interactions

Micro-interactions were designed to reduce anxiety around approvals and submissions while maintaining system accountability.

Front-End Development

On the development side, I supported:

• Angular-based dynamic UI rendering
• Reusable enterprise data table components
• Form validation and multi-step workflows
• Modal-based CRUD operations
• Secure file upload UI for resumes and certifications
• Filtering, sorting, and pagination logic
• Role-based conditional UI rendering

The platform was optimized for high-volume enterprise usage across multiple teams.

Accessibility Enhancements (WCAG)

Accessibility was embedded across the platform:

• Keyboard-accessible navigation
• Proper ARIA roles for tables, modals, and alerts
• Screen-reader-friendly notifications
• Accessible form labels and error states
• Focus state visibility for approvals and actions
• High contrast for enterprise viewing environments

Usability Testing

Usability testing included:

• Employee skill submission walkthroughs
• Manager approval simulations
• Resume upload testing
• Project staffing visibility testing
• Notification timing and clarity validation

Results showed:

• Faster skill update submissions
• Reduced manager response times
• Improved accuracy in staffing alignment
• Higher confidence in system data integrity

Final Solution

The final TMS solution delivered:

• Centralized employee profile management
• Multi-step skill updates with manager approval
• Real-time notifications system
• Project and contract tracking
• Resume and certification uploads
• Enterprise search and filtering
• Role-based access control
• End-to-end audit-ready workflows

TMS became the single source of truth for workforce readiness and staffing operations.

Impact & Outcomes

• Reduced administrative overhead for HR and managers
• Faster contract readiness through centralized certifications
• Improved staffing accuracy and resource utilization
• Reduced approval delays through real-time notifications
• Improved employee engagement in skill tracking
• Increased internal data reliability

Lessons Learned

• Enterprise UX must prioritize data clarity over decoration
• Approval systems require trust, transparency, and accountability
• Notifications are only helpful when they are actionable
• Role-based design dramatically reduces cognitive load
• Accessibility is mission-critical in enterprise environments