Andres

Staff Availability System

Designed for a campus retail environment, the staff availability system helps teams manage the semesterly changes of employee schedules. It simplifies how availability is collected, organized, and used for seasonal planning.

Before

After

Note: This system is actively used at a former workplace. Even though you can easily identify where, to protect privacy, all identifiable information in these prototypes, including but not limited to: brand, logos, and employee names, has been falsified.

Problem

Each year, the campus store collects returning student employees’ semester availability to prepare for scheduling, but the process has historically relied on a basic form that captures weekly availability into an Excel file.

While functional, it creates operational gaps that impact planning accuracy and efficiency. For instance, managers must reference employee lists with submissions to manually track and identify missing availabilities, making follow-ups time-consuming and inconsistent.

Lastly, as submissions come in, data integrity becomes harder to maintain. Employees frequently create duplicate availability records from multiple submissions, or submit updates after review, leading to uncertainty around which availability submission is the most current.

Research & Interviews

The goal of this product was to improve how staff availability was collected and reviewed without making the process harder for anyone involved.

Supervisors

I simply want to see who’s availability I have, and who’s I’m missing.

Many employees submit multiple availabilities, making it confusing when its time to create a schedule.

I have to constantly go back and make changes, practically filling out multiple people’s availability myself.

People re-submit an availability for the tiniest adjustment, that I could have made.

Employees

There’s been times where I submit more than once because I can’t recall if I’d already submitted an availability.

I have to resubmit my availability sometimes because my schedule changes, even after I’ve already started classes.

The form feels redundant when it asks me to restate my name, email, graduation may/year, and department i work for. I thought all they needed was my availability.

Goal

The goal was simple, design a new system to both intake employee availabilities for each semester, and an interface for supervisors to view.

Main goals included:

Create an clean interface that requires minimal learning to understand.

Easily distinguish between read and unread submissions.

Display missing availabilities with the ability to send reminders.

Disable multiple submissions; however, make resubmissions possible and as frictionless as possible.

Remove redundant questions from the form while sacrificing as little data as possible.

Provide feedback to employees regarding their submission.

Constraints

As with any other project, there were several constraints to work with. However, there were three that stood out the most.

Using in house tools

Only

Ready within

60 days

Budget

$0

Solution

Features

Designed for a campus retail environment, this staff availability system helps teams manage the yearly shift in employee schedules. It simplifies how availability is collected, organized, and used for seasonal planning.

For supervisors

Built to reduce manual tracking and give supervisors real-time visibility into availability data.

Availability Overview

Instantly see staff availability and coverage across the workweek.

Missing Availability

Identify employees who have not submitted availability.

Submission Reminders

Notify missing employees to complete their submissions.

New Submission Indicators

Distinguish new submissions from previously reviewed ones.

Duplicate Prevention

Ensures only one active submission per employee.

Return or Modify

Send submissions back for edits or make minor updates directly.

Submission Deadlines

Control submission windows by locking forms after due dates.

For employees

Designed to keep the submission simple (without sacrificing needed information) while giving employees more visibility and control over their availability.

Simplified Form

Captures detailed availability in fewer steps, reducing the form from 15 steps to 10.

Submission Tracking

Employees receive status updates, including receipt, review, and return notifications.

Submission Reset

Allows employees to clear and resubmit availability without creating duplicates.

UX Decisions

No. Previous year submissions have shown that the resubmissions created after the deadline has passed. Therefore, preventing locking submissions as they are received provides an early start for schedulers to preview availability and plan, without having to worry about abrupt changes.

Impact

The goal of this product was to improve how staff availability was collected and reviewed without making the process harder for anyone involved.

Adoption Friction Observed

None

Steps Added

to employee availability form

-3

System Visitors

(year-to-date, average)

16 per day

Features Used

(during peak season)

1,102

Version 2.0

The future state of the staff availability system included new features added for the schedulers, or managers. The image below shows the added, feasible features.

For supervisors

Built to reduce manual tracking and give supervisors real-time visibility into availability data.

Export to Shifts

Instantly see staff availability and coverage across the workweek.

Search Submissions

Instantly see staff availability and coverage across the workweek.

View Total Hours

Instantly see staff availability and coverage across the workweek.

For employees

Designed to keep the submission simple (without sacrificing needed information) while giving employees more visibility and control over their availability.

View Current Submission

Captures detailed availability in fewer steps, reducing the form from 15 steps to 10.