Target information architecture & UX principles
This is the shared rulebook for the UX gap analysis. Every Spryple screen is mapped to one place below, using one treatment. Every redesigned workflow uses the patterns below. Evidence for the problems is in evidence. Product scope is in prd.md.
1. Design principles
| ID | Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| UXP-1 | Act where you are | Actions appear where the need arises: a missed punch on Home gets a Fix button there, not a separate Regularization menu. |
| UXP-2 | One place per job | Each job has exactly one home: one inbox for every approval, one request sheet for every request, one report centre for every report. |
| UXP-3 | Role shapes the view, not the screen | The same screen serves employee, manager, HR and owner. Scope (Me / Team / Location / Org) changes the data. There are no copies of a screen per role. |
| UXP-4 | Few taps | Common jobs take ≤ 3 taps on mobile: punch 1, apply leave 3, approve 1 (swipe or bulk), see payslip 2. Forms are prefilled with smart defaults. |
| UXP-5 | Explain the rule at the moment it applies | Show the effect, not the setting: "This will use 4 days (sandwich: Sat–Sun counted)", "Balance after: 2.5". |
| UXP-6 | Automate the paperwork | Credentials, reminders, checklist assignment, accruals, lates → deductions and statutory files happen automatically, and humans review exceptions. |
| UXP-7 | Mobile first for doers, web first for configurers | Employees, managers and field staff live on the phone. HR, finance and admins configure on the web. |
| UXP-8 | Consistent statuses and language | One status vocabulary for every request: Draft → Submitted → Approved / Rejected → Cancelled / Withdrawn, plus domain states (Verified, Paid, Locked). |
| UXP-9 | Progressive disclosure | Show the 80% path first. Advanced options sit behind "More options". Policies are plain-language with a preview, not 48 numbered questions. |
| UXP-10 | Nothing is lost | Every Spryple capability stays reachable. Duplicates are removed, not capabilities. |
2. Places (navigation)
The navigation adapts to the role and the plan. These are the only top-level places.
| Place ID | Place | Who sees it | What lives here |
|---|---|---|---|
| P-HOME | Home ("My day") | Everyone | Punch card (in/out, shift, geo status) · action cards (missed punch → Fix, pending documents, onboarding to-dos, expiring comp-off) · balances · latest payslip · announcements and recognitions · role widgets (manager: who is out, pending approvals; owner: org KPIs) |
| P-INBOX | Inbox (tasks & approvals) | Anyone who approves or has tasks | Every approval type in one list: attendance/WFH/on-duty, regularization, permission, shift change/swap, overtime, leave, leave cancellation, comp-off, optional holiday, claims (verify/approve/pay), travel, timesheets, documents, separation, device change, advance salary, checklist tasks. Filters by type, bulk approve, swipe on mobile, and a context panel (team calendar, balance, policy check, history) |
| P-REQ | "+ Request" sheet | Everyone (managers get a "For: Me / Team member" switch) | One adaptive form for every request type: Leave · Work from home / On-duty · Fix attendance · Permission · Shift change · Overtime · Comp-off credit · Optional holiday · Claim (snap receipt) · Advance salary · Resignation · Document. It replaces every "on behalf" screen. |
| P-TIME | My time | Everyone | One calendar: day status codes, leaves, holidays, week-offs, shifts. A day drawer shows punches, photos, source and request status. Also balances and my requests (one list, every type, status filter) |
| P-PAY | My pay | Everyone with payroll | Payslips · compensation / CTC history · tax declarations, proofs, Form 16 · advances and recovery · claims and reimbursements status |
| P-ME | Me (profile) | Everyone | Profile sections · documents · onboarding to-dos · security (password, devices, MFA) · preferences |
| P-TEAM | Team | Managers | Team today (live status) · team calendar (who is out, absent, late) · roster planner (shifts, rotations, week-offs; drag and drop) · team members (opens Person 360) |
| P-PEOPLE | People | HR, owner | Directory · Person 360 (profile, job history, documents, checklists, assets, requests, pay summary by permission) · Hiring & onboarding board (new hire → link sent → submitted → documents verified → checklist done → active) · Exits board (resignation/termination → approval → clearance → F&F → relieved) · bulk import / bulk update · induction programs |
| P-PAYROLL | Payroll | Finance admin, payroll manager | Run payroll wizard (period → input readiness: attendance lock, LOP, arrears, variable pay, TDS, deductions, advances → calculate → variance review → approve → lock → outputs: payslips, bank file, ECR/ESI/PT) · compensation (assign/revise structure, bulk increments) · advances and loans · statutory filings · payroll reports |
| P-FIELD | Field | Field executives, sales managers | Today's plan (follow-ups, beat) · visit check-in (photo + geo) → activity → next step · accounts and pipeline board · payments collected · live map and tracking (manager) · travel (feeds Claims) |
| P-PROJ | Projects | Project staff, managers | My week (timesheet grid) · projects and tasks · effort and variance |
| P-LEARN | Learning | Everyone; instructors | My learning (assigned, in progress, certificates, badges) · catalogue · instructor studio |
| P-INSIGHT | Reports & insights | By permission | One report centre: catalogue by topic → scope filter (Me / Team / Location / Org) → saved views, schedule, export. Role dashboards. It replaces the 118 report screens |
| P-SET | Settings | Admins | Organisation (company, locations and ID series, departments, designations, holidays) · Policies (attendance & shifts, leave types, payroll & statutory, expenses, probation/notice/exit, password/security; each plain-language, versioned, with an effective date and an impact preview) · Approval workflows · Templates & messages (notifications, letters, UI wording) · Masters (checklists, induction types, termination categories, separation reasons, CRM statuses and associate types, project roles) · Devices & locations (biometric mapping, geo-fences, kiosks, face enrolment) · Roles & access · Integrations |
| P-KIOSK | Kiosk mode | Shared device at a site | Face/PIN punch for all employees at that location. It replaces the Receptionist login |
| P-SEARCH | Search & command bar (⌘K) | Everyone | Jump to a person, request, report or setting, or an action ("apply leave", "run payroll") |
3. Interaction patterns
| ID | Pattern | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| PAT-1 | Action card on Home | Anything the user must act on now (Fix punch, Upload document, Approve 5 requests) |
| PAT-2 | Unified inbox (list + context panel + bulk + swipe) | Every approval and task |
| PAT-3 | Request sheet (type picker → adaptive fields → live policy preview → submit) | Every request, for me or on behalf of someone |
| PAT-4 | Calendar + day drawer | Attendance, leave, shifts, holidays |
| PAT-5 | Person 360 | Everything about one employee |
| PAT-6 | Board (Kanban) for lifecycles | Hiring/onboarding, exits, CRM pipeline, claims settlement |
| PAT-7 | Wizard with readiness checks | Payroll run, year-end leave processing, bulk import, tenant setup |
| PAT-8 | Report centre (catalogue → scope → saved view → export/schedule) | Every report and dashboard |
| PAT-9 | Plain-language policy editor (question → answer → example → impact preview → effective date) | Every rule and setting |
| PAT-10 | Inline status timeline | Any request or record (who did what, when) |
| PAT-11 | Auto-action + exception review | Credentials, reminders, accruals, late deductions, default punch-out |
| PAT-12 | Bulk table actions | Assign shifts, pay groups, deductions, approvals |
4. Treatments (how each Spryple screen is handled)
| Treatment | Meaning |
|---|---|
| KEEP+ | The capability stays as its own view and is improved (better layout, defaults, fewer steps) |
| MERGE | It becomes part of another screen (e.g. Leave History → My requests, filtered) |
| EMBED | It becomes a widget, panel, drawer or tab inside a place (e.g. Holiday list → My time calendar) |
| AUTO | The system does it; there is no screen to visit (e.g. credentials creation) |
| REPLACE | A different design does the same job better (e.g. 48 numbered HR rules → plain-language policy editor) |
| DEDUPE | It is a duplicate of a feature that lives elsewhere; it is removed here, and the capability is kept in its home place |
| DEFER | Kept, but scheduled for a later release (R2–R4) |
5. Click-count method
- Spryple baseline: the UI actions written in the documented steps (click, select, enter, choose, upload, submit, open, search, navigate, add, login), counted per workflow in evidence. This is a documented-actions estimate, not a measurement in the live product.
- Redesign: the taps or clicks in the redesigned flow, counting only decisions and data the user must provide. Prefilled defaults are not counted.
- Both are estimates, labelled as such.