Comcast
Product Designer · 2017 · Enterprise / Internal Tools / Responsive
Comcast's HR Communications team needed to consolidate years of fragmented internal platforms into a single source. I designed a concept dashboard to help stakeholders understand potential directions for the future of employee communications.
Results
6+
Platforms unified
Platform Scaled across Corporate, Technicians, Retail
Audiences
Influenced future internal tool development
Outcome
The result
The concept dashboard proposed to unify Comcast’s fragmented internal communication platforms.
Too many tools, too little reach
Comcast had built multiple internal tools over the years to communicate with employees. The tools contained important job-related information, but the fragmented landscape meant much of it never actually reached the people it was meant for. I was tasked with analyzing current communication methods and designing a dashboard that would bring these sources into a unified experience.
Talking to people producing the content
I spoke with employees on the communications teams to understand how content was being created and consumed. Many of the people I talked to were actively producing content for existing tools, which gave me a clear picture of what was working and what wasn't.
A clear pattern emerged: corporate and call center employees primarily used desktop computers, while cable technicians and retail employees were mostly on mobile. Any solution would need to be fully responsive to serve both audiences without compromise.
A newsfeed structure with room for critical alerts
I focused on a newsfeed design that minimized clutter and let employees scroll through chronological content without missing anything important. But employees also needed quick access to critical alerts and events, so I added a sidebar for desktop and additional menus on mobile.
The team decided to include an employee profile pulling from existing profile pages, kept short and limited to essential information. The goal was a flexible content structure that could expand as the company's needs changed.
Visual design drew from existing internal patterns
I drew colors from the dominant internal platforms to maintain trust across communication channels. I used the navigation treatment from the company's corporate news site, which also simplified content integration since much of it was already cropped for that layout.
Some early structural ideas weren't simple enough in practice. The sidebar felt overwhelming even with curated content, so I limited it to constantly updated alerts and reminders. The profile and quick links moved to a drawer menu. On mobile, the profile and event reminders went into a hamburger menu with secondary tab navigation.
Reflection
The dashboard was well received by project stakeholders. They saw consolidating the platforms as a real opportunity to increase employee engagement and several features from this concept influenced considerations for new internal tooling. The project also convinced the team of design's value: I'd joined through what was posted as a communications role, and after I left, the team kept hiring designers to build on the work.
Learnings
- 01Make the concept more realistic and achievable rather than purely blue sky
- 02Include actual employees in the research process instead of relying on people who create content for them
- 03Fully define the concept and address potential implementation challenges before presenting