Optimising the payment experience and revenue growth
I - INTRODUCTION
Users struggle to find services due to a flat list of uncategorised proposal titles and an ineffective search bar. The service layout lacks visual grouping or emphasis, making it hard to know where to begin or what to select.
Request steps are not clearly defined or visually separated. Excessive white space and dense information make it hard to follow the process, track progress, or focus on a specific category. Users must scroll extensively and can’t tell who is handling what.
There is no confirmation after submission or status change. Comment sections are hidden and require multiple clicks to access, with no indicators for new replies — leaving users unsure if their input is seen or acted on.
Sun Group, founded in 2007, is a leading Vietnamese corporation known for developing high-end tourism, real estate, infrastructure, and entertainment projects across Vietnam.
MYSGR is an internal system that enables employees to create and manage service requests (e.g. purchasing, installation, repair) through a structured approval workflow. Employees can submit requests, while managers review, approve, or delegate tasks within their department.
I collaborated with a cross-functional team (1 Product Manager, 2 Product Designers, 1 BA, 2 Testers, 1 Frontend, 1 Backend) to lead research & synthesis, UI/UX design, and prototyping & testing efforts.
Our process followed a four-step approach: identifying user pain points, defining core problems, testing design ideas, and refining them.
The redesign started with a deep dive into user experiences. I collected feedback through emails, surveys, and informal conversations with employees and managers at Sun Group. Here are some real voices that highlighted the pain points:
After conducting desk research, we identified the core underlying issues that triggered the user feedback. While there are many challenges in the current system, I will focus on how I addressed the most critical problems outlined below.
Understanding the end-to-end structure of the request workflow gave me critical insights into user frustrations and bottlenecks. It helped me trace how tasks are initiated, how approvals flow between stakeholders, and where visibility gaps occur. This understanding became the foundation for identifying what users truly need to complete their tasks effectively.
I've noticed two main types of users:
These two journey maps illustrate the end-to-end experience of both Employees and Managers as they navigate the internal request system—capturing their emotions, needs, pain points, and opportunities at each stage of their respective workflows.
From this journey mapping, I realised the core issue is a lack of visibility and feedback across key actions, which causes confusion, delays, and inefficiency for both employees and managers.
I've carried out some competitor analyses, which have helped me to gain valuable insights into how they build a dashboard and structure its layout. This information has been instrumental in informing my own strategies and refining my approach.
Here are my findings:
Clarity through Structure
Competitor tools offer clean dashboards, grouped services, and request cards that display key information (status, assignee, progress) at a glance — helping users understand and act without digging.
Guided & Efficient Interaction
Users are guided by collapsible categories, visual icons, and contextual layouts that reduce friction during request creation and review.
Proactive Communication
Modern platforms use real-time notifications, badges, and inline comments with seen/reply indicators to keep users engaged and aligned across the request lifecycle.
Design a clear, structured, and communicative request experience that empowers employees to act with confidence and enables managers to review and respond with ease.
Scattered interfaces make task completion frustrating, as employees and managers both seek clarity and timely responsiveness.
After analysing user feedback, synthesising journey maps, and studying best practices from competitors, we identified key pain points across the dashboard and service request flow. From this foundation, we began ideating design solutions that would simplify navigation, surface relevant actions, and adapt content based on user roles. The concepts presented below reflect our efforts to turn those insights into tangible improvements.
Problem - Before
Idea 1
Idea 2
Problem - Before
Solution - After
Problem - Before
Solution - After
We began with A/B testing for the dashboard screen to determine which design resonated better with users. Once the optimal layout was selected, we proceeded with standard usability testing for the remaining features.
Goal
The goal of this usability testing was to assess whether the redesigned interface helped users complete key tasks more efficiently, understand request status more clearly, and communicate more effectively while also identifying which dashboard layout (via A/B testing) better aligned with user expectations to guide the overall design direction.
Participants:
10 internal users
5 employees and 5 managers
Experience: 1 to 5 years using MYSGR
Usability Testing Preparation - Research Questions
To evaluate the new internal request system, we conducted usability testing with 10 users from both employee and manager roles. Each participant was asked to complete 3 core tasks: finding a service, submitting a request, and tracking its status. Here are the results:
We designed two concepts:
After careful consideration and discussion, SunGroup chose the Glassmorphism concept with the requirement to integrate it with SunGroup's branding.
Since the project has not yet been launched, I plan to continue usability testing with support from the product team to gather more insights on how users interact with the dashboard. I will also present my ideas to HoangCD (my design lead) to align next steps and assess the feasibility of launching the solution.
If approved, we’ll collaborate with developers to implement the necessary enhancements. In addition, I aim to explore a mobile version of the dashboard to improve accessibility, especially for managers needing quick access during meetings and on the go.
