Out-of-the-box UKG is built
for everyone — which means no one
When UKG Pro ships, its default homepage is a generic launchpad — every module, every link, everything visible to every user regardless of their role. For a large, multi-function organization, that creates real friction: employees can't find time-off requests, managers wade through HR admin menus, and executives see payroll configuration screens they'll never use.
The result is low adoption, a spike in HR support tickets for things the system can already do, and a workforce that defaults to emailing HR directly instead of using self-service tools. The system was capable — the interface was just working against people.
The core issue: a single generic homepage serving employees, managers, HR admins, and executives — four completely different user types with four completely different needs.
Four audiences, four
completely different homepages
The redesign started with a discovery process — not with the system, but with the people using it. I mapped what each audience type actually needed to do when they opened UKG, what they were searching for, and what they were calling HR about because they couldn't find it themselves.
From there, I configured four distinct homepage experiences using UKG Pro's native homepage builder — each one surfacing only the tiles, quick actions, and navigation relevant to that role. No custom code, no third-party tools — just precise configuration of what UKG already supports, applied with a clear design rationale.
The system people avoided
became the system people used
The most immediate signal was a drop in HR support tickets for tasks employees could already do in the system — time-off requests, pay stub downloads, benefits questions. When people can find the thing in two clicks, they stop emailing HR about it.
For managers, surfacing approvals and scheduling front and center reduced the time between an employee submitting a request and a manager acting on it. For executives, having workforce data accessible without navigating through HR admin menus changed how leadership engaged with the system day-to-day.
Good configuration is invisible
The best outcome of this project is that no one talks about it. When a system is configured well, users don't notice the design — they just find what they need. The measure of success here wasn't applause; it was silence from the HR inbox.
This project also reinforced that HRIS work is UX work. Every configuration decision is a design decision. The question isn't just "does the system support this feature" — it's "does the way we've set it up match how the people using it actually think?"