Workflow Builder
In the fast-paced world of film and TV production, payroll workflows are notoriously complex and time-sensitive. For timekeeking and onboarding platforms, clients increasingly demanded greater visibility and control over their approval processes.
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Understanding Our Challenge
Self-Service Workflow Builder
To empower film payroll teams with direct control over their processes.
Empowering Experienced Teams
Providing autonomy while leveraging their expertise.
Transforming Manual Processes
Transitioning from support-heavy operations to intuitive tools.
The Problem
The Existing Internal Builder - Timekeeping
Depended on in-depth tool knowledge for internal processes.
This tool left users struggling with an empty layout that offered no guidance or context—department names are truncated with horizontal scrolling, approval roles lacked explanation, and users couldn’t reorder levels or see a clear link between departments and approvers.
The Existing Internal Builder - Onboarding
Each document added to the project required individual workflows to be built to accommodate it's conditions, pay rate and departments. Creating 70+ workflows for large projects
How might we open up Start+ and Hours+’s workflow builder to clients so they can manage and create workflows quickly and efficiently?
Understanding the Challenge
Delays and Bottlenecks
Onboarding new productions required manual setup by internal teams, creating backlogs and frustration.
Repetitive Configuration
Teams had to rebuild similar workflows from scratch for each new production.
Limited Visibility
Clients had no transparency into approval workflows or ability to make simple changes.
Blocked Autonomy
Experienced payroll accountants felt constrained by their inability to configure workflows to match production needs without sending multiple emails over multiple days.
Meet Our Primary User
Maria Torres
Senior Payroll Accountant with 22 years of experience in film & TV production based in Los Angeles. Uses multiple tools including Start+, Hours+, and ShowBiz.
Goals
  • Ensure timely, accurate payments
  • Set up stable workflows early
  • Maintain union and studio compliance
  • Avoid document routing delays
Pain Points
  • Cannot create approval workflows quickly or replace crew.
  • Confusing terminology (signer vs. approver)
  • Limited support for conditional logic
  • Manual workarounds for paper-based processes
"Just let me build the workflow once, see it clearly, and know it works." - Maria Torres
Hypothesis
If we provide clients with direct access to a self-service workflow builder in Start+ and Hours+, they will be able to manage and configure approval workflows more efficiently—reducing onboarding delays, minimizing repetitive setup, and increasing transparency and autonomy for experienced payroll accountants and project admins.
Research Plan
Generative User Interviews
Conducted in-depth interviews with 6 participants, including subject matter experts, internal stakeholders, and customers. The goal was to uncover pain points, mental models, and opportunities for improvement in the current onboarding and workflow setup process.
Competitive Analysis
Evaluated leading workflow builder tools and competitor products to identify industry best practices, UX patterns, and opportunities for differentiation.
Heuristic Evaluation of Current Tools
Performed a thorough analysis of the current internal tools to surface usability issues, redundant steps, and key friction points that hinder user efficiency and satisfaction.
Prototype Testing
Tested interactive prototypes to observe how users navigate building an approval workflow. We assessed both the ideal "happy path" experience and edge cases where system constraints might create user frustration ("unhappy path").
User Stories
Project Admin - Payroll Accountant
  • As a project admin I want create my own approval flows so that I can get the project up and running as fast as possible
  • As a project admin I want be able to manage and adjust users in the approval flows so that I can efficiently make changes as needed during
  • production.
  • As a project admin I want be able to use system template approval flows so that I can set up the approval flows based on guidance from the system to make those choices.
  • As a project admin I want be able to onboard users with approval roles included in their offer so that I don’t have to go into the approval system and add them there.
Studio Admin - Finance Executive
  • As a studio admin I want to be able to send over my approval requirements so that don’t have to set it up myself.
  • As a studio admin I want to be able to make adjustments to the users in each approval role so that I don’t have send emails and wait for someone else to do it for me.
  • As a studio admin I want to be able to assign key crew with permission to add or adjust the approval flows so that they can make adjustments as needed.
  • As a studio admin I want to be able to work with the same implementation people I am used to working with so that they are familiar with the studio workflows and policies.
Research Insights
“What would we do on paper, and how can we make the software mimic that experience and flexibility.”- Natalie, interviewee
"Set It and Forget It" Mentality
Users expect to configure complex, multi-tier approval workflows at the start of production and rely on them to operate smoothly without ongoing intervention.
Signer vs. Approver Confusion
Participants frequently misunderstood the difference between signers and approvers, highlighting a need for clearer labeling, visuals, and system feedback to reduce role ambiguity.
Custom Document Workflows
Productions require flexible workflows that support conditional logic—ensuring the right stakeholders are prompted to approve or sign specific documents based on their type or content.
Mental Model
Users often work from studio-provided Excel-based workflow charts, which don’t align with the current UI. The system must better reflect these complex, pre-defined approval structures to reduce friction and errors during setup.
Design Strategy
These concepts were tested in low-fidelity prototypes first to validate language, flow logic, and mental models before adding visual refinements.
1
Visual Step-Based Builder
Design a clear, intuitive interface showing approval levels and assigned roles with visual hierarchy to simplify complex relationships.
2
Role Differentiation
Implement distinct visual language and tooltips to clarify roles, addressing a major source of user confusion.
3
Reusable Templates
Create a library of pre-built workflows that users can preview, apply, and customize with production-specific names like "Overscale Cast – Episodic."
4
Preview & Validation
Develop a simulation mode allowing users to test workflow behavior before activating it, building confidence and reducing errors.
Design Iteration
The design evolution prioritized balancing powerful functionality with approachable interfaces. Each iteration simplified complex concepts without sacrificing the flexibility demanded by experienced users.
1
User Flow
Mapping out the end-to-end user journey to ensure a logical and intuitive progression through the workflow builder.
2
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Initial sketches focused on workflow structure and terminology clarity, testing basic concepts with users to validate mental models.
3
High-Fidelity Prototypes
Final designs featured document subscription functionality, real-time preview tools, and simplified language for complex operations.
4
Usability Testing
Moderated sessions with real payroll professionals validated key features while identifying critical refinements needed before launch.
1. User Flow
We developed a user flow illustrating the process for customer-facing project setup and workflow creation.
2. Low-Fidelity Mockups
Initial sketches focused on workflow structure and terminology clarity, testing basic concepts with users to validate mental models.
Start+ Workflow Builder Page
Horizontal card pattern & conditional logic in a "If / Then" statement style.
Start+ Workflow Library
Nested tabs with template library concept.
Refinement - Low to High Fidelity
We transitioned to a vertical layout for approval level cards, allowing users to build workflows through intuitive vertical scrolling—an approach inspired by both competitive analysis and best-in-class design patterns. Additionally, we introduced a full-screen builder modal to replace the in-page experience, simplifying navigation and reducing cognitive load by separating configuration settings from the main workflow view.
3.High-Fidelity Mockups
Final designs featured document subscription functionality, real-time preview tools, and simplified language for complex operations.
Onboarding Builder Modal
Refined design for adding documents and departments. Document approver assignment mapped via a trigger dropdown.
Timekeeping Workflow Library
Workflow library shows the summary details of each workflow, including departments and approvers.
Final Solution Features
The final design addressed key pain points with plain language, clear visual hierarchy, and intuitive controls. We renamed technical terms like "Rules" and "Conditions" to everyday language and redesigned cards with distinct "Add Level" versus "Add Approver" cues to reduce confusion.
Dynamic Builder
Intuitive interface for creating multi-step workflows with levels and multi-approver conditions
Conditional Logic
Department-specific routing, overscale logic handling and document conditional rules to meet production requirements
Template Library
Save, rename and reuse workflows across productions to eliminate repetitive setup *Phase 2
Preview & Validation
Review workflow steps, department and document in real-time within the workflow library
User Quotes
“Approval builder is perfect, easy”- Seth, interviewee #1
“Overall this is easy and intuitive” - Steve, interviewee #4
“This approval assignment is so cool, I love this, this is so great”- Natalie, interviewee #6
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