top of page

Create Your First Project

Start adding your projects to your portfolio. Click on "Manage Projects" to get started

Aperture photo sharing app

Project type

CareerFoundry project

Location

Frankfurt, Germany

Role

Product Manager

Date

11.2024 - 02.2025

This project was completed as part of my Product Management program at CareerFoundry to demonstrate my ability to apply product management methodologies to solve real-world user challenges.

Credits
Tutor: Linda Walczak
Mentor: Anton Doberschuetz

Problem: Declining engagement among younger users on Aperture.

Key Insight: Younger users prefer highly interactive, community-driven experiences rather than passive photo sharing.

Solution: Develop and introduce a new feature that enhances users engagement and retention.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Employee Portal is internal digital workspace. It's a central entry point for business users 

where they have easy access apps that they need on a daily basis.

The previous platform, where Employee Portal is hosted, is end-of-maintenance support and new hosting platform should be implemented.

PROJECT GOAL

  • Provide an optimized UX/UI for a central access point for applications ​

  • Migrate Employee Portal to a new platform 

TOOLS

MS Teams / Figma / SharePoint / MS suite / SAP WorkZone / Qualtrics

DURATION

Project start: June 2023

Project end: September 2024

​

APPROACH & METHODOLOGY

For this project the team followed a design-thinking framework structured into three main phases

Image by Van Tay Media

UNDERSTAND PHASE

(Emphasize & Define)

  • Identified current issues with the workspace

  • Prioritized insights to guide feature development​

Writing on Glass

 EXPLORE PHASE 

(Ideate & Prototype)

  • Ideated for prioritized insights

  • Created an interactive mockups to be tested during next phase prototype and tested different feature ideas

  • Defined development scope

Image by Maxime Horlaville

MATERIALIZE PHASE 
(Test & Implement)

  • Conducted usability testing and iterated to build a mock-up based onr eceived feedback

  • Created a structured launch plan and aligned with stakeholders 

  • Monitored post-launch engagement and iterated based on feedback

Library
Library

uNDERSTAND PHASE: eMPHASIZE & DEFINE

Before optimizing the internal portal, we focused on deeply understanding employee needs, pain points, and behaviors. Our goal was to ensure that the portal streamlined access to business applications while enhancing overall user efficiency.

​

Emphasize​

To build a solution that truly meets employees' needs, we employed a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods:

User Interviews & surveys

  • Conducted one-on-one interviews with employees across different departments (HR, Finance, IT, and Communication) to understand their daily workflows and challenges.

  • Designed a company-wide survey to gather broader insights, focusing on usability issues, frequently used applications, and preferred features.

Define

Based on our research, we synthesized insights into a clear problem statement:

"Employees struggle to efficiently locate and access essential business applications due to complex navigation, a lack of personalization, and an unintuitive search experience. This results in wasted time, decreased productivity, and frustration."

​

By understanding diverse user needs, we established a strong foundation for designing targeted solutions.

​Data Analysis Techniques

To synthesize research findings, Produt manager applied two structured analysis methods:

 

Tag coding:

  • Assigned different tags to highlight common user pain points and patterns.

  • This helped in grouping related insights for better decision-making.

 

Codification (sentiment analysis):

  • Categorized qualitative feedback based on sentiment (positive, neutral, negative).

  • Allowed for a data-driven understanding of user frustrations and needs.​​

Key Insights & Prioritization

Following research analysis, Product manager created a list of key insights, prioritized using the MoSCoW matrix (Must-Have, Should-Have, Could-Have, Won’t-Have).

​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Key finding: Business users are frustrated with too many access points for business applications.

A central entry point to business apps will optimize digital platform UX and  by offering a new clean platform structure will help business users to perform their daily tasks successfully and will increase platform usage satisfaction rate.

​

Three personas were created to guide features ideation:

  • Generic business user persona

  • Manager user persona

  • Assitant user persona​​

Library
Abstract Shapes
Abstract Shapes

EXPLORE PHASE:
IDEATE & PROTOTYPE

With a clear understanding of employee needs and pain points, we transitioned into the prototyping phase to test potential solutions before committing to full development. Our goal was to create an interactive experience that closely resembled the final product, allowing us to gather actionable feedback early on.​

​

Ideate 

​For ideate sessions, product team used:

  • Team mind mapping sessions to explore features ideas

  • Brainstorm workshops with business stakeholders 

  • Dot voting to prioritize the best ideas based on feasibility and impact.

 Prototype

​Based on the outcome from the ideate sessions, the team started to build interactive mockups.

We needed to understand what components of our ideas work, and which do not.

We also began to weigh the impact vs. feasibility of our ideas through feedback on created prototypes.

Prototype Development

​Creating interactive mockups:​

  • After refining the wireframes, we developed high-fidelity interactive mockups using Figma to simulate real user interactions.

  • ​

These mockups included:

  • Clickable navigation menus: Employees could explore different sections of the portal as they would in the final product.

  • Live search simulation: We integrated search bar interactions to demonstrate improved search behavior, including suggested results and filtering options.

  • Dashboard customization features: Users could drag and drop applications, pin favorites, and rearrange their layout to match personal preferences.

  • Micro-Interactions & visual cues: Added subtle hover effects, animations, and tooltips to enhance usability and guide users smoothly through tasks.

​​​

Outcome

Employees found it easier to locate and access their business applications, reducing time spent navigating the portal.

 

The interactive mockups helped align stakeholders before development, minimizing rework.

​

Library
Abstract Shapes
Abstract Shapes

materialize PHASE:
test & implement

Test

Once we had a high-fidelity interactive mockup, we conducted usability testing to validate the design and gather real employee feedback.

 

Our goal was to ensure that the portal’s navigation, search functionality, and overall user experience were optimized for efficiency and ease of use.

​

Implement

After refining the prototype through multiple iterations and extensive testing, we moved into the implementation phase to deploy the optimized internal portal across the organization.

 

Our objective was to ensure a smooth transition, high adoption rates, and minimal disruption to employees’ daily workflows.

testing & iterative improvements

​Feedback from testing led to improvements that made the final product more intuitive and employee-friendly.

​

User Testing Process

Participants: we selected employees from different departments and roles to ensure diverse perspectives.

​

Testing Methods:

  • Unmoderated testing: allowed employees to interact with the mockups independently and provide feedback via surveys.

​

  • Heatmaps & click tracking

​​

Key Takeaways & Lessons Learned

Early testing with interactive mockups prevented costly rework in later development stages.

​

Iterative design improvements, based on direct user feedback, significantly enhanced the efficiency and usability of the portal.

​

Continuous collaboration between product, design, and engineering ensured that the final product aligned with both user needs and business goals.

Com & Stakeholder Alignment

Effective communication was key throughout the project.

As the internal portal involves a big number of stakeholders, we needed to make sure that all of them are keeped informed and taken care of. 

​​

Internal portal is the access point for all business apps and all users needed to know of all changes that were to take place with the roll out of new software and updated UI. 

​

For this purpose we used following:

  • SharePoint pages with all relevant changes for end users and explanation of the set-up of upgraded portal

  • Short videos explaning how to navigate within the upgraded portal

  • Possibility to provide feedback via feedback button on the main page of internal portal

  • Inform internal Help desk about upcoming changes, so that they can support users accordingly

product implementation
 

Steps taken for a successful go-live:

​

  • Defined product launch objectives & milestones

  • Identified target audience & communication strategy

  • Coordinated internal resources & stakeholder involvement

  • Set up post-launch monitoring & feedback loops

  • Post-launch analysis & retrospective

 

Key learnings from launch:

  • Collected user feedback via logged tickets with Help desk and app analytics.

  • Conducted a retrospective to analyze what worked and what could be improved.

  • Iterated based on insights to optimize future engagement strategies.

key take-aways

By using a design thinking approach, we successfully transformed an outdated, complex system into an intuitive, high-performing internal portal that empowered employees and streamlined workflows.

 

The project’s success reaffirmed the importance of human-centered product design, iterative improvements, and data-driven decision-making in creating impactful digital solutions.

Image by Firmbee.com

Understand user needs

  • Conducted user research and sentiment analysis to ensure the solution met business and employee requirements.

  • Leveraged tagging, and behavioral insights to inform data-driven decision-making.

Image by Miguel A Amutio

Ensure clear communication

  • Maintained transparency by regularly updating stakeholders on roadmap progress and feature changes.

  • Engaged end-users early to manage expectations and drive adoption.

Image by Brett Jordan

Prioritizing features for maximum impact

  • ​Applied the MoSCoW prioritization framework to focus on high-value features and optimize development resources.

Image by Brett Jordan

Structured rollout & change management

  • Designed a phased launch strategy with controlled deployments to minimize risks.

  • Implemented real-time monitoring and feedback loops to address issues proactively.

Image by David Travis

Iterative testing & validation

  • Developed interactive mockups and prototypes to validate core functionalities before full-scale development.

  • Conducted usability testing to refine key features and address user pain points early.

Image by Mario Gogh

Post-launch optimization & continuous improvement

  • Conducted retrospective analysis and A/B testing to measure performance and identify areas for enhancement.

  • Established a continuous improvement pipeline to iterate based on user feedback and evolving business needs

​

© 2025 by Valentina Letter. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page