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NEST – ERP Platform UX Case Study
A role-based internal platform designed to simplify employee, HR, and admin workflows.
Role: UI/UX Designer
Platforms: Desktop
Duration: 2.5+ months (Ongoing)
Overview
NEST is an internal ERP platform designed to manage core office operations such as employee management, leave tracking, feedback, projects, documents, and payroll. The platform was built to replace an existing ERP system that created friction due to poor usability, disconnected workflows, and frequent downtime.
This case study focuses on how NEST was designed as a role-based system, with special emphasis on solving the complexity of leave management—one of the most used yet most broken workflows in the previous system.
Background & Problem
Previously, the organization used Asanify to manage HR and employee workflows. While it offered extensive functionality, it failed in daily usage:
User journeys were fragmented and confusing
Similar actions were spread across multiple tabs
Navigation paths often ended without guidance
System downtime blocked critical tasks
Employees struggled with self-service, team leads missed approvals, and HR had limited visibility and control. This highlighted the need for a custom ERP aligned with real organizational workflows.
Goal- To design a stable, intuitive, and role-specific ERP platform where:
Employees can complete tasks independently
Team leads can act quickly without friction
HR can monitor, intervene, and control policies efficiently
Key Challenge: Leave Management as a System Problem
While designing the Leave Management module for NEST, the biggest challenge was untangling a broken user journey that employees, HR, and team leads were already struggling with in our previous ERP system, Asanify.
Through internal discussions, shadowing real usage, and hands-on exploration of Asanify, it became clear that the core problem wasn’t the lack of features it was how those features were structured. Users were forced to navigate through multiple unrelated tabs for simple actions like applying for leave, tracking approvals, or understanding leave balances. Each task felt isolated, and once a user completed one step, the system often left them wondering “what should I do next?”
This fragmentation was further amplified by:
Confusing navigation hierarchy
Too many screens for a single task
No clear connection between leave balances, requests, and approvals
User journeys ending abruptly instead of flowing forward
As a result, employees depended heavily on HR for guidance, HR teams spent time answering repetitive questions, and team leads lacked quick visibility into requests and actions.
Leave management was not just a feature it was a cross-role workflow involving employees, managers, and HR. In the existing system, this flow was broken due to:
Too many tabs for related actions
No continuity between applying, tracking, and approving leaves
Poor visibility of pending actions
No fallback when approvals were delayed
The challenge was to design a single, continuous journey that adapts to different user roles without duplicating complexity.
Research & Understanding the Users
Before designing solutions, I invested significant time in understanding the real workflows of three key personas:
Employees applying for and tracking leaves
Team Leads approving, rejecting, or requesting changes
HR/Admins managing policies, balances, and visibility
By studying Asanify’s structure and collecting feedback from all stakeholders, one insight stood out clearly:
Users don’t think in tabs they think in tasks.
They wanted a system that feels guided, predictable, and continuous, not one that forces them to hunt for the next step.
How the Leave Flow Was Redesigned
To solve these challenges, the Leave Management flow in NEST was designed as a single, connected journey, not a set of disconnected screens.
1. One Clear Entry Point
The Leave Overview / Dashboard acts as the anchor. From one screen, users can:
See leave balances
View upcoming and past requests
Switch between calendar and list views
Apply for leave without changing context
This removes the need to jump across multiple tabs just to understand leave status.
2. Contextual Actions, Not Dead Ends
Every screen answers the question: “What can I do next?”
From the dashboard → Apply Leave
From a request → View details, edit, or cancel
From request details → Track approval activity in real time
The journey never ends abruptly; actions are always visible and contextual.
3. Progressive Disclosure Through Modals
Instead of sending users to new pages, key actions like:
Applying for leave
Editing requests
Viewing request activity
are handled through focused modals. This keeps users oriented, reduces cognitive load, and prevents navigation fatigue.
Transparent Approval & Activity Tracking
The request activity timeline clearly shows:
Who initiated the request
Who approved or rejected it
When actions occurred
This transparency removes uncertainty and reduces back-and-forth communication.
5. Designed for All Roles, Not Just One
The same core flow adapts to:
Employees (clarity & control)
Team leads (quick decisions)
HR/Admins (policy visibility & tracking)
This ensures consistency while still supporting role-specific needs.
Leave Policy
The Leave Policy tab contains all types of leave policies, along with their descriptions and applicable restrictions. It also includes details such as the number of leaves carried forward from the previous year, the total leave balance, and the total leaves used.
Holidays
This section contains a list of all holidays, including restricted holidays and assigned confirmed holidays. The screen is designed to display all holidays in one place, making it easier for users to plan their time off. To further simplify planning, a calendar view is included, providing a clear visual of dates and weekends, which helps users plan their holidays more effectively.
HR Flow: Visibility, Control, and Intervention
Problems Observed In the previous system, HR:
Had to depend on managers for updates
Lacked visibility on critical pending requests
Couldn’t easily adjust policies or balances
Had no way to intervene smoothly in urgent cases
Design Solution
The HR flow was designed to give high-level visibility with granular control:
HR Dashboard
On Leave view showing who is on leave via a calendar
Filters for team-wise and role-wise visibility
Pending Actions tab highlighting high-priority requests awaiting approval
Even though the system sends automatic reminders to team leads, HR is kept in the loop so they can step in when delays affect employees.
Leave Policy Management
Create and manage different leave types
Configure leave allotments based on employee designation
View and adjust employee leave balances during comp-offs or exceptions
Employment Restrictions
Restrict leave access during probation or notice periods
Apply policy-level controls without manual follow-ups
Leave Requests
Centralized table with all employee requests
Priority levels, leave types, date ranges, and status visibility
HR actions such as view, edit, approve, reject, cancel, or remind
Holiday Management
Create yearly organization-wide holidays
Manage assigned and restricted holidays
Configure recurrence and office-location-based holidays
How the Problem Was Solved
The core solution was designing continuity into the system. Instead of breaking tasks into disconnected tabs, each flow was designed to naturally lead to the next step.
Every screen answers “What should I do next?”
Role-based access removes unnecessary clutter
Automation supports users, but visibility empowers HR
Navigation stays interconnected to avoid dead ends
Impact
Reduced employee dependency on HR
Faster approvals and fewer missed requests
Better policy enforcement with flexibility
Higher trust in the system due to stability and clarity