This November, we are excited to launch the redesign of The Orchard Workstation. Sleek and simplified but with all the functionality our clients need, the new Workstation incorporates feedback we received from a survey we conducted last year paired with the best technology from the ground up.
To explain how we approached our redesign, let’s use the example of legos — a system of pieces where when connected, turn into something beautiful. The feedback we received from our survey showed us how our clients were using the Workstation and what needed to be improved. We prioritized fixes that not only aimed to improve the user experience visually, but also make it easier for our clients to find what they were looking for. We took apart our colorful but mismatched lego town and began updating its architecture.
This was the opportunity to start anew. The old version of the Workstation was designed for a specific screen size and user flow which is now outdated. In our rebuild, our guiding principles were to refresh our tools through improved design, page architecture, user experience and maintainability.
The Results, or Pieces to our Puzzle
Our navigation is more focused. We removed the drop-down menus within the main navigation for a more direct experience and added a sub-navigation to make it easier for our clients to find their way across our various products.
Our pages are clearer. With an updated color scheme and layout, making the correct path from A to Z more intuitive for our clients.
Key information is easy to find. We elevated the Label Name and ID to the navigation level to make it more visible.
The Workstation is more personal. With customized headers and login pages, clients can now add their own branding across the entire Workstation. By uploading their logo and icon, they and the users who have access to their account will see the label’s assets instead of The Orchard logo.
Adding new features is now easier than ever. One of the best parts of this first release is that we are now able to iterate more quickly on this design. In short: future releases are already in progress and new improvements will come more quickly and easily than before. Keep those comments coming!
In Addition, a Simplified Accounting Export
In conjunction with the redesign, we’ve revisited our Statements exports in Accounting. For any given period, clients can now request both full and custom reports within the same page, specifying which transaction types should be included, what file type they wish to export (.xls or .txt) and what number format they prefer (U.S. or European).
Reports will generate much faster than before and clients will get a notification by email when their report is ready for download.
With the first release of this Workstation redesign, we hope to gather much feedback from our clients to inform our path forward and ensure we continually make improvements to provide the best Workstation experience possible.
