Sunweb Group
Sunweb: proving the value of design for internal tools as the first UX designer
As the first product designer for internal tools at Sunweb, I built Gateway 2.0 and the UX practice that every following team could build on.
Sunweb employees worked with a tangle of tools to connect partners, monitor contracts and manage accommodations. As the first product designer for internal tools, I was responsible for all research, design and strategic decisions for Gateway 2.0, the platform that replaces those tools. I also set the bar: a SUS baseline of the old tools, quarterly measurements and a design library plus way of working for all future internal tools.
- 47
- SUS score of the old tools, the shared baseline
- 10
- personas based on interviews with every user group
The problem
Sunweb Group sells holidays under multiple brands, and behind the scenes employees kept that running with a patchwork of internal tools. Connecting partners, monitoring contracts, managing accommodations: every process ran through multiple systems, resulting in waiting times, double data entry and errors caused by price differences between systems.
No designer had ever been involved in these internal tools. The assignment was twofold: design Gateway 2.0 as the replacement platform, and meanwhile prove that a UX practice for internal tools is worth the investment.
My role
As the first product designer for internal tools, I was responsible for all research, design and strategic decisions. I was fully embedded in Team Odessa, from sprint planning to retrospectives, so that UX did not become a separate counter but part of the development cycle.
The process
First understand what is already there
Users had been working with the existing software for years, so that is where I started: a software analysis of the current tools, interviews with all stakeholders about business goals and technical constraints, and extensive user interviews per user group. Four insights kept returning: lack of overview, slow systems, price differences between systems and too many separate tools for one task.
Making the needs concrete
I summarized the interviews into ten personas with goals, tasks and pain points per role, from partner connectivity manager to contract administrator. Together with the product owner and key users I wrote user stories and translated technical requirements into functional requirements from the user’s perspective. Four design principles set the bar: usability first, feedback matters, simple and consistent, and accessible to everyone.
Measuring instead of claiming
To make the value of design demonstrable, I set up a System Usability Scale benchmark. The old tools scored 47, well below the threshold of usable. With the organization I agreed on targets (67 for the MVP, 85 as the long-term goal for internal tools) and a measurement rhythm of every three months. That changed the conversation about design from taste to measurable progress.
From flows to tested designs
I mapped the flows of all user groups and merged them into a navigation structure for one platform. I tested interactive wireframes qualitatively with users, in multiple variants. Only then came the final UI design: a combination of PrimeReact components and custom components, housed in a shared design library so that subsequent teams could start right away.
The solution
Gateway 2.0: a platform where employees from different departments connect partners, manage contracts and monitor accommodations, with a shared design library and a documented UX way of working for all future internal tools.
Results
Beyond the platform itself, I left behind a lasting way of working: research, design and testing as a fixed part of the development cycle, secured with the UX lead and product owner. The SUS benchmark with quarterly measurements made the improvement trackable, also after my departure.
What I take away
With internal tools, the first designer is also the burden of proof. By measuring from day one (SUS baseline, agreed targets) I did not have to claim the value of UX; the organization could watch it grow itself. And by continuously switching between the big picture and individual functionality, it remained a coherent product instead of a collection of screens.
What the client says
“Roxanne is knowledgeable and very pro-active. She also enjoys UX Research which really helped us since we had limited research capacity for this project. She supported the PO and dev team where needed and most importantly, she always seems to be smiling.”
“Roxanne has a great understanding of user needs and is confident enough to have open conversations, even if front-end developers have different opinions. She is meticulous and efficient with her work, and always puts in the effort to ensure the highest standard possible.”