The Challenge

Before the redesign, PayGaps provided valuable compliance information, but the experience created several usability challenges.

The platform exposed important data but often required users to interpret the information themselves.

Key challenges included:

• Complex organizational structures were difficult to understand

• Important compliance signals were buried inside dense tables

• Users had to interpret statistical results without enough context

• Reporting stages felt disconnected from each other

• System terminology did not always match HR workflows

The result was an experience where users could access information, but understanding and acting on that information required significant effort.

Design Goals

The redesign focused on three core principles:

1. Unify the Compliance Journey

Create a connected experience that guides users from setup to analysis to reporting.

2. Progressive Disclosure

Present the right information at the right moment instead of overwhelming users with every available metric.

3. Embedded Interpretation

Transform complex compliance data into understandable insights and recommended actions.

Solution

I redesigned PayGaps from a reporting tool into a compliance decision-support platform.

The new experience helps HR teams move through a structured journey:

Understand → Analyze → Identify Issues → Take Action

Instead of simply showing pay gap statistics, the platform helps users understand:

• What the data means

• Why an issue exists

• Which areas require attention

• What actions should happen next

Key Design Decisions

1. Job Catalog Redesign

Building confidence before analysis.

The Job Catalog is the foundation of the entire compliance process.

Previously, users were presented with role information in a flat structure, making it difficult to understand organizational relationships.

The redesign introduced a clearer hierarchy:

Department → Role → Evaluation Details

This mirrors how HR teams naturally understand their organization.

Improved Role Organization

Roles are now grouped by department and job family, reducing cognitive load.

Users can quickly understand:

• Which roles exist

• Which roles are evaluated

• Which areas require attention

Clear Compliance Status

Instead of unclear system states, statuses were redesigned around user understanding.

Examples:

• Verified

• Requires Evaluation

• Review Required

This makes the next action immediately visible.

2. Salary Groups Redesign

Turning statistics into meaningful insights.

Salary analysis requires more than displaying numbers.

HR professionals need to understand:

• Where risks exist

• Why differences appear

• What action should be taken

The redesign transformed salary groups into diagnostic workspaces.

Risk Visibility

Each salary group now communicates:

• Group size

• Pay gap status

• Distribution health

• Recommended next steps

Users can quickly identify areas requiring attention.

Human-Friendly Data Interpretation

Complex statistical outputs are paired with understandable explanations.

Instead of forcing HR teams to interpret raw numbers, the interface explains:

• Whether the difference is significant

• What may be contributing to the issue

• What should happen next

3. Job Architecture Redesign

Helping organizations maintain structural consistency.

The Job Architecture view helps HR teams answer:

"Are equivalent roles positioned correctly across the organization?"

The redesign improved the experience by making structural issues easier to discover.

Guided Architecture Review

Instead of presenting a passive matrix, the interface highlights areas requiring review.

Users can identify:

• Missing role assignments

• Structural inconsistencies

• Alignment opportunities

Improved Visual Hierarchy

Empty areas and irrelevant information were reduced visually, allowing important organizational patterns to stand out.

Handling Complex Compliance States

Privacy Protection

For situations where sample sizes are too small, the previous system state could create confusion.

The redesign introduced clearer communication:

Data Masked for Privacy Protection

Explaining that the information is hidden due to compliance requirements rather than a system problem.

Empty States

Instead of leaving users with blank screens, empty states guide meaningful actions:

• Import Employee Data

• Create Salary Groups

• Assign Role Levels

No Risk States

When organizations meet compliance expectations, the platform communicates confidence:

Within Threshold

No action required. Ready for reporting.

High Risk States

When significant disparities exist, the platform moves beyond highlighting problems.

It helps users understand:

• What caused the disparity

• Which roles contributed

• What corrective actions are possible

Outcome

The redesign transformed PayGaps from a complex compliance reporting system into a guided decision-making platform.

The improved experience enables HR teams to:

✓ Understand organizational structures faster
✓ Identify pay equity risks more clearly
✓ Interpret complex compliance data confidently
✓ Move from reporting to meaningful action
✓ Reduce the complexity of compensation analysis

Impact

PayGaps demonstrates how thoughtful enterprise UX can simplify highly complex workflows.

The redesign was not about removing complexity from compensation compliance — because the problem itself is complex.

The goal was to make that complexity understandable.

By combining structured workflows, progressive disclosure, and human-centered data visualization, PayGaps becomes a platform that helps organizations build fairer workplaces with greater confidence.