Peer-to-peer employee recognition platform created and managed by Sodexo UK. I was lead designer in refreshing the E.ON Buzz platform to raise employee engagement. The new Buzz was greatly successful, with employee engagement soaring in the first year, with users loving the new platform.
uzz is a peer-to-peer employee recognition platform created and managed by Sodexo UK since 2012. The platform saw thousands of buzzes sent every year between employees. It was a straightforward, stable system and it needed little IT support but the UI was severely dated and there was no consideration for the UX of the platform. Likewise a study within the company showed that less than 35% employees were actively participating in buzzing their peers. E.ON feared there was a lot of employee engagement they were missing out on and decided on a Buzz rebrand to stimulate employee buzzing.
As a lead designer, I was assigned to see that Buzz received the refresh it deserved. The good news was that E.ON employees knew their way around the platform, they loved “buzzing” each other and it certainly contributed positively to a culture of recognition amongst employees. However, Buzz management recognised there was massive room for improvement and the new goal for the Buzz refresh was to raise employee engagement to over 70%. To do this we held a few focus groups with E.ON employees about their 'buzzing" needs. Based on the new findings we created a few UI versions that were tested on a small group of employees for usability.
Homepage - Active employees
Homepage - New employees with onboarding features
Buzz Login - Before and After
Buzz Homepage - Before and After
the platform needed to be re-designed to align with the current brand guidelines. The brief was simple but not very detailed. The programme needed to be fresh to replace the existing platform, and work just as better, be easy to navigate for employees and managers, all while being exciting and engaging, especially for un-engaged employees.
The re-design process lasted a few weeks and included a few wireframe iterations based on feedback from both the brand team in Berlin, as well as the Buzz team at E.ON in the UK. The collaboration between all teams was phenomenal and something I personally remember fondly.
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Send a Nomination Page - After Redesign
verall, the project was one that delighted and excited everybody involved in the rebranding of Buzz and the metrics are looking fantastic too! Over 27,457 sent Buzzes between approx. 9000 employees since 15.04.2019 (the official launch date) – a staggering increase from 8,891 buzzes sent per year! Moreover, there have been zero inquiries on how to use the system and how to send buzzes and a survey conducted after 6 months showed that 82% of employees are enjoying the new platform and find it very easy to use and navigate.
All in all, the re-brand of the Buzz platform has been a roaring success, engagement amongst employees has increased tenfold and both E.ON and Sodexo are certainly pleased with the results, thus strengthening their business ties in the foreseeable future. As for me, the experience I had working with E.ON has been incredibly positive and one of the projects I remember most fondly working at!
