Uncovering Pain Points in Payroll Reporting to Deliver a Competitive, Industry-Standard Experience
Uncovering Pain Points in Payroll Reporting to Deliver a Competitive, Industry-Standard Experience
Problem
Early payroll customers struggled to understand payroll costs due to unclear and incomplete reporting.
my role
User Researcher, Project Lead
timeline
May–August 2024
project goals
Improve payroll reporting clarity and close capability gaps with competitive payroll products.
constraints
Early-stage payroll product, limited reporting infrastructure, and unclear definitions of “customization."
primary outcome
Shipped a Payroll Summary report that clarified total payroll costs and aligned reporting with industry standards.
Problem
Early payroll customers struggled to understand payroll costs due to unclear and incomplete reporting.
my role
User Researcher, Project Lead
timeline
May–August 2024
project goals
Improve payroll reporting clarity and close capability gaps with competitive payroll products.
constraints
Early-stage payroll product, limited reporting infrastructure, and unclear definitions of “customization."
primary outcome
Shipped a Payroll Summary report that clarified total payroll costs and aligned reporting with industry standards.
How I Approached This
Research & Design Process
How I Approached This
Research & Design Process
01
Identify Reporting Pain Points
Early-stage product validation and user pain prioritization
Conducted discovery research across the payroll experience, synthesizing customer feedback and observational findings to identify recurring friction points. While several issues emerged, reporting consistently surfaced as the most critical gap.
KEY QUESTION
What is preventing customers from confidently understanding their payroll costs?
outcome
Identified payroll reporting as the highest-impact problem area, with “customization” emerging as a recurring but ambiguous request.
Affinity Map of Payroll Feedback
Categorized pain points into 4 top pain points (reporting, document management, onboarding, payroll automation). 1 key benefit emerged as well.
Reporting is the #1 Pain Point
4 themes emerged from payroll reporting: lack of cost breakdowns, limited customization with reports, sending reports to tax entities, invoice breakdown of historical pay runs.
01
Identify Reporting Pain Points
Early-stage product validation and user pain prioritization
Conducted discovery research across the payroll experience, synthesizing customer feedback and observational findings to identify recurring friction points. While several issues emerged, reporting consistently surfaced as the most critical gap.
KEY QUESTION
What is preventing customers from confidently understanding their payroll costs?
outcome
Identified payroll reporting as the highest-impact problem area, with “customization” emerging as a recurring but ambiguous request.
Affinity Map of Payroll Feedback
Categorized pain points into 4 top pain points (reporting, document management, onboarding, payroll automation). 1 key benefit emerged as well.
Reporting is the #1 Pain Point
4 themes emerged from payroll reporting: lack of cost breakdowns, limited customization with reports, sending reports to tax entities, invoice breakdown of historical pay runs.
02
Benchmark Competitive Payroll Reporting
Competitive benchmarking and workflow comparison
Interviewed six payroll officers with experience across multiple payroll platforms and cross-referenced their insights with customer session recordings and feedback from Workforce.com clients.
KEY QUESTION
What reports do payroll officers expect immediately after running payroll?
outcome
Identified the absence of a Payroll Summary report—a standard feature used to review total payroll costs—as a critical gap.
02
Benchmark Competitive Payroll Reporting
Competitive benchmarking and workflow comparison
Interviewed six payroll officers with experience across multiple payroll platforms and cross-referenced their insights with customer session recordings and feedback from Workforce.com clients.
KEY QUESTION
What reports do payroll officers expect immediately after running payroll?
outcome
Identified the absence of a Payroll Summary report—a standard feature used to review total payroll costs—as a critical gap.
03
Translate “Customization” Into Clear Requirements
User mental models and cost transparency
Users wanted structured summaries and rollups—not flexible, build-your-own reports.
03
Translate “Customization” Into Clear Requirements
User mental models and cost transparency
Users wanted structured summaries and rollups—not flexible, build-your-own reports.
Key Decisions
Solution & Reasoning
Key Decisions
Solution & Reasoning
decision made
Ship a Standardized Payroll Summary Report
decision made
Ship a Standardized Payroll Summary Report
decision made
Design Reporting Around Post–Pay Run Workflows
decision made
Design Reporting Around Post–Pay Run Workflows
decision made
Make All Costs Traceable to Totals
decision made
Make All Costs Traceable to Totals
My Results
Outcomes & Impacts
My Results
Outcomes & Impacts
User Satisfaction
3.78/5
Initial satisfaction survey results indicated that the new Payroll Summary met expectations for early payroll customers.
User Satisfaction
3.78/5
Initial satisfaction survey results indicated that the new Payroll Summary met expectations for early payroll customers.
Expectation Alignment
75%
A majority of respondents reported the new report addressed their core payroll reporting needs.
Expectation Alignment
75%
A majority of respondents reported the new report addressed their core payroll reporting needs.
Reporting Capability
Parity Achieved
The Payroll Summary aligned Workforce.com’s reporting with industry-standard payroll platforms.
Reporting Capability
Parity Achieved
The Payroll Summary aligned Workforce.com’s reporting with industry-standard payroll platforms.
UX Researcher & Designer
2026 Designed by Emma Blackwell. All rights reserved.
2026 Designed by Emma Blackwell. All rights reserved.