Workday
Workday Labs: Envisioning the Future Workplace with Emerging Technologies
research
rapid prototyping
emerging technologies
"What might work look like 5 to 15 years into the future?" That's the question that drives Workday Labs, an incubation R&D team that conducts research on emerging technologies.
The following are a few featured projects I led—many of which were showcased at the 2019 Workday Rising conference.
Featured Project 01
TEMI: Streamlining operational efficiency with robot assistants
Research topics: robots, voice assistants
Managers and workers are too busy to oversee their own schedule and tasks due to hectic work environments. Our VP of Workforce Management reached out to my engineer, Jedan Garcia, and I to prototype a solution that could alleviate these situations—all within 6 weeks for the upcoming Workday Rising conference.
After brainstorming ideas, we explored TEMI*, a robot assistant that could proactively remind workers to clock in and out, schedule time off, and perform many other tasks to help them stay compliant and informed.
*Disclaimer: TEMI is not a product of Workday. Our project is an app built into a TEMI robot.
Character concepts
I started by designing the face of this robot. Many robot assistants felt too artificial, rigid, and oftentimes frightening—especially for something that might be observing or working with you.
I wanted to create a face that was friendly and approachable, so I used organic shapes and softer expressions. My final version was inspired by Toothless from the animated film, How To Train Your Dragon.
A snapshot of some concept designs for TEMI's face
Bringing TEMI to life
I animated various expressions for looking, thinking, and speaking in After Effects. These expression clips were exported into JSON code via Lottie and then mapped to a TEMI action.
I also designed the VUI to respond to our commands. However, due to time constraints, we were unable to implement them in time. As a result, we hardcoded responses that were activated remotely.
Eye-tracking tests (Video: Jedan Garcia, Workday Labs)
Speaking animation (Video: Jedan Garcia, Workday Labs)
The big day
At the end of 5 weeks, the TEMI robot was flown to Florida for our Workday Rising conference, where it would then perform in a skit that the team had prepared.
It was well received by the audience. In fact, many of our workmates back home wanted to reserve TEMI for their own team events.
TEMI performing a skit on stage at Workday Rising 2019 (Photo: Workday Labs)
Featured Project 02
Expensie: Automating expenses with a selfie
Research topics: optical character recognition (OCR), facial recognition
No one enjoys itemizing receipts and creating expense reports after a fun team outing. My engineer, Tony Orciouli, and I came up with the concept, Expensie—a combination of expenses and selfie—to decrease the amount of time and effort it takes to create expenses.
Making expenses less painful
I designed a feature that allow users to record a video of their receipt and lunchmates through the Workday Expenses app, which will then parse the receipt with OCR and label all the faces via facial recognition. With one tap, an entire expense report has been created and submitted.
What normally takes over 10 minutes of an employee's time now takes seconds, so everyone can get back to work.
Prototype of Expensie recognizing text and faces (Video: Tony Orciouli, Workday Labs)
Featured Project 03
Swipe, Wave, Pinch: Studying how people use gestures to interact with digital interfaces
Research topics: computer vision
My engineer, Ed Jones, and I were in the early stages of researching gesture recognition technologies. Instead of building a use case around it, we created a demo to observe how Workday Rising attendees would interact with it.
Creating a fun research experiment
An Xbox Kinect was mounted on top of a TV to record movements. We documented the different ways participants tried to pause and play videos, navigate various content, and play mini-games without touching the screen.
Prototype of different gesture interactions (Video: Ed Jones, Workday Labs)
Featured Project 04
AR Wayfinder: Helping workers navigate new office spaces
Research topics: augmented reality (AR), smart devices, internet of things (IoT), voice assistants
Navigating an office, finding teammates, and reserving a hot-desk as a new or prospective hire can be daunting. This concept encourages users to feel comfortable exploring new spaces on their own when their hiring manager, orientation leader, or teammates are unavailable.
Original prototype
While this app had already been prototyped before I joined the team, due to its success, I was asked to take it one step further and introduce new ideas.
(Video: Workday Labs)
Wayfinding
Use wayfinding to get directions to desks, meeting rooms, and around the office.
(Video: Workday Labs)
Interconnected devices
The app is connected to smart devices throughout the office, allowing users to book hot desks and meeting rooms.
Future concepts
Although wayfinding was the primary purpose of the app, we wanted to explore other ways to make it more intuitive, engaging, and useful beyond the new-hire phase.
I conceptualized voice commands to reduce the amount of time required holding a phone at eye-level, virtual pets and gamifications to personalize one's workspace, as well as curated videos and tours to welcome new-hires and visitors.
New approach designed around voice interactions
Reflection
Being a part of the Labs team has been my favorite and most unique experience at Workday. These projects challenged me to think beyond the 2D canvas and explore a variety of unique interactions.
Although not shared here, I also had the opportunity to explore other technologies like mixed reality (MR), blockchain, NFCs, wearables, wellness tech, and more.
This team of visionaries never failed to impress me with their deep knowledge, passion, and curiosity. Many teams at Workday and customers look to Labs for inspiration and technical advice. Some of our research has directly influenced Workday products.
I'm extremely proud to have contributed to some of Labs' success and achievements.