Written by: Ryan Curtis
UX/UI Design Manager, Ondaro
This article first appeared in Fortified Quarterly, Q2 2026.
As organizations invest in modern employee experiences, many are rethinking the role of portals, intranets, and HR service delivery. With new innovations like ServiceNow EmployeeWorks reshaping what is possible, the conversation is shifting from static interfaces to dynamic, employee-centered ecosystems. But building a better experience is not just about better design. It requires a deeper understanding of how employees think, work, and navigate their day-to-day.
We sat down with Ryan Curtis, UX/UI Design Manager at Ondaro, to unpack what organizations often get wrong, what actually drives adoption, and how UX design is evolving in this next frontier of employee experience.
Can you share a project where improving the visual design alone would not have solved the problem? What did you uncover instead, and how did that change your approach?
One healthcare customer came to us with a request for a visual and technical assessment of their portal, along with guidance on where to improve. As it turned out, Ondaro had originally built their portal years earlier, and very little had been updated since then.
When it was first built, many widgets and functionality had to be custom. Now, with Employee Center Pro, those same capabilities come standard and are continuously upgradable. Instead of simply refreshing the visual branding on top of outdated functionality and a chaotic taxonomy, we explored a different path.
We prototyped options that leveraged Employee Center Pro, showing what a future state could look like. This included a branding refresh, elimination of technical debt, adoption of modern platform capabilities, and a rebuilt, user-friendly taxonomy. What started as a surface-level request quickly evolved into a broader conversation about the platform's potential. The customer ultimately transitioned to a much more streamlined Employee Center Pro experience across their global organization.
When organizations come to us asking for a “better intranet” or “modern portal,” what do they usually think they need versus what they actually need?
We hear this in nearly every engagement or early conversation with customers. Most commonly, they think they need a polished interface design paired with a powerful search feature that can magically solve all the other issues. Those are definitely high on the list of must-haves, but often there are other design activities that will better support and enhance them.
In my experience, the most impactful design activity is card sort testing with users to build a more intuitive taxonomy and content structure from the ground up. To summarize, what a customer thinks they need is a flashy branded design, but what they really need is direct employee engagement to help bridge communication gaps with empathy and common natural language.
How do you balance branding and usability, especially when a company wants a highly customized, on-brand experience that might conflict with simplicity or clarity?
My role is all about finding balance. Between how employees think and how leadership thinks. Between what looks visually compelling and what is technically feasible.
During the branding phase, I typically design at least three theme options. Each aligns with core brand elements but explores different approaches to layout, contrast, information density, and styling. This creates a spectrum, from clean and minimalist to rich and high-contrast, helping customers understand the trade-offs between simplicity and complexity.
We also conduct usability testing and focus groups to gather feedback directly from employees. This input helps the core team make informed decisions with confidence. At the end of the day, I provide recommendations backed by experience, but the goal is always to guide customers toward choices that work best for their users.
What are some of the most common design mistakes you see in intranets or employee portals today, even in organizations that have invested heavily in them?
Two major ones stand out: complex customizations and poor taxonomy.
Custom widgets may work well initially but often create challenges during upgrades, introduce unintended issues, or fail to deliver enough value to justify their cost. Customization should either provide high value, such as enabling key integrations, or remain simple to minimize technical debt.
On the taxonomy side, many portals are structured around departments like HR, IT, and Facilities. While logical to leadership, this does not reflect how employees actually think. This disconnect makes navigation harder and reduces adoption. Organizations that shift toward a more intuitive, employee-centered structure consistently see better engagement and fewer support tickets.
How do you design for how employees actually think and work? How do you uncover that in practice? What methods or exercises make the biggest difference?
Part of it comes from personal experience as an employee across multiple organizations. More importantly, it comes from engaging directly with the customer's employee population.
Through interviews, card sorting, focus groups, and usability studies, we gain a deep understanding of user motivations and pain points. These activities help validate known challenges and uncover new opportunities.
Including employees in the process not only improves design outcomes but also supports broader change management efforts by creating organic champions within the organization. In my experience, user interviews and taxonomy card sorting are the most impactful activities.
Can you share an example where a small design or experience change had a big impact on adoption or engagement?
One example was an employee onboarding portal for a construction company. The customer had created a physical welcome kit for new hires, with its own distinct branding elements.
We mirrored those design cues in the portal experience, including typography, color hierarchy, tone of communication, and visual styling. This created a cohesive onboarding journey across both physical and digital touchpoints.
The result was a more immersive and consistent experience that helped new employees feel confident and supported as they entered the organization.
With AI and tools like EmployeeWorks entering the picture, how do you see the role of UX design evolving in the next few years?
AI is evolving rapidly and can offer significant value to designers, especially when it comes to processing large amounts of data or synthesizing research insights. By accelerating these tasks, designers can focus more on solving complex problems.
That said, AI should not replace every aspect of design work. There needs to be a balance, with clear guidelines to preserve craftsmanship, maintain customer trust, and ensure a strong human connection.
In the coming years, I expect UX designers will increasingly focus on validating and refining AI-generated outputs rather than being as hands-on in every stage of the process.
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