Atacadão employee app – samuel eidam

Introduction

In recent years, the Atacadão supermarket chain has grown in both volume and brand recognition, gaining market share alongside Carrefour and going through a major internal restructuring. With this growth, new management challenges emerged — including the solution developed to meet the needs of the HR team. The goal: update the employee app and expand its features.

Abstract

The project was divided into two main phases: updating what already existed, and then expanding the features. The focus was to update the technology behind the app, bringing more stability and solving issues reported by users, which were mostly related to technical problems.

After defining the new visual style, we started developing the basic existing flows to validate the changes with both the client and the users. By combining the visual changes with the technical updates, we achieved a very significant result: the app’s store rating went from 2 points to above 4 points (on a scale of 0 to 5).

For the second phase, focused on improvements and implementation of new features, we turned our attention to user needs and business needs, adjusting the improvements according to technical capacity and added value.

Key new features included viewing and confirming the pay stub, the ability to receive the income report in just a few clicks, and requesting time off.

In parallel with these actions, we also started aligning the visual design of all products that were in development, creating a universal standard for the brand. The product went from being a simple standalone solution to a white label model, in order to serve the other brands within the Carrefour group.

Processo

Understanding the scenario

The first step was to align the strategic definitions: split the project into two phases, the first being the redesign and the second the addition of new features.

User interviews

To support our decisions and map opportunities and business improvements, we interviewed users at both operational and managerial levels.

General assessment and style studies

We conducted an evaluation based on heuristics to list possible problems and improvement points, and also began style studies to establish the base visual for the new proposal.

Copy review and new proposal

The content went through a complete review, which led to the replacement of terms that were unfamiliar to users or that made navigation more difficult.

Phase 1: redesign

Screens were created to present the concept. Once approved, we started updating the existing flows based on the new style guide. We reviewed and proposed improvements to these flows, documenting edge cases and exceptions.

Phase 2: new features

With a solid foundation already established, we started designing the new features within the app, including edge case screens and complementary flows. We adjusted feature priority based on usage and user needs.

Final kick-off

At the end of the project, we had a kick-off meeting with the development team, reviewing the new flows and revisiting the new visual design proposals (in the first phase, there was a smaller kick-off).

Delivery and validation

After development, we were able to observe users interacting with the tool in a simple way. We also collected satisfaction ratings, which went up from 2 points to over 4 points out of 5.

Solution

As a result, we delivered a simple app with essential features for users and more streamlined flows. We enhanced it with new functions that improve communication between the HR department and employees, and we turned a scenario of very low ratings into one of high satisfaction. The app also became native to both Android and iOS operating systems (which was not previously supported).

View of organized flows in Figma, including edge case screens.

Structured variables for the white label model, automating color switching. All colors were designed to be compatible with the darken/lighten modes in development, generating color variables based on the key color. On the side, some custom components for the app.