breaking barriers to internal mobility with smart employee matching
structured a multi-user flow that allow hr to compare, match and validate two-sided transfer opportunities at ease
teams
product, tech, csm
project period
q1 2024
about
1km à pied is a b2b saas platform that helps hr teams in multi-site organizations manage internal mobility to reduce absenteeism and turnover and improve employee' quality of work life.
context
the platform initially focused on “simple” transfers between sites (like moving an employee from site a to site b) but these often turned complex due to economic constraints or staffing imbalances.
in many cases, releasing an employee wasn’t possible without securing a replacement, creating blockers for all parties.
user problems
users were reluctant to initiate mobility when they felt they were "losing" a valuable employee without gaining something in return
hr teams struggled to manage complex mobility scenarios due to a lack of flexible tooling
mobility processes lacked visibility, causing friction and delays in approvals
results
+10% in user engagement on mobility creation on the platform driven by the additional data provided by the exchange simulator
clients feedback highlighted a “huge reduction” in time spent coordinating multi-site transfers
this project shifted our product vision about how we viewed our tool and opened up new perspectives for future features
user interviews
in collaboration with the product manager
to understand why simple mobilities were an issue for our clients, we decided to do some research.
before the interviews, we built a flexible guide to better understand how hr users used the platform and how they approached the topic of mobility.
we ran 5+ qualitative interviews with hr users to dig into their daily routines, the way they handled mobility internally and how (or if) our platform fit into all that.
we then learned that while our tool was seen as useful for gathering information, it wasn’t really considered a place to take action.
one key insight was that one-way transfers felt unrealistic in the current economic climate : hr teams saw mobility more as a transaction than a simple move.
this helped us shift our perspective : the real value wasn’t just in enabling mobility, but in enabling mutual exchanges that could benefit multiple parties at once.
csm insights
in collaboration with the product manager
we always start new projects with a check-in with the csm team. depending on the topic, we reconnect at different stages of the flow.
the objective was to gather key insights from their interactions with the clients and how they use the platform to add valuable context beyond the user interviews.
this first sync helped us hear how they understood the mobility topic, as they follow our users very closely.
it allowed us to support our interview findings and go further.
they especially helped us clarify the needs of the project groups on the client side, since several clients had already mentioned the idea of organizing employee swaps to fill multiple positions at once.
benchmark
following our initial research phase through internal and external interviews, i explored platforms with comparison and/or exchange systems to find inspiration for our human mobility use case.
since no other company is building exactly what we’re building at 1km à pied, benchmarking is always a tricky but exciting step. it requires keeping an open mind and looking for useful mechanics in tools and apps that have nothing to do with our product on paper.
this time, i turned to item-swapping platforms to study how they highlight key information, explain the exchange logic and guide users through the process while keeping in mind that we’re talking about people, not objects. that distinction is crucial because we can’t just copy patterns blindly when real lives, teams and relationships are involved.
benchmark
userflows & wireframes
in collaboration with the product manager
we began by exploring complex scenarios involving multiple employees exchange across several sites but early user flows helped demonstrate that this approach was unrealistic for our clients to manage operationally.
initial reflections
initial reflections (2)
we pivoted to a more pragmatic solution : enabling two-way exchanges between 2 employees from 2 different sites which allows hr teams to organize mutually beneficial swaps without creating gaps on either side.
then we defined key business rules and edge cases, including :
managing visibility of sensitive information based on user permissions
adding a secondary feature that allows hr to target a specific employee to explore potential exchange options (useful for users with limited scope or precise staffing needs)
from flows to design
following the exploration of this direction, i expanded the benchmark to analyze relevant patterns and best practices from websites and apps that offer multi-criteria search forms, such as real estate rental and sales platforms.
i then developed a global exchange simulator allowing users to explore potential swaps between employees across different sites, based on predefined criteria or by starting from either an employee’s role or a specific employee, ensuring maximum flexibility.
test 1
test 2
finale version
i also highlighted relevant exchange opportunities directly within each employee’s personal profile to facilitate quick access and decision-making.
the main challenge was to organize employee data for efficient comparison by defining a clear hierarchy, highlighting key factors, and simplifying the evaluation process for potential swaps.
tests
finale version
the feature contributed to the evolution of the UI kit : the simulator introduced a new dimension to the platform with interaction patterns and interface elements that had never been used before.
prototype & test
i conducted internal user testing sessions with engineering and csm teams to gather feedback, validate assumptions, and refine the experience with multiple perspectives.
i decided to keep the testing internal to move faster and release the feature to clients sooner.
the idea was to learn directly from real usage and build a second version based on actual user feedback.
thanks to these diverse inputs, i was able to make final adjustments and get the experience ready for deployment.
delivery & qa
in collaboration with the product manager
we ensured a handoff to developers with detailed ux & ui specs written collaboratively.
we stayed involved during production to support implementation and helped the dev team in managing the complexity of security rules by organizing regular meetings to avoid overlooking edge cases.
we then tested the demo version to detect bugs and issues that needed fixing before the public release.
once live, we documented early user feedback through notion and shortcut to help our tech team prioritize adjustments based on urgency and roadmap.
results
+10% in user engagement on mobility creation on the platform driven by the additional data provided by the exchange simulator
clients feedback highlighted a “huge reduction” in time spent coordinating multi-site transfers
this project shifted our product vision about how we viewed our tool and opened up new perspectives for future features
lesson learned
it was really inspiring as a designer to work on a feature we hadn’t initially planned but emerged directly from user insights.
it reinforced our need to maintain a closer dialogue between the product team and the users.
if you want to know more or you have any questions, feel free to reach me !
2025 clémence paris