We have some news we’re very excited to share with you.

Over the last few months, we have been analysing usage patterns and collecting user feedback to help us re-think PerformanceHub’s look and feel.

After weeks of tireless effort, this weekend we will release PerformanceHub 3, so here’s a sneak preview…

Overview of the changes

• All screens have been simplified, removing visual distractions
• The navigation is now oriented around major work items: Objectives and Appraisals
• Improved the names of the stages in the objective lifecycle, and now give better in-line directions.
• Simplified the dashboard so it only shows things you need to do, in a simpler format
• Separated out HR and Admin functions from the main user interface
• Given it a new home – performancehub.pm (the old one will redirect you automatically)

Some more details

User interface redesign and the new navigation bar

We have simplified the interface, allowing your employees to concentrate on what’s important, whilst giving them on-screen direction as to what they need to do next to keep the process moving. The old navigation bar had a My tab to distinguish between your objectives and appraisals, and if you were a manager, your team’s. However, over 70% of users aren’t managers, so the My tab was a distraction.

The new navigation bar doesn’t have sub-tabs. The new navigation bar is provides quick access to the 3 main areas of interest: Objectives, Appraisals and Company information. Managers now switch between their objectives/appraisals and their team’s using the sidebar. For the 70% of an organisation who aren’t managers, they don’t get a sidebar, simplifying screens further.

Take a look at a screen shot of objectives for a manager with both direct reports and matrixed reports:

Reduced visual clutter

Many screens now look less cluttered, and some of you will be pleased to see that we’ve made the text bigger!

Take a look at the objectives list in the screen above, it’s much cleaner, allowing you to focus on what’s important. Don’t worry, you can still drill into an objective to see the details and perform actions, like this:

See how we have separated out the objective details from the objective’s review information. To switch between the two, use the tabs at the bottom of the information screen. PerformanceHub will automatically open the objective’s details on the most appropriate tab.

We’ve also replaced the traffic light with a new ‘timer’ icon which now only shows in red and amber situations. Why a timer icon and not just a red or amber badge? Well, we wanted to help people with certain types of colourblindness differentiate between red and amber items.

Improved objectives lifecycle and in-line direction

Based on user feedback, we removed the need to tell PerformanceHub that you have completed an objective in order to review it. Now, you simply say “Ready for Review”. We found that some users were getting confused over the objective state “Complete”. It was intended to show that the objective work was complete, but not reviewed yet. Some people thought that it meant no more actions were required, even though the review itself wasn’t complete. Also, there’s the situation where an objective’s work may not be complete, but it must still be reviewed. Marking objectives as complete in those situations wasn’t the obvious thing to do.

The new objective lifecycle goes like this:

PerformanceHub will tell you where an objective is in the lifecycle, and if required, tell you what you need to do next to progress it, like this:

See how the state on the top right is saying “In review: give rating” and the information box gives more details as to what is required.

Dashboard updates

Based on user feedback, we have removed ‘checkboxes’ from the dashboard and now only show items that require your attention. Buttons are colour coded to show urgency and clicking on the button will take you to the most appropriate screen.

HR and Admin Screens:

HR and the CEO get a special dashboard screen with direct access to reports, like this:

Finally, we have placed Admin and HR access into the drop-down menu on the top right and reorganised some of the content. Anything related to how PerformanceHub works is now under “Configuration” and any HR actions relating to employees are under “Employees.

Once you are in one of these screens, the navigation bar changes colour from blue to green, so you can differentiate between “HR” tasks and your own tasks as an employee or manager.

We realise that a change like this can be a little daunting, but your employees will instantly recognise how to use the new system based on their experiences of the old.

As ever, your feedback is a powerful motivator, so please let us know what you think of these changes, especially once you have used them for a few days. As a note, we’re not resting easy on this, we have plenty more ideas in the pipeline in our quest to make PerformanceHub the most intuitive performance management tool on the market.