Pingboard

April 3, 2015 · Case Study

Note: I designed this product as part of my work at Funsize.

In 2015, most HR software looked and behaved the same.

Tools like Workday were powerful but impersonal. Internal directories were static. Employee data lived in systems that felt designed for compliance—not people. Even when companies cared deeply about culture, their tools rarely reflected it.

Pingboard set out to be different.

My role was to help design Pingboard’s mobile experience—particularly on Android—at a time when human-centered HR software wasn’t yet the norm. The goal wasn’t just to store employee information, but to help teams understand who they work with.

The Context: HR Software in 2015

This work predates:

Modern people platforms
Culture-forward internal tools
The expectation that workplace software should feel friendly

At the time, HR apps were:

Dense
Administrative
Optimized for managers, not employees

Pingboard’s opportunity was to treat people as the product, not records.

Core Design Philosophy

1. People, Not Profiles

The design centered on identity, not metadata.

Profiles emphasized:

Faces first
Names, roles, and teams over IDs and fields
Personal details that encouraged recognition and connection

The intent was simple:

If you can recognize someone, you’re more likely to collaborate with them.

2. Mobile as a First-Class Experience

This wasn’t a companion app—it was a primary surface.

Employees needed quick answers:

Who’s on my team?
How do I contact them?
Who’s working remotely?
What’s happening today?

The Android app was designed for fast, glanceable interactions, not long sessions.

3. Lightweight Interaction Over Enterprise Heaviness

Enterprise software often equates seriousness with complexity.

Pingboard intentionally pushed back:

Clear hierarchy
Generous spacing
Simple navigation
Minimal configuration

The UI avoids feeling “official” while still being dependable.

Key Experience Areas

Profile Dashboard

The profile view was treated as the heart of the product.

It combines:

Identity
Availability
Context (role, team, location)
Personal signal without oversharing

Actions like contacting or "pinging" someone are kept close to the person—not buried in menus.

Presence & Availability

Subtle signals—like whether someone is remote—were designed to be:

Immediately visible
Non-intrusive
Socially informative

These cues help teams coordinate without requiring explicit messaging.

Team Views

Teams were presented visually, not hierarchically.

The goal was to:

Make team composition obvious at a glance
Reinforce belonging
Reduce the friction of finding the right person

This supported both onboarding and day-to-day collaboration.

Designing for Culture, Not Just Function

One of the most important aspects of this work was tone.

Copy, spacing, motion, and imagery were all used to signal:

Approachability
Trust
Humanity

HR software touches sensitive parts of people’s work lives. The product needed to feel safe, friendly, and respectful.

Constraints & Tradeoffs

Designing in 2015 meant working within:

Early Android material patterns
Smaller screens
Less mature design systems
Limited expectations for polish in internal tools

These constraints pushed the design toward clarity and restraint, rather than visual flourish.

What This Work Represented

Pingboard wasn’t trying to replace heavy HR systems.

It was carving out a new space:

A social layer for organizations
A living directory
A reflection of company culture

In many ways, it anticipated where internal tools would eventually go.

What I’m Most Proud Of

Designing HR software that felt human before it was expected
Treating employees as people, not rows in a table
Creating a mobile-first experience for internal tools
Balancing friendliness with trustworthiness

Closing Thoughts

Pingboard reinforced a lesson that’s stayed with me:

Internal tools shape culture as much as policies do.

By designing with empathy—especially in spaces traditionally dominated by bureaucracy—we can create systems that help people feel seen, connected, and supported at work.