I Let My 11-Year-Old Audit Workday's UI. He Lasted 3 Minutes.

If a digital native needs a "Quick Reference Guide" to request a day off, your design is broken.

We talk a lot about "User Adoption" in HR Tech.

When employees don't use the system, we blame them. We say they are "resistant to change." We schedule more training sessions. We write longer PDFs with arrows pointing to buttons.

But last weekend, I ran an experiment that proved the problem isn't the user. The problem is us.

The Experiment

My son, Justin (11), wanted to skip his Saturday chore (emptying the dishwasher) to go hang out with a friend.

Me: "I am open to this request. But you need to follow proper procedure. Log into the 'Household ERP' (a GMS tenant) and submit a Time Off Request."

I sat him down in front of my laptop. I gave him no instructions. I just said: "Request one day of vacation."

Justin is a digital native. He can navigate a complex 3D printing slicer, design in CAD, mod Minecraft, and edit video on an iPad without reading a manual. He speaks "Interface" fluently.

The Breakdown

Minute 1: The Search Bar

Justin went straight to the search bar. He typed "Day off."

The System: Returned 42 results.

Create Absence Plan

Absence Calculation Interface

Maintain Time Off type (USA)

Justin: "Dad, what is an 'Absence Calculation Interface'? I just want to not do dishes."

Me: "That’s the backend configuration. Keep looking."

Minute 2: The "Actions" Button

He finally found his profile. He looked for a button that said "Request Time Off." It didn't exist.

He hovered over his photo. Nothing.

He right-clicked. Nothing.

Justin: "Is it broken?"

Me: "No. You have to click the button marked “Actions” (we used to call it a “Twinkie”), then go to 'Time and Time off', then 'Request Time Off'." (We have used some Maintain Custom Labels).

Justin: "Why? That's hiding the thing I want to do inside a menu of things I don't care about."

Minute 3: The Rage Quit

He finally got to the calendar. He clicked Saturday. A modal appeared. Workday now wants a "Reason Code."

He clicked it. The options were: FMLA, Jury Duty, Bereavement, Unpaid Leave.

Justin: "I'm not on a Jury. I'm going to Skyler's house and the park."

Me: "Just pick 'Unpaid Leave'."

Justin: "This app is trash. I'm just going to text Mom."

The Takeaway

Justin identified three failures of Enterprise Design in 180 seconds:

Search Noise: We expose technical configuration to end-users who just want to do a transaction (Workday has improved this, and Justin was in my account with Admin access, but the point still remains).

Buried Actions: We hide the most common tasks (Request Time Off) behind generic "Related Action" menus ("The Twinkie") because we prioritize a clean screen over a functional one.

Mandatory Friction: We force users to categorize things (Reason Codes) that don't need categorization, just because the field exists.

The Audit: How to Fix Justin’s Tenant

Here’s the good news: Workday has released features to solve all three of these problems. If your tenant still behaves like the one Justin audited, that isn’t software failure: that is configuration debt.

Here is how we fix it:

1. Fix the Search (Search Synonyms)

If a user types “Day Off,” they should get “Request Time Off.” Workday allows you to configure Search Synonyms. Map the language your employees actually use (Vacation, Day Off, Hooky) to the business process they need. Stop making them speak HR-to-English. Synonyms can be found in Edit Tenant Setup - Search.

2. Kill the “Twinkie” (Promoted Items)

Justin shouldn’t have to hunt for the Actions button. You can now configure Promoted Items on the Worker Profile. This pulls the most frequent actions (Time Off, Change Address, Payslips) out of the menu and puts them as big, clickable buttons right on the profile header. Sana’s another solution. Workday is clearly moving to Search-as-the-platform and frankly, I’m here for it.

3. Remove the Friction (BP Configuration)

Why did Justin see a “Reason Code”? Well, we have a lot of them.

Ask yourself: Do we actually report on this data?

If Yes: Make it required, and use help text, QuickTips, and Guidance Workspace to help the user make a choice (at a minimum, please!)

If No: Remove the field from the step in Configure Optional Fields, whenever possible.

Stop asking users for data you are just going to ignore.

The "Department" Rule:

If you need to create a "Quick Reference Guide" (QRG) for a self-service transaction, you have failed as an architect.

Don't train the user. Fix the screen.

— Mike

Director HR Tech | Chief UI Critic

P.S. Justin emptied the dishwasher. He said manual labor was easier than navigating the Request Time Off Business Process.