Admins reviewing or updating multiple employees had no way to move from one profile to the next, so they had to go back to the employee list every time. It was one of the biggest pain points in customer feedback after the recent launch, so we had to act fast.
OutcomeAn unmoderated A/B test with 12 participants showed prev/next arrows as the clear winner (10/12) and search and filter as easy to use (~4.5/5). It also uncovered one confusing moment that all 12 hit, which shaped the final design recommendations.
Competitive research, Cursor prototypes, unmoderated A/B test
Problem: Admins had to go back to the list for every profile
QuickBooks Workforce Solutions serves small to mid-size businesses, where admins and owners review and update employee profiles to run payroll and stay compliant. Since this is a core workflow, the friction added up fast.
OpportunityNavigate between employee profiles without leaving the page, fast enough to ship as a fast follow. I also noticed search and filters only lived on the employee list, so I explored bringing them into the profile.
Process: Five steps in three weeks
01DiscoveryAs-is review, feedback, competitors
02ExplorationsEarly concepts and design reviews
03PrototypesCursor prototypes of 3 concepts, shared with the cross-functional team
04AlignmentNarrowed to two concepts with the team for testing
05TestingUnmoderated A/B test
Prototypes: Three concepts built in Cursor
I first explored prev/next controls in the profile header, then pushed further into search and filters inside the profile, and shared each working concept with the cross-functional team.
Variation A: Mini employee listA compact list inside the profile to scan without losing context.Variation B: Search onlyRelies on the search dropdown to jump to anyone.Variation C: Search + prev/nextMove through employees in order, or jump with search.
DecisionThe mini list was too much effort for a fast follow, so we tested search only against search + prev/next.
Testing: Prev/next was the clear winner
We ran an unmoderated A/B test with 12 admins over two days, measuring how easily they completed common profile tasks, which version they preferred, and where they got stuck.
A/B test · 12 participants · 2 days
Prev/next10/12
Clear navigation winner
No concerns
Search and filter4.5/5
Rated easy to use
Some friction
Search location50/50
Even preference split
No clear winner
Empty results12/12
Understood the state
Confused on how to recover
Final design: Three recommendations from testing
Prev/next, right-alignedStays anchored regardless of name length and reads as separate from global search.
Attribute-aware searchSupports terms like “marketing,” not just names, and reflects them in filter chips.
Actionable empty stateExplains why nothing matched and offers a one-click way back to the full list.
Final prototypeAll three recommendations working together.
Impact: Built to remove a daily frustration
Top pain point resolvedAddresses one of the loudest issues in customer feedback.
Fewer clicksAdmins move between profiles without returning to the list.
A scalable patternA foundation for list-to-detail navigation across the product.
Takeaways
Test assumptions before scaling scope. Search and filters pushed the boundaries, but prev/next solved the core need.
A fast follow still needs validation. A two-day test caught a problem every participant hit.