Challenge
Design an easy-to-consume communications portal to support Petro-Canada retailers in their daily activities.
Business opportunity
Improve the efficacy of business processes by implementing a digital experience that supports the way employees want to work.
Technology
SharePoint Online
Project type
Intranet site
Context
A subsidiary brand of Suncor, Petro-Canada is one of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies, with about 750 retail sites and 130 wholesale distributors. Each of these sites connects to Suncor’s back office environment through a VPN connection to access several applications provided by Suncor in support of site-level processes and activities. In this context, The Associate Communications Portal is a fundamental tool to disseminate information to associates/operators and provide the necessary direction to help them manage their business. Used every day by ~5000 users, it acts as a gateway into Suncor’s network as the primary landing application.
In 2019, Suncor engaged Habanero Consulting and requested a new design for the Petro-Canada Associates Portal. The project was part of a massive initiative to improve the digital employee experience by implementing a modern platform based on Microsoft technology.
When we started the project, many Associates were frustrated because their digital experience was composed of legacy technologies and hardware that became a bottleneck for the daily business processes. They needed to access Suncor’s back using specific devices and follow a multi-step process consisting of several password screens. In addition, the portal’s content was not always intuitive or updated. As a result, some managers created unofficial solutions such as Whatsapp groups to help them share files and keep their teams informed.
The expected outcome of this project was to design and implement a new mobile-friendly portal to support the way Associates want to work (from anywhere using their own devices). The new portal should also work as a gateway for the multiple applications Associates need to consume to perform their jobs. The navigation should work seamlessly, and the content should be reliable and intuitive.
The solution at a glance
Retailers use smartphones and tablets as their primary devices. The new solution allows them to use their own devices instead of a specific laptop. It also leverages a flexible and responsive interface.
The new homepage highlights alerts and the latest bulletins. This structure provides the updates retailers need to know before starting their day.
Obs: The name of the new portal was 'to be determined' when we delivered the approved design to Suncor. Their product team would be responsible for running a survey and selecting the new name.
Retailers have different products and services depending on their locations. A common complaint by users was that the old portal promoted everything to everyone. They were frustrated by frequently seeing irrelevant information on the homepage.
We solved the problem by allowing users to customize their experience by selecting the topics they want to consume on the homepage.
The new portal allows users to search and filter bulletins by topic. This page is super convenient for users trying to get up to speed after an extended leave.
The new bulletin page displays all the critical information associates expect when reading an update.
The old layout had small fonts, and it could easily break when users tried to zoom the page or print it. We solved all these technical problems in the new design.
The new portal allows users to search and filter policies and procedures. Users can also quickly bookmark their favourite links.
The new solution allows the Health & Safety team to post product recalls and request retailers to acknowledge that they read the content. This process is critical to ensure all products for sale are safe to consume.
We also delivered a dedicated area where managers can quickly verify those that forgot to acknowledge.