Employee Development Request Modernization

Overview

The company's legacy training request process relied on outdated InfoPath Forms, 2010 Impersonation Workflow steps, and 2013 custom workflows. With Microsoft retiring InfoPath, 2010 Workflows, and 2013 custom workflows with SharePoint Designer, the team needed a modern, automated solution to reduced administrative work.

The Problem

The existing process had several challenges:

• Requests submitted through outdated forms and emails

• No centralized tracking or visibility into status

• Risk and value assessments were inconsistent and difficult to reference during the process

• Legacy workflows were no longer supported and flawed

• Sensitive information required controlled access

Goal

• Replaced the legacy form with Power Apps

• Reduce unnecessary columns that could leverage system fields, such as the Created and Created By

• Improve transparency for requestors and leadership

• Align with the corporate and Microsoft governance and best practices

Requirements Gathering

I partnered with the training and development team to assess:

• Current workflow steps

• Approval flows and confirmations

• Existing pain points

I mapped out the current state and how the future state would be improved.

Solution Overview

I created a Power App that integrated SharePoint and Power Automate. This included:

1. Pop-up Modals for structured data reference as well as confirmation

2. Creation of reusable Pop-Up Modal components leveraging variable data, using Update Context to display information based on the button clicked on the form. By creating this component, it improved the user experience by creating consistent interaction patterns, reducing cognitive load, and establishing a clean, predictable visual hierarchy across the application.

3. Guided input to reduce errors

   

4. Used Power FX to display data based on Boolean values to show and hide sections

5. Display risk / value assessments only when relevant

6. Adjust the UI based on user roles

7. For the automation I created a multi-step flow that routed based on criteria, broke the permissions, and updated the SharePoint status fields.
   

   

What I loved about this project?

Having the opportunity build a custom form that leveraged Power FX to show and hide, as well as updating the form and status. I was able to quickly build this out so the customer was up and running in no time, and happy!