Reimagining the PeopleSoft User Experience
A Modern UX Transformation While Staying Vanilla
The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) recently completed a comprehensive project to reimagine their PeopleSoft user experience, delivering an elevated modern interface while maintaining their vanilla PeopleSoft environment and simplifying their technical landscape.
The Challenge
For years, UCOP faced the common dilemma many PeopleSoft organizations encounter: users accustomed to modern, intuitive consumer websites were struggling with their enterprise HCM system. Like many organizations seeking to improve PeopleSoft user experience, they needed a solution that wouldn’t require leaving their existing platform. The gap between user expectations and the actual experience was creating friction across the organization.
The University of California system has a unique structure. While the HCM system is shared across all universities through the UC Path Center, individual campuses maintain their own finance and student systems. This meant any UX transformation needed to work within this distributed environment while serving a diverse user base across the entire UC system.
UCOP needed a solution that would:
- Deliver a truly modern user experience
- Maintain their vanilla PeopleSoft environment to simplify upgrades and reduce customization risk
- Consolidate functionality and retire legacy systems
- Reduce the burden on support teams
- Keep users engaged and able to find what they need quickly
The Solution
UCOP partnered with Gideon Taylor to implement their Web UX solution for the PeopleSoft HCM environment. The approach focused on using PeopleSoft’s native tools combined with Gideon Taylor’s proven GT UX methodology to create an elevated experience without heavy customization. This PeopleSoft user experience transformation delivered modern interfaces while maintaining system integrity.
Bill Freire, Assistant Director of IT at the UC Path Center, who has been with the UC Path Center for 12 years and the UC system for 23 years, led the technical implementation alongside Suzie Mendoza, Product Manager at the UC Path Center, who brought eight years of UC experience to the project.
The project team worked closely with Gideon Taylor’s solution architects, including Chuck Ritchie (with 17 years of Web UX experience) and Andrew Bediz, who leads Gideon Taylor’s experience design transformation practice.
The implementation strategy emphasized:
- Creating an intuitive, modern interface that users would actually want to use
- Streamlining navigation and information access
- Consolidating systems to reduce complexity
- Building a foundation that would simplify future maintenance and upgrades
As Suzie Mendoza noted during the webinar, “It was really a great opportunity to be part of this project.”
The Results
The first phase of UCOP’s UX transformation has gone live with profound benefits across the organization.
Enhanced User Experience
The GT UX approach delivered the modern, intuitive experience users expect. Employees can now navigate the system efficiently, finding information and completing tasks with significantly less friction than before.
Simplified Technical Environment
By staying vanilla and using native PeopleSoft tools enhanced with Web UX techniques, UCOP created a cleaner technical environment. The project enabled them to consolidate functionality and retire legacy systems, reducing overall system complexity—a key benefit of GT UX for PeopleSoft implementations.
Reduced Support Burden
With a more intuitive self-service experience, users can find what they need without submitting support tickets. The improved UX drives more people to successfully complete tasks on their own.
Future-Ready Foundation
The vanilla approach means UCOP can more easily adopt future PeopleSoft updates and enhancements without the burden of extensive custom code to maintain or rewrite.
Organizational Satisfaction
Bill Freire emphasized the team’s enthusiasm about sharing their experience: “Just want to thank everybody for their time and appreciate being able to share our experience with everyone. Hopefully it helps.”
The successful first phase has positioned UCOP well for future enhancements and continued evolution of their PeopleSoft environment.
Why It Matters
In higher education, where 50% of organizations considering moves away from PeopleSoft cite user experience and modernization as primary drivers, UCOP’s approach offers a compelling alternative. Rather than undertaking expensive, risky platform migrations, they achieved the modern PeopleSoft user experience users demand while maintaining the stability and functionality of their existing investment. Learn more about GT UX for PeopleSoft.
Chuck Ritchie from Gideon Taylor reflected on the broader impact: “I’ve been working with Gideon Taylor and the Web UX for probably 17 years now. And so definitely have a lot of experience and seen a lot of things with customers across many industries.”
Andrew Bediz added, “I’ve been engaged with the University of California for a long time now and thrilled that the first phase of their efforts have gone live. I think you guys will love what you see.”Looking Ahead With the first phase successfully deployed, UCOP has established a foundation for continued innovation and enhancement of their PeopleSoft user experience. The project demonstrates that organizations don’t have to choose between modern UX and PeopleSoft—they can have both.
About UC Path Center
The UC Path Center serves as the centralized payroll, benefits, and human resources system of record for the University of California system, supporting all UC universities with shared HCM services.
Building photo © Coolcaesar / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped and modified with UCOP logo by Gideon Taylor.