CENTRALIZING ACCESS REQUESTS AND APPROVALS
OVERVIEW
An enterprise access management platform serving thousands of users had no way for requesters to track their submissions or for approvers to see what required their attention. We designed and built a centralized Requests Center that gives every user a single place to view submitted requests, pending approvals, and request history.
THE CHALLENGE
The legacy platform treated request submission as a one-way action with no follow-up visibility for users:
• Users submitted requests and had no way to check their status without contacting the admin team.
• Approvers received email notifications but had no centralized view of pending items requiring their action.
• No request history was available, preventing users from viewing past submissions or their outcomes.
• The admin team fielded repeated "what's the status of my request?" inquiries.
• Approvers missed or delayed approvals because items were buried in email.
• No differentiation existed between request types, making them difficult to distinguish and track.
OUR SOLUTION
We built the Requests Center as a core module of the platform, providing tailored experiences for both requesters and approvers. Users can view all submitted requests in a centralized "My Requests" page with real-time status, timeline, and outcome details, while approvers have a dedicated queue showing all items awaiting their action. The solution also includes filtering by request type and detailed request pages that display the full lifecycle, from submission and approval through processing and completion. Role-specific views ensure each user sees only the requests relevant to them, and the experience was built using the platform's established design system to provide a consistent interface across the portal.
KEY FEATURES
Self-Service Status Tracking - Users can check the status of their requests at any time without contacting the admin team. This eliminated the most common support inquiry the admin team received.
Consolidated Approval Queue - Approvers can view all pending items in one place rather than searching through email notifications. This reduced approval delays and missed items.
Full Request Lifecycle Visibility - Every request displays its complete journey from submission through approval to completion. Users and approvers can see exactly where a request is in the process.
Role-Based Experience - External vendors see their access requests. Internal users see license and project requests. Approvers see their team's pending approvals. Each role receives a focused, relevant view.
GLOBAL IMPACT/RESULTS
• Eliminated "What's the status of my request?" inquiries to the admin team
• Reduced approval delays by surfacing pending items in a dedicated queue
• Gave users full transparency into request outcomes and history
• Reduced email dependency for both requesters and approvers
• Improved approval response times by consolidating pending actions
• Created a consistent tracking experience across all request types
TECHNOLOGIES & CAPABILITIES
AWS
Cloudscape Design System
Role-Based UI
Approval Workflows
Real-Time Dashboards
UX/UI Design
CONCLUSION
The Requests Center solved a simple but impactful problem - users had no way to see what happened after submitting a request, and approvers had no single place to act. By building dedicated views for both sides of the workflow, the platform became truly self-service rather than requiring admin intervention for status updates.
This case study demonstrates how targeted UX improvements that address fundamental user pain points can significantly reduce operational support burden while improving user satisfaction and process efficiency.
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