Global Prompts for Workday Reporting
Introduction
Many users in Workday Worksheets manage complex workbooks containing multiple reports. While each report may differ slightly, many share common prompt values like company, fiscal year, or business unit. When users need to update a shared prompt, they have to manually adjust each report using the Live Data Wizard. This repetitive task introduces friction and makes workflows inefficient, especially when changes happen regularly across dozens of reports.
The Problem
Users lack a centralized way to update shared prompt values, creating inefficiencies and frustration.
Solution
We introduced Global Prompts, a feature allowing users to designate a source report whose prompt values automatically update mapped reports within the same workbook.
User Scenario
Betty, a finance analyst, manages a 12-sheet workbook where each report shares common prompt values. Betty needs to update the prompt value for Company weekly and the prompt value for Fiscal Year yearly in every report.
My Approach
Planned and supported an early adopter program with product partners
Led usability tests and gathered user feedback to validate pain points and refine designs
Worked closely with engineers to navigate technical constraints and backend implications
Iterated prototypes to balance simplicity with power-user flexibility
Goals
Keep reports accurate and up to date
Update prompts on a regular cadence
Reduce repetitive manual work and avoid frustration
Minimize chances of error when managing large workbooks
Save time by making prompt updates faster and more reliable
Previous Experience
In the previous workflow, Betty needed to open the Live Data Wizard in each report and manually update prompt values one by one. This experience is repetitive, time-consuming, and error prone.
New Experience
In the redesigned experience, Betty can designate a source report and map prompt values across reports. Updates made to the source propagate throughout the workbook with a refresh, the new experience is fast, efficient, reliable, and easy to use.
Impact & Results
This feature significantly reduced manual effort and improved efficiency for users managing large workbooks. Through early usability testing, we validated pain points and refined the experience to make prompt mapping intuitive and transparent. After launching an early adopter program, we incorporated user feedback to polish the feature for general release. Since launch, Global Prompts has seen strong adoption and engagement.
Usage Overview
294
Unique Customers
3.31k
Unique Users
12.3k
Total Workbooks using Global Prompts
Adoption and Usage over Time
Unique Customers
Unique Workbooks with Global Prompts