Good design is good business.

It is one of the most complex and complete projects I have faced: rethinking the design and functionality of one of the most important tools for the business, which had not been evolved since 1999. To tackle it, we worked meticulously on the migration plan, understanding usage data, business volume, and obsolescence. Then, we created coherent and scalable navigation and information architecture. And finally, we worked closely with clients, continually testing each proposal to minimize launch risks.

Choosing the best migration scenario.

Despite the need for renewal (NPS indicators were declining by an average of 7% per year), we had to approach this product with great care. The B2B line accounts for about half of our income statement and we knew that we would encounter great resistance to change.

For this reason, we first conducted a cross-data study to assess the impact of the change and define the best migration strategy and project phases. We analyzed data from 4 sources for all features: volume of use, volume of business, issues received by customer service, and obsolescence with respect to competing products. With the information obtained, we designed several matrices and simulated scenarios: by the impact on the company, by the impact on usage, by the impact on customer service, and the crossings of all of them with each other.

The result was 10 prioritized work packages based on usage volume (factor B) and customer service impact (factor C). These packages defined our MVP, and whit that we worked closely with the project team to translate them to epics and tasks that we could put into a backlog to start working with.

First unsuccessful attempt.

We made the first design approach with sketches and low fidelity prototypes to launch as soon as possible the first tests and interviews with users. The proposal did not quite fit the users and we learned a lot in these sessions. We discovered that this product is the main work tool of most users and a preference for an interface close to Excel or spreadsheets. The more visual approach, which sorted the data and offered activity pills did not work and we had to move towards a much more technical and scalable interface.

Only wise people learn from their mistakes.

In our second design approach, based on what we learned, we designed the interface based on tables, with foldable modules and a powerful header organized in such a way that users could navigate and quickly find any necessary option. We performed a detailed information architecture exercise to organize everything in a meaningful way, analyzed the data to select the shortcuts, and worked on the interaction to keep the user always located.

Finally, we designed two new modules for important notices (actions that require action) and for the frequent operations of each user. This way, a user could quickly access and view any pending action or perform their most common tasks in just a couple of clicks.

We conducted new user tests and focus groups with different companies and this time we got it right. The new proposal was very well received and the quick modules were a great success.

What do experts say?

After getting feedback from users, we conducted several Focus Groups with the business team, commercial agents, and a group of experts to refine details and take the proposal to the next level. We gathered their comments and suggestions on iconography, copy, and some extra features.

The biggest change was the inclusion of a new submenu with shortcuts to the operations pending signature, the files repository, and the notification area (since the notification module was only available on the home page).

This refined design version was launched for Friends&Family in early 2020. We were able to see users using the site and conducted numerous tests and trials with our colleagues to refine all the details of usability, interaction, and comprehension.

The last and final version of the Design was released to customers in September 2020 and was a great success. Despite the lack of some functionalities, users highlighted the new platform as a clean, simple, and intuitive interface. Therefore, despite being a very difficult challenge, the whole team is very satisfied with the results achieved.