Making large amount reconciliations simple: Simetrik's Universal Reconciliator

Project Overview

Simetrik is an innovative software platform designed to simplify and streamline complex financial tasks. Its primary function involves automating the reconciliation process, which essentially means it helps organizations match and compare various financial records to ensure they are accurate and in agreement. This is especially crucial for businesses dealing with a large volume of transactions or intricate financial processes.

Challenge

When I stepped into the role as the first-ever UX designer on the team – working alongside two talented UI designers – we faced an intriguing challenge in terms of internal organization. The mission? To lay down the foundation for an upcoming team expansion. This meant not only fine-tuning how our design squad collaborated and got things done, but also ramping up communication and teamwork with the tech side. Our aim was crystal clear: to cook up a seamless and supercharged design process that could seamlessly blend UX insights with UI finesse, all while fostering a tighter bond between the design and development domains.

Identifying Gaps: What We Found Was Missing

Upon stepping into my role, I encountered a series of gaps that had been impeding the design team's efficiency and synergy with the tech team. Here's what our team uncovered:

1. Lack of Research: The absence of dedicated research practices within the team was noticeable. Our design decisions were often made without a solid foundation of user insights and needs. This gap hindered our ability to create truly user-centered solutions.

2. Incomplete User Flow Development: A comprehensive user flow development process was notably absent from our design workflow. This resulted in gaps and missing paths within the product, forcing the front-end team to make on-the-fly decisions that didn't always yield optimal results.

3. Limited Handoff Process: Our handoff process was restricted to delivering mockups to the tech team. This approach led to confusion and lengthy review sessions to understand the intended user flow. The lack of context often resulted in misunderstandings between design and development.

Research and Discovery:

• Outline the research methods you used (e.g., user interviews, surveys, competitive analysis).

• Summarize key insights and findings that informed your design decisions.

Conducted thorough user interviews with legacy product clients to understand pain points and expectations. Analyzed competitor products to identify best practices and areas for differentiation.

Discovered that clients valued a their improvement in their performance, but still found a tool with an important learning path, increasing the risk of churn<.

Ideation and Design:

• Describe the process of brainstorming and generating ideas for the solution.

• Explain how you translated research insights into design concepts.

• Showcase wireframes, prototypes, and any iterations that took place.

The product team primarily focused on creating features that met the company's business needs. However, during our exploration, we identified a chance to contribute new ideas. Our research highlighted potential improvements, particularly concerning the tool's main process: reconciliation. We aimed to find ways to enhance this process based on the insights we gathered, while being respectful of the existing efforts of the team and the company's goals.

Solution:

• Present the final design solution you arrived at.

• Highlight key features, interactions, and design elements.

• Explain how your solution addresses the initial challenge or problem.

User Testing and Iteration:

• Describe the user testing methods you employed.

• Share feedback from users and how it influenced design refinements.

• Discuss any changes or improvements made based on testing results.

Outcome:

• Provide quantitative or qualitative results that demonstrate the impact of your design.

• Metrics like increased user engagement, reduced task completion time, or positive user feedback can be included.

• If applicable, share before-and-after comparisons to showcase improvements.

Key Takeaways:

• Reflect on the lessons learned from the project.

• Discuss any challenges faced and how you overcame them.

• Highlight skills or insights gained that contribute to your growth as a UX designer.

Conclusion:

• Summarize the project's overall success and the value it brought to users or stakeholders.

• End on a positive note, emphasizing the skills and expertise you demonstrated in this project.

Visuals:

• Include relevant images, sketches, wireframes, prototypes, or videos to visually support your narrative.

• Ensure the visuals are of high quality and help illustrate key points.