Empowering every partnership to forge unstoppable, meaningful success
Project Overview
(Visuals not shared due to legal implications)
As the sole Product Designer on a cross-functional team, I collaborated closely with a Product Manager, an Engineering Lead, a Test Engineer, two Front-End Engineers, and two Back-End Engineers over eight months to redesign the Internal Management System (IMS) into a streamlined platform called Client Manager.
This effort led to significant results, including a 45% reduction in task completion time and a 30% increase in user satisfaction, validating the success of the redesign.
Background: The Legacy System Dilemma
For years, the IMS served as the backbone of various teams, from onboarding specialists to customer success managers. However, after a decade without a consistent update strategy, the system was rife with outdated configurations and redundant data fields. Users struggled with:
Inefficient Workflows: Multiple steps required to perform basic tasks, leading to wasted time and frustration.
Outdated Information Architecture: Fragmented menus, unclear labels, and overlapping settings.
High Error Rates: Particularly in client billing, which directly impacted company revenue.
It became clear that the IMS had grown into a complex web of features that no longer aligned with the evolving needs of the business. Our mission was to replace it with an experience that felt effortless, unified, and precise.
Setting the Vision: Simplicity Meets Power
Drawing inspiration from Apple’s design ethos—where simplicity empowers users to achieve complex tasks with minimal friction—we set out to create Client Manager. Our ambition was to:
Streamline the Information Architecture: We wanted users to find what they needed, exactly when they needed it.
Reduce Errors and Confusion: By eliminating unnecessary fields and clarifying key workflows.
Enable Seamless Integrations: Particularly with platforms like Salesforce, ensuring a single source of truth and real-time data synchronization.
Ultimately, our goal was to design an intuitive tool that not only improved operational efficiency but also elevated the user experience, reflecting the hallmarks of Onfido’s commitment to human-centered innovation.
Research & Discovery: Listening Before Designing
User Interviews
To ground our vision in real-world insights, I conducted in-depth conversations with a wide range of stakeholders:
VP and Director of Solution Engineering: Offered strategic perspectives and highlighted long-term scalability requirements.
Onboarding Team Leads: Shared day-to-day challenges, particularly in initial client setup.
Customer Success Managers: Provided frontline feedback on recurring client pain points and billing inaccuracies.
Key Findings
Streamlined Usability: Everyone longed for a clear, guided workflow with minimal cognitive load.
Clarity in Progress: Complex configurations and confusing jargon often left users unsure of whether they had completed a task correctly.
Organized Data Management: Redundant or scattered data fields slowed down task completion. Grouping settings into logical categories emerged as a top priority.
Reliability: Any disruption in client management or billing had a direct negative impact on revenue, making system stability non-negotiable.
These insights reaffirmed our user-centric approach: no single feature or design pattern would matter if it didn’t address real user needs.
Market Analysis: Elevating the Standard
Beyond internal interviews, I analyzed competing systems and market trends:
Pain Points in Legacy Systems: Surveys showed that over 40% of users spent excessive time troubleshooting outdated configurations.
Modern IMS Solutions: Top competitors emphasized intuitive, modular designs that could grow with the business.
Integration Trends: 70% of companies considered seamless CRM integration (like Salesforce) a deal-breaker for IMS adoption.
The conclusion was clear: Client Manager had to prioritize an intuitive interface, flexible architecture, and robust integration capabilities to leapfrog existing legacy tools.
Ideation & Strategy: Designing for People First
Information Architecture
Inspired by Apple’s “content-first” design principle, I started by mapping out the new system hierarchy. By consolidating related configurations—like billing and client details—into intuitive sections, we minimized clicks and reduced information overload.
User Journeys & Flows
Rather than overload the system with every possible scenario, we focused on core flows to ensure they felt seamless:
Configuring Client Profiles
Objective: Quickly create or update client information.
Outcome: A newly configured client profile, ready for use across integrated platforms.
Managing Billing Settings
Objective: Efficiently update payment terms and invoicing details.
Outcome: Accurate billing with fewer errors, directly boosting revenue.
Design Process: From Concepts to Reality
Wireframing
In the early stages, my goal was to clarify the system’s flow and layout:
Low-Fidelity Sketches: Ensured that the hierarchy was logical, highlighting the most common tasks.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes: Allowed stakeholders to visualize the content placement and provide structured feedback before introducing any visual polish.
Prototyping
Building on the foundation from wireframes:
Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Validated core navigation, tested early assumptions, and collected feedback on workflow continuity.
High-Fidelity Prototypes: Showcased a near-final design, emphasizing interactive details, animations, and microcopy to guide users through complex steps.
Throughout this process, I championed frequent user reviews, mirroring Onfido’s culture of iterative refinement—where every detail is revisited until it’s exactly right.
Development & Implementation: Bringing the Vision to Life
Cross-Functional Collaboration
I partnered with developers early and often, aligning design decisions with technical feasibility. We held design walkthroughs and paired programming sessions, ensuring that Client Manager met user expectations in both form and function.
Design Handoff
Using Figma for detailed specs and interactive guidelines:
Reusable Components: Documented interactions, states, and edge cases for consistent implementation.
Responsive Behaviors: Ensured that the interface gracefully adapted to different devices and screen sizes.
Detailed Annotations: Offered clarity on usage scenarios, further reducing development ambiguity.
This meticulous approach minimized friction and embodied Onfido’s principle of “it just works.”
Usability Testing: Validating Through Real Use
Methodology
I conducted moderated usability tests with employees who relied on the original IMS:
Tasks: Updating billing configurations, setting up new clients, and troubleshooting common errors.
Metrics: Time on task, error rates, and qualitative feedback on interface clarity.
Results
Improved Task Efficiency: Tasks were completed 30% faster on average, thanks to a more intuitive layout.
Reduced Errors: Common mistakes dropped by 25%, signaling clearer workflows and fewer clicks.
High User Satisfaction: 85% of participants called the interface “intuitive” and “easy to navigate,” aligning with our goal of minimizing cognitive load.
Design System Integration: Consistency at Scale
Leveraging a robust design system is at the core of Onfido’s approach to consistent and delightful experiences. For Client Manager, we incorporated a variant of Onfido’s Castor Design System:
Visual Consistency: Shared color palettes, type scales, and UI elements across the product.
Development Efficiency: Modular components that reduced coding time and errors.
Accessibility: Built-in WCAG-compliant standards made the tool more inclusive.
Where needed, we introduced new components—like custom dropdowns and tab structures—to address unique use cases without disrupting the overall design harmony.
Final Designs: A Glimpse of the New Experience
Though legal constraints prevent sharing the full visuals, here are some notable highlights:
Tabbed Navigation: Four main tabs—Client Details, Account Configurations, Product Configurations, and Billing—create a clean, logical hierarchy.
Enhanced Navigation Bar: Persistent placement of key actions and breadcrumbs, so users never feel lost.
Real-Time Feedback: Clear notifications and progress indicators, reducing the guesswork in multi-step processes.
Accessibility Features: Full keyboard navigation, responsive layouts, and inline help documentation right where users need it most.
Outcome & Impact: Measurable Success
Post-launch metrics and feedback underscored the effectiveness of our redesign:
45% Faster Task Completion: Users quickly found what they needed, boosting productivity across teams.
30% Increase in User Satisfaction: Surveys and Net Promoter Scores soared as confusion decreased and adoption rose.
40% Higher Feature Adoption: Integrations and advanced settings once overlooked were now easily discoverable, driving deeper engagement.
Reduced Training Time by 50%: A more intuitive experience meant new hires ramped up faster, saving resources and minimizing downtime.
From a business perspective, these improvements translated into better billing accuracy, fewer client escalations, and a stronger return on investment.
Learnings & Next Steps: Always Evolving
Key Takeaways
User-Centered Focus: Every design decision traced back to a clear user pain point, confirming the power of empathetic problem-solving.
Scalability Matters: By leveraging design systems and a modular architecture, Client Manager is well-positioned to grow with the company.
Iterative Testing Works: Frequent feedback loops with users ensured we stayed aligned with real-world needs, a hallmark of Onfido’s iterative design philosophy.
Future Enhancements
Salesforce Integration: Automate account creation, updates, and data sync, further reducing manual entry errors.
Advanced Analytics: Provide real-time insights into billing patterns, enabling data-driven decisions.
AI-Powered Automation: Predictive error detection and smart suggestions for optimizing client configurations.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Expand to mobile and tablet, ensuring that client management is possible anywhere.
Reflection: Crafting a Lasting Impact
Redesigning a long-standing internal system is never straightforward. The legacy code base, entrenched user habits, and business requirements tested our resolve. Yet, by emphasizing empathy, simplicity, and consistency—a design philosophy Onfido has championed for decades—we transformed Client Manager into a robust, user-centric platform.
Challenges: Striking a balance between overhauling outdated features and preserving familiar workflows.
Triumphs: A more delightful user experience, measurably improved efficiency, and a scalable foundation ready to adapt to future innovations.
Personal Growth: This project refined my skills in stakeholder alignment, iterative testing, and designing under the constraints of legacy infrastructure.
Today, Client Manager stands as a testament to how thoughtful, user-focused design can rejuvenate an ageing system, offering employees the confidence and clarity they need to serve clients effectively. For me, it’s a reminder that the best design solutions often emerge from the biggest challenges—when we dare to think differently and craft experiences that genuinely enrich people’s lives.