Product Design Lead
Internal Web Application
Allure Accounting
Role
Product Management
Workshopper
Problem Solver
UX & UI Design
Wearing many heads because it is a small team :)
Allure Accounting is a small international Accounting Company. Having Clients in Europe, Canada, and the US can be challenging, especially if you don't have a suitable digital workspace to support your workflow.
Allure Accounting hired me to create software that takes the best of a traditional office and combines data entry and monitoring in a single application that keeps everyone on task and on time with reminders, activity lists, and detailed reporting. (and much, much, much more)
Team: Engineers & Myself
Tools: GitHub, Trello, Mindmeister, AdobeXD, Pen & Paper
Timeline: This massive project started one year ago and is still going on
The Problem
The current software does not improve efficiency nor satisfies the whole company, and it lacks needed accounting features for international clients.
Learning from users and the competition
I began to take notes of the pain points that team members brought up in team meetings and one-on-one conversations. This part of the process was critical to learn about the company's workflow and their profession. Also, I researched other accounting software applications, like OfficeTools, to explore the questions: What elements are working, and what can we learn?
Solution
My different Heads:
- Craft efficient user flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity interaction and interface designs
- Create detailed design specs and ready for handoff to the product development team
- Support my interface designs with animated and interactive prototypes and presenting them to our client
- Working on multiple interface designs at one time
- Running Workshops to solve problems and make decisions
- Meet with Allure Accounting regularly to discuss the product and transform their vision and ideas into intuitive, user-friendly features
- Collecting user feedback and turn it into features
Design
While creating the concept, I started with sketches and low-fidelity wireframes. I ran down with the engineers and made a design system to articulate significant state changes to the developers. Using interaction libraries with reusable components is appreciated by the developer team. It helps to reduce technical complexity and establishes a familiar pattern for the user.
Quick Overview
Together, we began to create this platform that works on every OS and effortlessly saves time and money. The platform easily integrates with existing company workflows and aims to break the boundaries of other CPA applications.
Being a small team helps to decide quickly and move fast. Besides having a bi-weekly meeting with the client and staying transparent with every step in the development process, working agile keeps us moving forward.
Using online tools like Slack, Trello, and GitHub helps our small remote team stay productive and efficient - even though we work in 2 different time zones (Austria and the US).
Reflection
I never thought that we would get a project like this - everything started with a website, and now we work on a project that helped me grow as a Product Designer and pushes me forward. I love every part of the process, sure I have to find solutions to problems that never occurred to me, but this is one of the most exciting parts - the bigger the challenge, the more fun I have to solve it. (it helps me to become a problem-solving ninja by collect > choose > creat and commit)