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Business Objective UX Research Findings Elaborating a Business Case Some Design Decisions Lesson Learned Feedback

Business Objective

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Initial Business Objectives:
The business request was to redesign a financial report. The problem stated was the inability to identify the right information in order to take a decision about approving or not an investment.


Business Objectives after UX Research:
Design for a new application for CAPEX management.


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UX Research Findings

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The reporting part was done in MS PowerPoint and MS Excel. The main data source was a 10 years old application, used mainly to handle investments requests.


Root causes for the wrong data:
• the application had a poor validation for the input data;
• the reports included data from multiple sources, but these sources have been not properly integrated;
• various stakeholders involved were not aware when new data has added to the system.


The existing application didn't have robust reporting features. Besides this, the critical feature in the app was the management of the approval workflows.


The app had arround 300 approval workflows. This number is the direct consequence of the complexity of approval criteria: 5 criteria, each of them having between 4 and 45 options.



The approval workflows have been managed in the back-end by a third party support team.


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Elaborating a Business Case

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A complex process map was built in order to identify all painpoints in the current process.


Plan Multi-Annual Budget Plan Annual Budget Initiate Funding Request Check Capital Flows Add Resolution on Request Users & Approvals Control CAPITAL EXPENDITURE - Customer Journey Map www.chemodigital.ro CC Senior Financial Clerk Financial Clerk Tech Manager ● Provide data about good receipts, cash flow, and differences between the funds allocated and the funds spent. ● Redistribute funds for requests based on the current cash-flow. ● Provide tech description for the request. ● Estimate/Adjust capital distribution for business objectives. ● Set Cost Centers (by location & business function). ● Estimate/Adjust incomes for a long period of time. ● Approve/Reject Capital Expenditure Plan. TASKS: ● Provide data for Senior Financial Clerks. ● Align with Tech Managers and other stakeholders about business needs. TASKS: ● Provide data for Financial Clerks. TASKS: ● Check conformity with multi-annual Capital Expenditure Plan. ● Approve/Reject annual budget for each Cost Centers. TASKS: ● Build a hierarchy for funding requests. ● Provide data for Senior Financial Clerks. ● Collect data about incomes and expenditures. ● Build capital allocation drafts. TASKS: ● Build investment cases. TASKS: ● Create the request. ● Fill the request form with correct and appropriate data. ● Attach docs that prove the necessity. TASKS: ● Lack of visibility in real-time over interested data.. ISSUES: Direct Manager ISSUES: ● Data accuracy check is a very demanding process. ● Train other stakeholders about the funding process. ISSUES: ● The poor visibility over funding calendar and funds availability. ISSUES: ● Poor support features in the application. ● The request form is not specific for the subject of the request. ● Lack of validation features in the application. ● Check financial data for each large amount funding request. ● Approve/Reject large amount of funding request. TASKS: ● The data format is not consistent in reports (visual, structural, etc. ). ISSUES: ● Requests are rejected because of missing data. ● Any change in the workflow requires significant resources. ISSUES: ● Analyze / change / adapt the logic of approval workflow. TASKS: TASKS: ● Need to work with data from multiple applications. ISSUES: STEP ONLY FOR LARGE AMOUNT FUNDING REQUESTS ● Validate data request . ● Communicate with request owners about the status, adjustments required, funds available, deadlines. TASKS: ● Hard to identify the requests allocated. ISSUES: ● Deadlines for providing resolution are overdue. ● Poor awareness about new requests in the flow. TASKS: ● Approve/Reject large amount funding request. ● Send reports to Senior Financial Clerks. ● Organize periodical capital expenditure meetings. ● Provide proper communication channels between various stakeholders. ISSUES: ● Check/Propose process improvements. TASKS: ● Check necessity or business opportunity. ● Check funds availability. ● Approve/Reject large amount funding requests. TASKS: ● Check necessity or business opportunity. ● Check funds availability. ● Approve/Reject small amount funding requests. TASKS: ● Hard to identify the requests allocated. ISSUES: ● Deadlines for providing resolution are overdue. ● Poor awareness about new requests in the flow. Initial business request for UX services. NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS NO TASKS Senior Financial Clerk Financial Clerk Tech Manager Direct Manager Requestor Requestor Check Capital Flows Add Resolution on Request Users & Approvals Control Plan Annual Budget Plan Multi-Annual Budget Initiate Funding Request
Details of the Process Map here

Most important: A new app completly cut the costs with the support provided by a third party.


Estimate relevant KPIs for success:
• 70% decrease the rejections due to incorrect or insufficient data.
• 50% decrease in Man-Working-Hours allocated to reporting tasks for strategic investments decisions.


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Some Design Decisions

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The requests in pending status became most important items in dashboard.


section of a reporting dashboard
Details of the dashboard here

The request form was splitted in 5 distinct areas.


section of a heavy data table
Details of the view here

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Lesson Learned

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In specialized domains, the role of Subject Matter Expert is essential. UX Research by itself can not compensate for years of training and expertise.


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Feedback

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