Account Set up

Project Overview

Revamping our topics settings within the account manager was crucial, particularly after the last release's less-than-successful experience. Rebuilding trust by surpassing user expectations became our primary objective. Initially, defining the ideal experience proved challenging, requiring extensive thought and analysis to outline the project. It was only while working on another new feature that the big picture started to emerge. We realized the need for a holistic view of the account setup, allowing users to manage their accounts without having to navigate from setting to setting.

Deliveralbes

Project Requirements

User Interface

Reorganizing and updating the UI of this setting would significantly enhance the user experience by enabling more intuitive navigation through the system.

User Experience

By examining the topic setup, we could identify pain points in the user experience, enabling us to add, reassign, or remove settings, thus ensuring all other settings effectively support this primary account setup.

Successful Launch

Ensuring near flawlessness during the Beta testing phase with rigorous standards was crucial, as it not only impacted the client's satisfaction but also benefited the support team by minimizing post-launch issues.

Pivoting

Indirect Discovery

The unique aspect of this project was its initial concept as a custom form builder, but I encountered numerous obstacles, facing challenges in obtaining approvals and effectively communicating the project to my design team and stakeholders. Realizing we were stuck in a cycle, we took a necessary pause to evaluate the root cause. Through careful examination of user flows and wireframes, we discovered that the underlying issue lay in the topics portion of the account setup, not the form builder itself. Unfortunately, this realization led to the development of not just one, but two interconnected projects, resulting in significant production and release delays. After thorough discussions with all teams involved, it was agreed that the long-term benefits outweighed the short-term delays.

Launch

Quality Assurance

When working in a remote environment, time zones and languages can create barriers, as was discovered in a previous launch failure. With unwavering commitment from Product Management and my team, launching anything less than 90% perfection was not an option. This required painstaking days of detailed reviews, comparing the design sent to development with what was on beta, and documenting and prioritizing each change request. The list was extremely long, encompassing issues that compromised the function to small details such as color or spacing. While it was evident that the functional issues needed to be addressed before launch, advocating and fighting for the minor design requests proved to be more challenging.

Previously, the mindset had been to settle for functional adequacy, but it took a considerable amount of pressure and communication to emphasize the significance of the design in elevating our product. Ensuring that the visuals matched the value had became a crucial objective for me.

People Management

Managing people can be difficult, but once you overcome those challenges, it leads to growth and valuable insights as a manager.

Prototyping

Too much of a good thing

When a team possesses a high calibre of design skill, it becomes easy to inadvertently overdesign or overdevelop as enthusiasm for a project grows. A further challenge arises from designer turnover, which I experienced when a designer unexpectedly left the project, resulting in a rushed handover to the development team. Although the project was beautifully prototyped, it left the development team frustrated while trying to navigate the hovers and various states existing on each page. Throughout the project's review, beta stage, and the subsequent requests from the development and project management teams, my team found it difficult to efficiently organize and interpret the prototyping files. Consequently, the designer had to dismantle the design and add art boards to ensure the development team had the necessary resources. This approach proved to be time-consuming and inefficient for all teams involved. As a manager, establishing standards and processes for file and prototyping will undoubtedly lead to smoother handoffs in future projects.

Lessons Learned

Throughout the project's duration, numerous valuable lessons were learned, ranging from effectively managing team members and expectations to recognizing the challenges posed by prototyping and the absence of streamlined processes, which often proved time-consuming and frustrating. Nevertheless, the effort I dedicated to advocating for design quality before launch, despite the associated challenges, proved to be truly rewarding. As a manager, this project served as a pivotal turning point, fostering significant growth in identifying the design team's needs and bolstering the confidence to assertively stand up to stakeholders for the betterment of the product

Managing team turn over

Striking balance in file deliver

Embrace the discovery phase

Account Setup