Case Study

Project Genesis

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Case Study

Thomson Reuters

Project Genesis

Heuristic Evaluation
Cognitive Walkthrough
Task Analysis
UI Design
Interaction Design
Business Process Re-engineering

Background

Genesis is an internal process providing an end-to-end sales process, in an attempt to simplify the order process for Thomson Reuters' Eikon, Elektron and other strategic products. It uses a customised version of Salesforce and SAP as the main UIs and also connects to a legacy Siebel system.

The Task

The Product Manager for the Genesis programme asked the Financial & Risk UX Design Team to review the Genesis process for on-boarding a customer to enrol in a Eikon product trial and suggest how it may be improved upon after receiving negative to mixed user feedback by the Sales team and Client Specialists.

I was assigned to this task.

Usability Review

For obvious security reasons, I cannot provide screenshots of the company's internal tools.

Results

  • Workflow seems over-complicated and/or may not match users’ mental model
  • Over-complicated and inefficient user interface
  • Too many steps
  • Unnecessary manual tasks
  • Lack of clear sign-posting of where users are in the process and what to do next

These findings appeared to support the majority of user feedback, which was obtained from interviews carried out by the Product team independently without input or collaboration from the Financial & Risk UX Team.

Workflow Audit - Current System

I also analysed the entire customer on-boarding workflow:

Activity Number of Sub-Processes Number of UIs Number of UI State or View Changes Number of User Actions
Set up an Eikon Trial 9 2 18 40
Assign a Product License to a User 5 1 11 18
Total 14 3 29 58

Alternative UI Proposal

I proposed the creation of a dedicated UI to facilitate the Genesis process that will simplify the user journey and UI by:

  • guiding the user through a series of steps
  • exposing only the controls the user needs to achieve their goal
  • removing as much of the manual process as possible
  • removing the clunky user journey that the user currently experiences when navigating various screens within Salesforce and SAP

Wireframes

Basic wireframes were created to illustrate how much more simplified a unified UI would look by only exposing the mandatory fields required for the Trial setup within Salesforce-driven workflow.

Swipe through the images

Workflow Audit - Proposed System

Another workflow audit was conducted, this time on the proposed UI:

Activity Number of Sub-Processes Number of UIs Number of UI State or View Changes Number of User Actions
Set up an Eikon Trial 4 1 6 9
Assign a Product License to a User 5 1 11 17
Total 9 2 17 26

Workflow Comparison

The number of user actions it takes to perform the task under the current process is then compared against a proposed simplified User Interface which removes the user from:

  • the complicated workflow logic of Salesforce and SAP
  • the complicated navigational structure of Salesforce and SAP
  • any unnecessary manual actions forced upon the user via the Salesforce and SAP UIs

Current Workflow

Proposed Workflow

3 UIs
Salesforce, SAP & Eikon Administration Services

2 UIs
Dedicated Genesis UI & Eikon Administration Services

58 User actions

26 User actions

Result

My proposed redesign reduces the number of steps a user needs to take to on-board a customer by 55%, compared with the same task under the current system, by removing unecessary user actions.

It simplifies the UI and user journey by offering a unified experience under one UI and removing visual clutter and hence cognitive load by removing navigation options not relevant to the on-boarding process.

55% reduction in user actions to on-board a customer

What I would have done differently

Due to time-constraints in delivering an initial report, I concentrated on the number of separate UIs involved, navigational issues, unnecessary system/application dialogs and number of steps/clicks required to complete the task of on boarding a new client and did not perform any further analysis (e.g. Time on Task, Keystrokes, Mouse Clicks).

I also would have designed a solution to integrate the product licence assignment process which uses an in-house tool and carried out the same exercise to determine if the number of user actions could be reduced further. (My assumption is yes, the process could be streamlined further as the in-house tool is currently accessible via an API).

Reactions

This case study, showcasing my process and findings, was presented at one of the regular global UX team town-halls within the organisation.

It garnered a lot of praise and attention at the time.

Several years later, it is still fresh in the minds of the global UX and Service Design Community within Thomson Reuters and Refinitiv, and has been cited as a reference for more recent projects.

Conclusion

The resulting report was sufficient in convincing the Programme Manager of the system there was a real overall usability issue and that the findings echoed the majority of early end-user feedback.

It made a convincing argument that for this particular application, the use of 3 separate UIs to complete a workflow created a disjointed user experience and that being forced to use the Salesforce software created many additional and unnecessary steps in the user journey, made even more complicated due to navigational issues such as excessive and unnecessary navigational links as well as lack of clear signposting on where the user should go next.

Client Feedback

"This is exactly what I was looking for. It’s spot on. This really highlights in the simplest process we offer, Trials, how over-complex it really is and some options on how to improve."

— Alan B. Head of Business Process Management, Financial & Risk, Genesis Program Lead.

View original report

Testimonials

"Yooch has been a great member of the team at Thomson Reuters. He is armed with a rock-solid set of core skills, covering interaction and UI design, prototyping and technical work, and the ability to systematically analyse, deconstruct, and improve complex workflows.

His extensive domain knowledge in finance and related areas, and his dedication to understanding new fields, has meant that he's been a key player on some of our most complex work.

The team and our senior product stakeholders around the business always enjoy working with Yooch thanks not only to his fast, efficient delivery, but also to the fact that he's a team player and has a knack for lifting everyone's mood when he's around. I have no hesitation in recommending him to other UX directors and teams."

Andrew M.
Director - Financial & Risk Experience Design Team @ Thomson Reuters
September 24, 2017

"I've worked with Yooch on the same team for 2 years and on the same project for 6 months.

Yooch's design outputs are always top-notch with very well thought-through solutions. He is always able to quickly understand a design problem and evaluate different solutions to come up with a feasible one. The combination of his interaction design and front-end development skills also makes him a true asset on design projects. On one occasion he was able to code-up a working prototype of a complex input form for a last minute workshop to make sure we are able to gather useful findings from the end-users.

Yooch is a perfectionist, always demanding 100% from his work. I particularly like his way of solving problems creatively. On a particular project, he was able to convince stakeholders of the severity of a convoluted business process by quantifying it and subsequently proposing a simpler process which gained interest from various teams within the company wanting to use similar methods.

Yooch is a great team player and collaborator. He is always helping out with design critiques and constantly testing his own concepts to make sure they work. His excellent interpersonal skills also makes him a joy to work with and his diplomacy always comes in handy during 'tough negotiations' with multidisciplinary teams.

I look forward to working with Yooch again in the future!"

Yeevon O.
Senior Interaction Designer, Financial & Risk Experience Design Team @ Thomson Reuters
September 10, 2017

"Have had the opportunity of working with Yooch several years now.

His contribution and Design expertise have been key in driving the Product forward.

He has a wide set of Design and Financial skills; always highly collaborative with team and open with his contributions and ideas."

Jorge S.
Global Head of Product Management, Desktop Platform @ Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters)
July 18, 2020

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