Industry Leading HR Software Tax Management
Tax Management System
My Roles
- Analyst
- UX Designer & Research
- UI Design
Project Background
The existing Tax Management process was cumbersome and confusing. The user flow was based on legacy gray-scale screens, dependencies on running manual tasks in alternate software such as utilizing macros in Excel, and barely legible reporting. These issues resulted in extensive man hours, human error due to manual intervention, and delays at month end. A complete redesign of the interface was needed.
Task And Mission
- Re-imagine user work flows for a streamlined process
- Redesign the user interface for ease of use and to be aesthetically pleasing
- Creation of visual elements to support new design and added to the library for future use
- Creation of a dashboard to replace existing reporting
- Data visualization to facilitate easier understanding of the analytics
DISCOVERY
Research Goals
- Identify users of the Tax Management system
- Define the requirements of the Tax Management system
- Understand the pain points of the existing workflows and system
- Identify what “success” would look like resulting from any changes
User interviews
8 users were interviewed to understand how the system was used on a daily basis. Feedback was that there were many siloed processes, and that there were no economies of scale across these processes as there were caveats every step of the way. Other issues that arose were items such as the use of internal terminology lengthening the learning curve (and also making backup difficult), and errors are more difficult to discern in state reporting. Other items like Online vs Desktop surfaced as well.
DEFINE
Tax Reporting System As-Is
As-Is flows were created to communicate a clear understanding of the tasks and steps as well as identify pain-points, their location, and their drivers. It is important to not solution at this stage, but comments and suggestions that the users have are recorded and documented for consideration during the design phase. While the suggestion might not be implemented as suggested, it provides insight to what the user’s needs are. the use of internal terminology lengthening the learning curve (and also making backup difficult), and errors are more difficult to discern in state reporting. Other items like Online vs Desktop surfaced as well
DESIGN
Mood Board
As with most user experience projects mood boards establish uniformity of look and feel and guarantee continuity of the application. As existing screens are modified or additional screens are designed it’s critical to ensure the user feels a coherent flow and never feel disenfranchised or as though he has even left one application for another. Adherence to design elements, patterns, and treatments is essential to maintaining that consistency.
Tax Reporting System To-Be
Once the As-is flows are documented it is easy to go through the process step by step and identify pain points. Assisted by the visual representation of the process, users often taken great satisfaction in being able to actually ” put their finger on” the problem. At this point subject matter experts often will help in solutioning and provide suggestions or ideas for their previously unspoken needs or wants. This new articulation provides insight useful in reimagining the process and creation of a process that more effectively and efficiently meets the user’s needs
High Fidelity Prototype
High fidelity designs were created in order to allow decision makers on the business side to more easily imagine the screen layouts and therefore the new navigation. This serves 2 very important purposes.
- It provides the very important sign off from the SMEs that ensures the new design will meet their needs BEFORE significant development time is spent
- It creates the inclusion of participants that we know will lead to higher adoption rates of the systems changes as there is more ownership having contributed to the projects.
High Fidelity Prototype
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