ENTERPRISE PLATFORM UX · WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION
Modernizing a Financial Data Platform
Redesigned fragmented enterprise finance workflows into a more task-focused experience.
ROLE
ux designer
9 months (2024-2025)
user interviews
workflow mapping
information architecture
wireframing & prototyping
stakeholder collaboration
TIMELINE
SKILLS
All visuals and examples in this case study have been redesigned to respect NDA constraints.
Overview
I worked with a team of UX designers on an internal financial data governance platform used by a large enterprise to manage and approve critical financial records. The platform supports regulated workflows where accuracy, speed, and compliance directly impact reporting and planning.
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The existing experience relied on a slow, legacy tool with fragmented workflows spread across multiple systems. This case study focuses on the system-level design decisions that improved usability and scalability while working within enterprise platform constraints.
Challenge
Users were responsible for managing dozens of financial data change requests governed by strict approval rules. However, the existing experience:
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Required navigating fragmented workflows across multiple systems
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Sent users through complex, branching paths for their tasks
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Made it difficult to understand request ownership, status, and urgency
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As a result, users spent more time navigating the system than actually managing critical financial work.
My role
I worked closely with business stakeholders, subject matter experts, and engineers to:​
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Map end-to-end workflows across multiple master data categories
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Identify structural inconsistencies and redundancies across request and approval flows
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Redesign the core landing experience used by requestors and approvers
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Balance usability improvements with platform and governance constraints. ​​​​
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Design decisions were iterated through regular weekly reviews with cross-functional partners to ensure technical feasibility and alignment.
DESIGN DECISION #1
Reframing the landing page as an action surface
SURFACING ACTIONABLE WORK OVER SYSTEM NAVIGATION
The legacy landing experience functioned like a dashboard, requiring users to navigate into categories to get to their desired workflows.
However from our conversations with users,
we noticed that most of them entered the platform with a clear goal:
"What requests do I need to act on right now?"
Rather than optimizing the dashboard layout, I reframed the landing page around user intent and urgency – surfacing actionable requests and ownership signals immediately
PRIORITIZED ACTIONABLE REQUESTS
OVER NAVIGATION
Surfaced request status and ownership at a glance. Elevating “My Requests” reduced time spent orienting within the page by making ownership and request state visible upfront.
ANCHOR ENTRY POINTS TO
SYSTEM STRUCTURE
Enabled quick entry into request or edit flows per master data category.
Starting from the category level rather than abstract actions made the system's structure more legible, particularly for first-time users.
OPTIMIZE FOR REPEAT USAGE
THROUGH PERSONALIZATION
Reduced decision-making friction for daily, repeat users by adding a "My Favorites" section that allowed them to pin frequently used master data categories.
This reframed the landing page as a daily work surface, not just an entry point. Surfacing actionable requests reduced time spent orienting and enabled faster access to critical work.
DESIGN DECISION #2
Anchor workflows to data categories instead of actions
Previously, workflows began with abstract actions (e.g. create, modify, delete), guiding users through decision trees to determine the correct master data category. This resulted in 20+ branching paths that confused new users and slowed down experienced ones.
REDUCING WORKFLOW BRANCHING BY CONSOLIDATING SCREENS
By surfacing master data categories upfront, users could directly select which workflow they wanted to enter from the start. This created clear, linear paths per category, reduced branching complexity, and made workflows easier to understand for both first-time and repeat users.
DESIGN DECISION #3
Optimizing for buildability over ideal-state UX
BALANCING USABILITY WITH PLATFORM CONSTRAINTS
This project was deeply rooted in platform design, and relied on a pre-existing enterprise component library.​ Backend architecture and proofs of concept were already in progress, and not all desired UX patterns were natively supported.
Rather than advocating for idealized solutions, I focused on changes that engineering could realistically ship without compromising system integrity.
Impact &
Learnings
While I did not remain on the project through final delivery, my work contributed to:
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Clearer request ownership and status visibility
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Reduced cognitive load for daily users
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Standardized workflows across master data categories
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A more scalable foundation for future governance needs
More importantly, this project strengthened my ability to design within complex, regulated systems—prioritizing clarity, collaboration, and long-term maintainability over isolated interface improvements.