Suma Mandalapu

Case Study

All-in-one B2B SaaS Platform for Mutual Fund Professionals

Company: Value Research


Mutual Fund distributors across India refer to Value Research or its specialised offering Analytics Pro for their research needs. They can conduct in-depth research on funds based on their clients’ needs and goals as well as generate detailed portfolio analysis reports for their clients.

We aimed to create an all-encompassing tool for Mutual Fund Distributors. We expanded Analytics Pro from data and analysis to a daily essential, streamlining research, client management, team collaboration, and brokerage.

Team

Aakash R
Suma M
Harshita J
Shibam D
Shreesh K

Project Duration:

~8 Months

Role

UX Research

UX/UI Design
Design System
Project Management
Client Communication
Design Review

The Approach

Uncover Unmet Needs

Uncover unmet needs of users through Primary and Secondary Research to gain competitive edge

Employ Right Tools

Employ appropriate tools and methods to simplify project complexity and efficiently address its extensive scope

Design and Iterate

Get the flows of major features right at a system level through wireframes, and then iterate onto visual design

User Testing

The platform is technical, user-testing is a must to de-risk incorporated features

Select Highlights

Understanding a Technical Domain through its Users

Focus on user’s mental models. Eg: designing for information density

User interviews to understand daily life, tools used, and workflows

Competitive Analysis to uncover missing gaps Eg: Lack of in-house Task tracking, notes, and reminders

Simplifying Complexity and Optimizing for Breadth

Overall, 17 module and 300+ screens

Applied Object-Oriented User Experience (OOUX) to simplify inherent complexity of the platform

As a result we could improve scalability, create modular components and ease navigation across the platform

Entity Diagram with different objects and their relations

Getting the Flows Right at a System Level

Once we organized the platform through information architecture and entity diagram, we designed wire-flows for majority of the modules in the platform

Wireflows at this stage
Interactive prototype of the wireframes

On-the-Go Design System

Design System was an evolving entity as we optimized reusable components and patterns as we completed one module after the other

Less emphasis on formal documentation as we had a small team and regularly meetings with the Developers’ team

Example of reusable component from the Design System

Sweating the Small Details

We worked on the smallest of details related to each screen such as how Filters should operate, including micro-interactions and system feedback

Filter components
Redesigned Filter side-panel with search and easy-to-scan list items

Usability Testing with Realistic Prototypes

User-testing with varied user groups such as existing users both individual as well as in teams and with users who haven’t used the platform


On Average ~2 hours in-depth session with each user

Sample screenshot of Survey Questionnaire and results

Actionable Insights through Synthesizing User Feedback

96 Insights across 6 major features

Overwhelmingly, the response to the user-testing was positive and validated our design decisions

Changes when suggested were minor (such as ability to download graphs as JPEGs) and more in-line with customization already incorporated in the platform

Actionable Insights from the user testing. Green – the inputs we incorporated, orange – items that can be removed, bolded content -improvements to existing features, and striked-out content – either not relevant directly or beyond the scope of the project at present.

Navigating Implementation Challenges

Tight Implementation Schedule, modules were being developed as soon as the designs were completed since the user flows were approved at wireframe level

At times, it meant rework as we improved functionality for certain designs in later modules

Proactively discussing and clarifying doubts twice every week with the Developer team was crucial for smooth implementation

Eg: Top navbar in the initial design including floating icons which obscured information as the user scrolled through the screen, this was updated to a fixed navbar as shown here

All is Well, Proof lies in 
User Quotes

Interestingly, due to the realistic prototypes, the user-testing acted like a demo and each of the participants inquired when the product would be out in the market!

Outcomes

User Testing with Distributors and Advisors from varying organizational setups helped to de-risk the features, design decisions, and other improvements we’ve made to the platform


Design System increased efficiency, sped up the process of design and ensured consistency of design across modules designed by different designers


Weekly sync-up meetings with developers helped to keep design grounded in technical feasibility while meeting user needs

Takeaways

Learned how to see the big picture and not design in silos, strategize project planning and implementation on-time project delivery.


Honed User Interview skills for extracting valuable insights through thoughtful questioning and attentive listening.


Learnt to effectively manage and lead small teams by assigning, following-up, and reviewing design work


Developed leadership through leading client meetings, by presenting and justifying design decisions, especially with VP-level stakeholders, after a learning curve

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