Duration

July, 2019 – October, 2020

Role

Senior Product Designer

I was entrusted with leading the research and design efforts, which aimed to provide Copperleaf multi-currency support. My role extended beyond traditional boundaries, as I was pivotal in disentangling the complexities of a stalled project to find a path forward. To accomplish this, I worked very closely with a product triad, including a Product Manager and Development Manager.

Copperleaf Background

Copperleaf is a leader of decision analytics for critical infrastructure investment, optimizing asset management to achieve ESG and financial goals. This project's demand for sophisticated multi-currency management highlights Copperleaf’s commitment to providing comprehensive solutions for managing assets valued at over $2.9 trillion globally.

Problem 1

Existing functionality for the Draft Scenario lacked standard scenario functionality.

In the Copperleaf software, the draft forecast functionality, seen in red, did not possess the full capabilities and flexibility of complete scenario modeling, seen in blue, notably impacting the effective utilization of financial parameters.

1. This limitation restricted users' ability to adjust and analyze fiscal parameters—such as inflation rates, resource pricing, and currency exchange rates—within the draft forecast context.
2. As a result, users faced challenges in conducting comprehensive financial planning and sensitivity analysis, which are critical for strategic decision-making in varying economic conditions.
3. The absence of full scenario functionality in draft forecasts led to a disconnect between initial planning stages and finalized scenario evaluations, hindering the accuracy and reliability of financial projections and ultimately impacting the strategic planning process.

Initial state

Problem 2

Fiscal parameters workaround to display dual currency inflation functionality failed to perform in extreme inflation scenarios

In an effort to account for currency inflation for a second currency, clients were modeling inflation scenarios using a resource function not initially designed for this purpose. This adaptation allowed for the tracking of a secondary currency alongside the primary USD but fell short in capturing inflationary dynamics accurately, leading to imprecise value calculations across the application.

• Accuracy and Adaptability Issues: The system’s struggle with accurately handling inflation for multiple currencies, particularly under extreme inflation scenarios, critically impacted financial forecasting. This inadequacy was highlighted by a client based in Argentina, a country experiencing significant inflation. The lack of reliable data from forecasting features severely limited the client’s ability to engage in effective financial planning, underlining the system's limitations in a high-stakes financial environment.
• Manual Update Process: The system's reliance on manual updates for the adjusted exchange rate through a specific loader emerged as a significant flaw. This manual process lacked the necessary flexibility and responsiveness, failing to keep pace with the rapid economic changes characteristic of highly inflationary economies like Argentina’s. This made the system less effective in real-time financial management, directly affecting operational efficiency and decision-making capabilities.
• Data Integrity and Visibility: Maintaining the integrity and visibility of financial data within the system posed significant complexities, primarily due to the manual nature of data updates. These manual processes necessitated stringent controls over permissions and system visibility to thwart unauthorized access, ensuring the internal exchange rates were accurately represented throughout the system. This critical need for enhanced security measures to safeguard data accuracy and ensure accessibility highlights the inherent challenges faced in managing a system's financial data, particularly in environments subject to rapid economic fluctuations. The emphasis on rigorous data management underscores the delicate balance required between operational efficiency and the imperative of maintaining stringent data security protocols.
• Importance of supporting enterprise companies in complex financial landscapes: Addressing these challenges is critical not only for ensuring accurate financial management and planning for businesses operating in high-inflation environments like Argentina but also for the broader industry that demands dynamic and robust financial systems. The highlighted issues underscore the urgent need for innovations in financial technology that can adapt to complex economic conditions, ensuring businesses can thrive despite fluctuating financial landscapes.

Initial state

Shown in green is the initial functionality to display USD and ARS currency and to model inflation on USD. Shown in yellow are the manually created versions of the inflation scenarios for Argentina, causing downstream data inconsistencies.

Final state

First, the Draft Scenario became a formal scenario, supporting all fiscal parameter settings. Second, now that the Draft Scenario can support fiscal parameters, I redesigned them to make them more modular to simulate various real-world circumstances and to ensure that they could be toggled at any stage of the process for easy application and simulation while providing accurate data.

Collaborative Design Process

In the development team, collaboration among the triad—Product Manager, Development Manager, and myself—cultivated an environment rich in trust, open dialogue, and rapid iteration. Our diverse skill sets and perspectives were crucial in addressing complex challenges and refining our approach through tight feedback cycles. As the project progressed, the collaboration extended to the developers and QA.

Task Analysis: Onboarding Information Cache

I use task analysis in product design to understand tasks at their most basic level, particularly useful during the Research: Discovery phase. This approach helps me grasp an application’s functionality and identify areas for improvement by documenting client or product manager meetings and every interaction with the application. This process not only deepens my understanding but ensures information is readily available, reducing the need to revisit discussions. The resulting comprehensive record aids new project members in quickly getting up to speed and streamlines the design phase, ultimately contributing to more effective and user-centric designs.

1. A surprise outcome of the task analysis was the inclusion of the Administrator persona in the design work. At first we thought only the Investment Owner and Portfolio personas were impacted.
2. I Gained clear understanding of existing functionality and limitations.
3. I now truly understood what key flows needed redesign.

Task analysis example page

In order to fully understand the problem, I met with clients, developers, Product Managers, customer experience and client representatives

The feedback underscores a collective push towards a more user-friendly and precise system, highlighting specific customer issues around consistency, automation vs manual updates, inconsistent data structures, and the need for confidence in final numbers, along with a surprise benefit: the capability to conduct situational analysis on multiple budgets

Key Findings

• Automation vs. Manual Intervention: There's a recognized benefit in automating the update of exchange rates and inflation. However, a strong requirement for a manual review process emerged, particularly for approved scenarios, to ensure any changes are intentional and beneficial.
• Update the Draft Scenario A Full Scnenario: Suggestions were made to align the functionality of drafts with scenarios, including the adoption of scenario-specific resource pricing and other fiscal parameters. This aims to standardize rates across investments within a scenario but raises questions about the desire for varied rate versions for different investments in the same scenario.
• Change Management Requires Improvement The need for a process allowing investments to update spend in ARS with new parameters, while also retaining old parameters for reference and sensitivity analysis, was highlighted. This indicates a preference for control over automatic adjustments to ensure relevance and accuracy.
• Change Management Requires Granularity Identified issues include the lack of an option to submit forecast changes due to fiscal parameter updates without applying other unrelated changes, inconsistencies in UI/report values, and the painful process of managing undesired changes. Proposed solutions focus on defining fiscal parameters per scenario and dynamically calculating effects using scenario-specific parameters.
• Benefits and Impact: Simplify UI/Reports, Harmonize Displayed Values, Support Multi-Currency Making 'Draft' equivalent to a scenario type is seen as a way to simplify the UI/reports, harmonize displayed values, and lay the groundwork for multi-currency support. The changes aim to resolve UI/report inconsistencies, enable sensitivity analysis per scenario, and improve forecast data management and performance.

I view design requirements as crucial, serving as a blueprint for product design and development. They outline necessary specifications and functionalities based on user needs, business goals, and technical constraints, guiding teams to ensure the final product meets stakeholder expectations.

Problem Identification: The core issue stemmed from the inconsistency in handling and storing draft forecasts and scenario forecasts within Copperleaf, leading to confusion and complexity for both customers and developers. This discrepancy in data handling compromised the system's integrity and usability, necessitating a streamlined approach to manage forecasts consistently across the platform.

User Impact and Needs

• Administrators: Faced challenges with manually managing fiscal parameters like currency inflation, which significantly affected planning models. The need for a systematic method to manage these parameters was evident to mitigate the negative impacts of inflation changes and ensure reliable planning.
• Investment Owners: Struggled with planning projects due to distrust in displayed figures and lacked the ability to adjust fiscal parameters. There was a critical need for a system that allowed them to trust their data, make easy adjustments to default settings, and maintain scenario-specific settings against unwanted changes.
• Portfolio Owners: Encountered difficulties in reviewing and editing investment data on a granular level and understanding the implications of uninflated versus inflated values. Enhancing their ability to access detailed data, ensuring consistency in features, and boosting confidence in presented values were key areas of focus.

User Stories

I ended up creating 15 user stories that the triad agreed upon, crafted to reflect the needs and challenges of each persona involved. These user stories served as a bridge, translating complex problems into actionable insights and solutions. Having agreed upon user stories is crucial to avoid scope creep and to have a shared understandin of upcoming work to teams

Here are a few examples...

• Persona: Copperleaf Admin / Finance Admin When I need to make a system-wide update to fiscal and outer parameters, I want to easily make the changes and receive clear messaging explaining the impact to users who are using the system default parameters, so I can feel confident that the change is complete and also understand the trickle-down impact of my changes. E.g. Active scenarios that are not changed: Planning scenarios with fiscal parameters using non-system default values, system scenarios: submitted, approved budget, earned value.
• Persona: Investment Owner When I use Copperleaf functionality in the context of a scenario, I want to have the ability to reference the Draft Scenario, so I can use it throughout Copperleaf like other scenarios.
• Persona: Investment Owner When I am working with a scenario, I want to be able to read or update (depending on permissions) the following fiscal parameters: inflation rate, resource pricing, loading rate, outages), so I can have scenario-level flexibility of fiscal parameters, regardless of system settings.
• Persona: Portfolio Owner When I am reviewing an investment within a scenario, I want to access, review or edit spend line forecast data, so I can comprehend and alter the budget at a more granular level than is currently available.

I used a design jam session to unblock me and redefine how Copperleaf uses fiscal parameters

At first, I found myself stuck. I scheduled a jam session with the team to think it through, and we were able to solve all of the major problems in this session, making a major leap forward in the project.

Problem 1: Existing functionality for the Draft Scenario lacked standard scenario functionality.

Together, we were able to solve how the Draft Scenario could look as a full scenario and how to display fiscal parameters. Here you see the initial white board sketch and then the final wireframe design followed by full design flow.

1. We built in fiscal parameters functionality to the Draft Scenario in all locations where it can be accessed.
2. We offered the ability to edit fiscal parameter sets from the Draft Scenario, allowing the application of set-specific parameters to be applied to a spend line in each forecast.

Breakout design jam continued...

Problem 2: Fiscal parameters workaround to display dual currency inflation functionality failed to perform in extreme inflation scenarios

Now that the Draft Scenario is a full scenario, it supports all fiscal parameters, including inflation. However, setting inflation on spend lines in budgets would be tedious. To avoid this, we created the concept of a fiscal parameter set that could be set in administration and toggled at the investment and portfolio level.

In an internal usability testing session, we evaluated the final product's user interface and functionality with a focus on the tasks related to creating new fiscal parameters, assembling parameter sets, and employing these in relevant sections of the product. This testing involved five participants, who were asked to complete a total of nine distinct tasks to assess the intuitiveness, efficiency, and overall user experience offered by the product.

Key Findings

• Tasks completed successfully: All participants were able to successfully complete the assigned tasks, confirming that the core functionalities regarding fiscal parameters and their application are accessible and operable within the product environment.
• Assistance Required: Despite the overall success in task completion, a subset of participants required guidance for certain tasks. This need for assistance was attributed not to the inherent functionality of the product but to the setup of the prototype used for testing.

Upgrading Fiscal Parameter Functionality

The implementation phase for upgrading the fiscal parameter functionality in Copperleaf represented a significant overhaul, encompassing both backend data structures and user interface enhancements. This comprehensive update was necessary to support the creation and management of new fiscal parameters and parameter sets, as well as their application within the software. The project spanned several critical steps.

1. Changes to key data structures
2. Full product upgrades
3. Extensive collaboration with the Customer Experience team to ensure a seamless transition for clients.

Key Steps and Milestones

• Data structure changes: The core of the implementation involved modifying the software's data structures to accommodate the new fiscal parameter features. This foundational work was essential for enabling the advanced functionalities we aimed to introduce.
• UI Design for upgrade support: To facilitate the transition to the upgraded system, the UI was meticulously designed to support users through the migration process. This design work included visualizing the migration flow for various scenarios, illustrating system states during the upgrade, and ensuring users had a clear understanding of the steps involved.
• Customer Experience collaboration: Recognizing the potential challenges this upgrade could pose for existing users, we engaged closely with our Customer Experience team from the outset. Our goal was to proactively address any user concerns and provide comprehensive support throughout the transition. This involved numerous meetings and planning sessions to strategize on support mechanisms and communication.
• Prototype feedback and iteration: Throughout the implementation, feedback from internal reviews and prototype testing was integral. Key findings from these sessions led to significant adjustments in our approach, particularly concerning navigation and information presentation. This iterative process ensured that the final product would meet user needs and expectations effectively.
• Implementation outcomes and reflections: The project's success hinged on meticulous planning, cross-functional collaboration, and a user-centric approach to design and implementation. By addressing the intricate details of data structure changes and UI design, we were able to ensure that the upgraded fiscal parameter functionality not only met technical requirements but also enhanced the user experience. The collaborative efforts with the Customer Experience team were particularly valuable, enabling us to support our clients effectively through the transition.

This project underscored the importance of clear communication, both internally among project teams and externally with our user base. Future projects will benefit from the lessons learned during this comprehensive upgrade process, particularly the value of iterative feedback and proactive user support strategies.

The introduction of Scenario Fiscal Parameters to the Copperleaf product suite represents a pivotal enhancement, offering a unified approach to managing forecasts, inflation, and resource pricing. This foundational change facilitates more nuanced decision-making and scenario modeling, allowing organizations to conduct comprehensive sensitivity analyses under varied economic conditions. By integrating scenario fiscal parameters, Copperleaf has substantially improved the robustness and usability of its product suite, contributing to several significant outcomes:

Enhanced Decision-Making Capabilities

• Robust scenario modeling: Scenario fiscal parameters enables organizations to model the impact of key fiscal parameters, such as inflation rates and currency exchange rates, on their overall portfolio value. This capability is crucial for conducting effective what-if analyses, supporting strategic planning and investment decisions.

Improved Usability and Data Integrity

• Dynamic scenario updates: Changes in rate or outage configurations are immediately reflected in scenarios, eliminating the need for re-submission and thereby streamlining the forecasting process.
• Reduction in errors: By standardizing how forecast data is utilized across the system, SFP minimizes inconsistencies and errors, enhancing the reliability of decision-making data. Historic Data Preservation: The system now better preserves and visualizes historic fiscal parameter values, aiding in the analysis of past planning strategies.
• Efficiencies:
  • Time to publish Investment Forecasts: The new Draft as Scenario reduced the time to publish 608 investment forecasts by 72.88%, from 8 minutes and 40 seconds to 2 minutes and 23 seconds, significantly speeding up the process.
  • Time to copy Investment Forecasts: The new Draft Scenario cut the time to copy 607 forecasts by 75.00%, from 1 minute and 32 seconds to 23 seconds, streamlining scenario adjustments.
  • Time to submit Investment Forecasts: Cache generation for new scenarios became 38.46% faster with the DAS system, dropping from 13 seconds to 8 seconds, improving response times.
  • Time to submit Investment Forecasts: Submission time for 1016 forecasts was reduced by 73.70%, from 8 minutes and 42 seconds to 2 minutes and 19 seconds with the DAS system, accelerating portfolio updates.
  • Time to copy Investment Forecasts: The new Draft Scenario decreased the time to copy 15555 forecasts by 81.70%, from 14 minutes and 54 seconds to 2 minutes and 43 seconds, enhancing efficiency in scenario management.

Foundational Enhancements

• Multi-currency support: SFP underpins the implementation of native multi-currency support in subsequent releases, a critical feature for the international operations of numerous clients.
• Technical debt reduction: The elimination of outdated and inconsistent data handling practices reduces technical debt, enhancing system performance and maintainability.

Client Impact and Upgrade Path

• Client retention: Retained two high-risk clients.
• Client adoption: As of 2023, 68% of clients have been upgraded to or installed versions of the product suite incorporating scenario fiscal parameters.

This case study documents a significant project aimed at enhancing Copperleaf's capabilities, in managing assets across various currencies. Led by a Senior Product Designer, the project addressed critical issues, including the lack of standard scenario functionality in draft forecasts and the failure of existing solutions to handle dual currency inflation accurately.

Through collaborative efforts and rigorous design processes, the team successfully redesigned the Draft Scenario to support all fiscal parameters and introduced a more modular approach to simulating real-world circumstances. Additionally, they implemented improvements to automate exchange rate updates and streamline scenario management, significantly enhancing usability and data integrity.

The deployment of Scenario Fiscal Parameters (SFP) marked a pivotal enhancement to Copperleaf's product suite, empowering organizations to conduct more nuanced scenario modeling and improve decision-making under varying economic conditions. With enhanced multi-currency support and technical debt reduction, the project has delivered tangible benefits to clients, with a significant number already adopting the upgraded version.

Successes

Incremental Value Delivery: This project marked a significant shift in how we approach product development. Despite the long cycle time of a year, which introduced risk, the experience underscored the importance of adopting a more agile methodology. Moving forward, the company has embraced a bolder stance on working in an agile manner, focusing on delivering incremental value. This approach not only helps in managing risk better but also ensures that we are continuously providing tangible improvements to our clients.

Cross-functional Collaboration: A key success of this project was the deep level of collaboration across different teams. Working closely with designers, Product Managers, Developers, and client-facing staff allowed us to navigate the complexities of this feature and its impact across various personas and application areas. This collective effort was instrumental in achieving a shared understanding and ensuring the successful delivery of the project.

Learnings

Breaking Down Complex Projects: One of the major learnings from this project is the potential benefit of breaking down complex features into smaller, manageable chunks. Despite the challenges posed by the feature's broad impact, segmenting the project could allow for more manageable iterations and quicker value delivery. Copperleaf has adjusted the way the handle large projects, encouraging us to find ways to modularize work without sacrificing the integrity and cohesiveness of the final product.

Personal Reflections

Professional Milestone: This project was a milestone in my professional journey, providing me with a platform to leverage and expand my skills in a real-world, high-impact scenario. The complexity of the task at hand required not just technical proficiency but also a deep commitment to collaboration and communication. Engaging with a diverse team of designers, Product Managers, Developers, and client-facing staff, I honed my ability to facilitate shared understanding and drive collective action towards common goals.

User-centric approach and deep collaboration: The experience reinforced the value of a user-centered design approach, emphasizing the need to deeply understand the problem space before diving into solutions. It was a testament to the power of empathy, both for our users and within our team, as we navigated the intricacies of this project. This collaborative effort not only led to the successful implementation of the project but also played a pivotal role in my personal growth.

Path to team leadership: Inspired by the trust and rapport built with my colleagues during this project, I became increasingly interested in leadership roles. Soon after the project's completion, I embarked on my first leadership role, equipped with the insights and experiences gained from this transformative project. This shift towards leadership has been a rewarding journey, allowing me to contribute to our team's success from a new vantage point and to support the development of others as we tackle the challenges ahead together.