Compliance Queue - an internal tool
OVERVIEW
How it all started
Our journey through operational hurdles began with a simple, yet fundamental issue—measuring the efficacy of our internal processes. Our team members, committed to excellence, were navigating their responsibilities blindfolded, with no clear understanding of the difference their efforts were making. The absence of performance analytics left our management without a compass, rendering the recognition of high achievers and support for those trailing a challenge.
The roots of inefficiency ran deeper with our reliance on Salesforce as our primary system. Its complexity became a legend within the corridors, where tales of navigation woes were all too common. Team members found themselves investing more time in deciphering system pathways than in fulfilling the tasks at hand.
Complicating matters further, our workflow was scattered across a web of systems. Each day was a new labyrinth as our team juggled between interfaces, increasing the likelihood of error—a costly game of operational Tetris that we could not afford to lose.
Lastly, we faced the democratization of case access. In our egalitarian approach, every team member had equal opportunity to tackle any case, disregarding the nuanced levels of expertise required. This well-intended practice led to the risk of complex cases being mishandled by the enthusiastic yet unprepared hands.
CHALLENGES IN MEASURING AND ENHANCING INTERNAL PERFORMANCE
Envision a scenario where our team is tasked with processing customer applications swiftly and precisely, yet their contributions remain unquantified. Previously, there was a void in our ability to capture the impact our internal team was making. This absence of performance metrics left managers in the dark, unable to discern which team members were meeting or falling short of their objectives.
Inefficiencies within Legacy Systems
Our reliance on Salesforce presented a significant hurdle. For those unfamiliar, navigating Salesforce can be less than intuitive, consuming valuable time that our team could otherwise dedicate to their primary responsibilities.
The Complexity of Multi-System Navigation
Our team's workflow required maneuvering across four distinct systems to accomplish a handful of tasks, elevating the risk of errors and reducing overall efficiency.
Uniform Access without Role-Based Cases
Our case assignment process was indiscriminate; all team members, irrespective of their training level, could access any case. This posed a risk of untrained staff handling complex cases beyond their current expertise.
Our research to understand and resolve these issues included personal team interviews, an internal survey, discussions with managers, and an analysis of feedback from our internal Slack channels.
UNDERSTANDING PAIN POINTS
Reimagining Our System
This project represented a radical departure from a mere upgrade; it was a complete system overhaul that required our internal team to adapt to upon launch. My role as a staff product designer necessitated a deep dive into the intricate dance of technology and product functionality. Collaborating hand-in-hand with the development team, I gained an intimate understanding of the technical mechanics at play, ensuring that our design solutions were not only innovative but also technically viable.
In parallel, a tight-knit partnership with our internal Risk team was crucial. It allowed us to dive into the core of the operational challenges we faced, ensuring that our reimagined system would address the fundamental issues head-on. Our goal was not just to create a functional interface but to craft a system that stood as the embodiment of efficiency and user-centric design, directly aligning with our company's strategic vision.
Sketching Ideas
Personal Creative Process
Doodling is where my ideas take shape—intimate dialogues with paper and pen that unleash my creativity. Here, my imagination knows no bounds, transforming sketches into professional designs.
Intuitive Exploration
My sketches, though seemingly abstract, represent the foundational stages of substantial ideas ready to be elaborated upon
Personal Visual Language
My sketches are like a personal code—simple drawings that hint at larger ideas. They're not meant to impress anyone at first glance but to map out the beginnings of bigger plans.
GOAL VS IMPACT
Strategic design objectives & their tangible outcomes
As a seasoned product designer, my objective was to craft a system that not only served our functional needs but also transcended to operational excellence. The absence of tracking mechanisms within our compliance review processes was a significant gap, impairing our ability to glean insights and optimize performance.
Objective: Implement a comprehensive tracking system to monitor and analyze compliance reviews, transforming data into actionable insights.
Previously, our system treated compliance and fraud reviews as indistinct, which muddled our approach to risk management.
Objective: Introduce a differentiated fraud queue, tailored to enhance the precision of our fraud detection capabilities.
Reviewers were encumbered by the inefficiency of navigating up to four different tools, a clear detriment to productivity.
Objective: Consolidate the existing multiplicity of tools into a singular, unified interface, thereby streamlining the review process.
Initial Metrics:
The interventions I envisioned aimed to revolutionize our internal processes. The benchmarks set were ambitious, yet grounded in a deep understanding of our operational realities.
Resultant Impact:
The redefined system ushered in a swifter decision-making process for manual approvals, halving the time from an average of 12 minutes to a mere 6 minutes—a 50% reduction in turnaround time.
A new feature now captures document request trends, approval patterns in manual reviews, review cycles, and customer interactions throughout the review process. This visibility allows for a refined, data-driven approach to our operations.
In a groundbreaking collaboration with the Machine Learning (ML) team, we developed a risk/decision model that remarkably increased our auto-approval rates from 25% to 35%, striking a balance between automated efficiency and the necessity of human oversight.
The culmination of this project is a seamless, singular user interface for the application team, eliminating the need to alternate between various tools and interfaces.
This transformative journey was the result of a close-knit collaboration with data scientists, the ML team, fraud risk specialists, operations, and our dedicated squad. Together, we didn't just redesign a system; we redefined the essence of our workflow to pave the way for a future of enhanced efficiency and smarter risk management.
FAQ
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