Tumelo reporting

To create a platform that enhances the workflow of Trustees and asset owners by establishing a centralised hub for voting and reporting activities. Additionally, the platform enables the analysis of vote misalignment among fund managers and serves as a valuable tool for implementation statements, quarterly, and yearly meetings.

Based on research findings, our UX researcher and I collaborated to create an initial prototype using existing design system components. This project was sparked by industry emphasis on reporting and discussions on voting misalignment within our user base. The prototype was then showcased to users to evaluate interest and potential demand.

Requirements

• The client requested both interactive and standard components. However, it would have been helpful to manage expectations better by focusing on building the foundational elements of the site first before tackling the more complex interactions. This approach would have alleviated delays and the challenges faced by the engineers working with the new platform (Netlify).
• More time should have been dedicated to finding an alternative solution for the notches. Depending on a guide for implementation increases the likelihood of confusion and human error.
• Depending on the client to supply high-quality product UI images proved challenging. Unfortunately, their selection was limited, resulting in the website lacking the desired cutting-edge aesthetic.

After a series of meetings involving sales, the product manager, and potential users, the team gained valuable feedback. This feedback was subsequently shared with the entire team:

• The highlighting where votes differ feature wasn't immediately apparent to the user, so comparing votes still required significant cognitive effort
• Users frequently desired to filter by date first, particularly to align with their quarterly and yearly meetings
• The edit columns caused confusion, it wasn’t obvious
• When the filtering menu was active, it occupied a considerable amount of screen real estate
• While misalignment filters occasionally led to confusion, users still found this feature to be highly useful
• Key themes are not standardised across the financial industry. Therefor caused some confusion amongst users who also wanted more granular themes
• Filters felt overwhelming with lots of options
• Fund managers were worried about users (trustees) having the ability to universally designate themes or companies as significant. They believe this responsibility should be reserved for individuals more knowledgable.

After the second round of designs, our squad gained confidence to proceed with planning and prioritising features for shipping a minimum viable product (MVP) as a foundation for future development. This involved breaking down the features into sprint-based timelines for implementation. Simplifying the designs was necessary to enable a phased approach to development. Throughout this process, I constantly considered our design system, adding and documenting any universally useful components to the Tumelo design system.

Unfortunately, the product's development was discontinued after completing the MVP build, as the company made a strategic decision to change direction. However, if it had continued, the next steps would have included conducting additional rounds of user testing to further enhance the product's offering. In my opinion, there was potential to simplify the design further. Despite not being optimised for desktop, I strongly believe that we could have explored improving the mobile-first experience.

• Much of the feedback we received was in a sales setting, with the sales team taking the lead in discussions. In retrospect, I believe it would have been beneficial for either myself or our user researcher to assume an observer role during these discussions.
• Creating the design system alongside the product had pros and cons. It slowed down my design process, but the components will benefit us in the long run by enabling quicker product design and development in the future.
• The product was paused due to cost concerns and a lack of evidence for easy replication across multiple clients. Involving the data engineers earlier could have helped identify these issues sooner and explore alternative solutions to save the project.