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Lead Product Designer
Social Value Portal
Public Sector
Enterprise SaaS
2022-3
Redesigning a public-sector data submission platform to improve clarity, accessibility, and completion rates.
As Lead Product Designer, I worked with stakeholders across Social Value Portal to redesign their core submission experience, “The Social Value Calculator”, a process used by suppliers to report on social impact outcomes. The existing flow was long, error-prone, and inaccessible. I rebuilt the experience from the ground up, resulting in faster completion, better data quality, and a more inclusive user experience.
Challenge & contextA rudimentary UX audit revealed severe usability issues in the existing calculator. To quantify the problem, we spoke to users and the customer support team.
Upon landing on the calculator, users were immediately faced with cognitive overload due to an inefficient and sprawling form. Instead of being presented with only the relevant measures, they had to navigate through several pages to find what they needed.
The old social value calculator
When the user finally located a relevant measure, they encountered an inefficient and unclear user interface that provided minimal cues and failed to highlight the expected actions.
Ironically, while SVP had a wealth of information to share, it was buried in tiny, illegible tooltips rather than presented strategically at valuable points in the user flow. This led to users struggling to find the information they needed, resulting in mistakes and incorrect evidence in their social value contribution declarations.
Worse still, the calculator did not perform calculations automatically; users were required to do the calculations themselves and enter the results into the SVP portal. This limitation caused numerous calls to customer support, as users needed extensive assistance to submit a social value report. The essence of the calculator—allowing users to determine their contributions based on SVP's proprietary formulas—became a tedious, time-consuming process. Although SVP provided a separate "toolkit” for calculations, it was located on a different page of the platform, forcing users to leave the calculator, perform their calculations, and then return to input the results.
These impediments led users to avoid the calculator whenever possible, opting instead to create their own Excel spreadsheets to track their reports, reluctantly using the calculator merely as a submission form.
User research and discoveryTo quantify the problem, we spoke to users and the customer support team.
The data showed that the calculator was the most frustrating part of the product. Looking at the feedback through different lenses, we boiled it down to five problem areas to inform the future design vision.
User journey map highlighting the calculator (in red) as the most frustrating part of the product
Collaborative design process: Communicating the importance of UX to a diverse teamThe project team was cross-functional and quite siloed, with domain experts looking after specific aspects of the product. To achieve the wide consensus necessary for such an ambitious redesign, we stripped the UX concepts down to basic common-sense principles.
This approach helped stakeholders look beyond existing preconceptions and limitations and agree on a high-level design plan. For example, Users found the calculator overwhelming, so we emphasised the importance of hierarchy and contextual information in interfaces. This approach helped us gain approval for the 'empty state' solution.
I used simple metaphors to explain abstract design principles
Solution: Reducing cognitive overload
The initial design challenge involved redesigning the calculator page layout and user flow to minimise cognitive overload. My objective was to create a page that effectively guides users through a complex submission process by providing helpful cues and displaying relevant information in appropriate places, while eliminating any irrelevant or overwhelming visual noise.
The new design starts with an empty state, displaying only the details of the submission without any pre-added TOMs. This allows users to select the TOMs they need, with a list preconfigured according to the user’s profile and the type of submission. Users can filter TOMs by themes and reporting areas for easier access.
This solution received high scores in user testing, as many users typically utilise only a few TOMs from the hundreds available. For these users, a streamlined form that enables them to add only what they need has proven to be a lifesaver.
The new calculator in the empty state
The new calculator with TOM added
Solution: built-in calculationsThe most notable innovation in the new design is automated calculations, which I identified early on as having the potential for significant impact. I developed this feature from conception to delivery.
The framework used to measure social value is highly complex, as each type of contribution requires a different formula to determine its social value. Previously, users either had to figure out the calculations on their own or navigate to a different page to access a toolkit, which defeated the purpose of the calculator.
My idea was to integrate the toolkit into the calculator. Users could input raw data and get the social value they care about in return. The team was enthusiastic about this idea, but implementing it was challenging. It required creating visual, interactive versions of each formula. To achieve this, we worked closely with the data and evaluation teams in a series of workshops. Eventually, we were able to incorporate over fifty measurements as components into the design system.
TOM formula sketch by the evaluation team
The new TOMs modules provide public sector social value officers with all the necessary information to submit their data, which is immediately translated into actual social value across various areas of the organisation. Furthermore, these modules include the education and resources needed for accurate submissions, ensuring that the correct evidence supports the reported data.
Example TOM modules
The TOMs as Figma components
Auto-calculations in action in a beta environment
User engagement and co-designWe regularly tested the new designs, ensuring a mix of power users and beginners from various sectors and use cases. While power users have strong opinions, we did not let their views dominate and create bias.
The initial launch was a beta, and we worked in sprints with regular review sessions to guarantee proper implementation of the user experience. The main challenges were around component design, but our close collaboration with the tech team allowed us to balance technical effort without compromising usability.
OutcomeThe calculator was launched in Beta to a select group of users in 2022 and is continuously evolving. It's a crucial part of Social Value Portal’s offering, and the automated calculations are a significant unique selling point in all product-related communication
CPO: Alex Rose
Product Managers: Joe Flagg, Katherine Sweet-Escott
Product Design Consultant: Yarden Gur
Junior UX Designer: Mónica Rodrigues
Developers: James Wills, Ângela Lázaro, Danny Marfil, Andrea Funari