Overview:
Financial Project Managers struggled with a complex Governance, Risk, and Compliance system (GRC), requiring expertise in 16 different applications and 11 processes, leading to inefficient information retrieval and frustration. Chōro was the number one finalist of the Innovation Challenge, and under my leadership, we were able to materialize this idea into a prototype that is now being developed.
By leveraging the power of AI, I guided the Project Management Team to build Chōro, a tool that extracts and summarizes key information instantly, boosting user efficiency by 80%, and reducing help desk queries.
I led the production of a high-fidelity prototype and video, built through user research and client collaboration, that demonstrated Chōro's value and secured stakeholder buy-in and funding.
I was pivotal in guiding the design process, from user research to prototype development and storytelling, ensuring Chōro addressed real user needs. As a result, Chōro reduces the time for project managers to create reports from 2 months to 2 weeks.
User flow of Chōro's Searcher
Challenge:
Project Managers at a Financial Institution face a complex information landscape. Effectively using the Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) information system requires proficiency in 11 applications and 16 processes. This leads to several challenges:
• Difficulty finding answers: Users struggle to locate solutions within the Financial Institution Internal Repository (Hub), particularly for initiating processes in Coupa or Lotus Notes.
• Extensive knowledge requirement: Project Managers need in-depth expertise in numerous applications and processes, hindering their efficiency.
• Over-reliance on Hub searches: The system's complexity forces heavy reliance on Hub searches, making knowledge retrieval inefficient.
• Frustrating user experience: Inability to find answers quickly leads to frustration and impacts productivity. These factors contribute to project delays, missed deadlines, and resource strain.
Impact:
The resulting high-fidelity prototype served as a powerful tool for:
• End-User Feedback: The prototype enabled us to gather valuable user feedback, ensuring Chōro addresses real user needs.
• Stakeholder Buy-in: The visual representation of Chōro helped gain buy-in from key stakeholders, paving the way for investment.
• Funding Securement: The client used the final video featuring the MVP prototype to secure funding for Chōro's development.
Solution:
To address these challenges, the Financial Institution and Synechron developed Chōro, an AI-powered information system designed to streamline workflows and simplify information access for Project Managers. Chōro leverages artificial intelligence to provide precise search results and a user-friendly interface, aiming to improve the efficiency and accuracy of information retrieval. The development team, working closely with key stakeholders, created a rapid prototype to demonstrate Chōro's vision. This prototype, accompanied by a narrated video, served as a tangible tool for gathering user feedback and securing investment for further development.
My Role:
As the UX Lead, I executed a 4-week user-centered design process to develop a high fidelity, clickable prototype of Chōro:
• User Research: I led and facilitated workshops to understand user needs and pain points through user interviews with executives and project managers who will benefit with Chōro.
• User Flow & Information Architecture: I executed the user flows outlining core user journeys within Chōro.
• Wireframing & Information Architecture: I coordinated with the Senior UI Designer the sketched and produced low fidelity wireframes, executed A/B testing on these wireframes, and built out the platform's information architecture.
• Prototype Development: I collaborated with a senior UI Designer to build from low to high-fidelity prototype showcasing Chōro's functionalities.
• User Stories & Video Script: I captured user needs through user stories and authored a video and its script that effectively communicated the Chōro concept, user experience, and business value proposition, using the prototype as a visual aid.
User flow for Chōro's Author
Conclusion:
This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of user-centered design and prototyping in bringing complex solutions to life. By involving users and stakeholders early on, we successfully validated the Chōro concept and secured resources for its development, ultimately aiming to improve the efficiency and productivity of Project Managers at this Financial Institution.