Redesign of CRM Software for a World Leader in Wealth Management All Case Studies
Understand the information, give it meaning and make it actionable
The Challenge
Initially designed by an internal team of software developers, the product was built to help brokers and financial analysts navigate through a virtual sea of client intelligence data. The original goal had been visionary: create an internal application that would provide a robust array of functionality and features across a wide user base.
The only problem was usability. Considerable amounts of time and money had been invested, but the broad range of features now appeared disconnected, and at times confusing. The product had simply become too complex.
To realize their vision, stakeholders agreed that the design needed to go to the next level…
The challenge: make an unwieldy application easy to use, clear, and intuitive — all while retaining its smart, robust functionality.
The Electronic Ink Solution
Electronic Ink went to work, conducting stakeholder and user interviews, followed by a thorough design and usability assessment. We then dug deeper — analyzing the entire application, focusing particularly on user interactions, primary and secondary tasks, navigation, and visual cueing mechanisms.
We presented a set of detailed findings and key recommendations, including conceptual design treatments for proposed improvements. Two main avenues for enhancement were cited, and immediately adopted for implementation:
- User-centric application logic was applied across the board, giving users a well-defined set of clear, actionable decision points and intuitive menu options
- A standardized set of visual cues and design elements were created, simplifying navigation and lending consistency to the overall user experience
To connect all the dots, Electronic Ink delivered a comprehensive Behavioral and Visual Specification for use by the internal development team. We also provided a set of detailed page Wireframes that precisely positioned each visual cuing element, giving the development team clear layout instructions for all of the site's pages.
Net Result and Impact
Electronic Ink redesigned the application's user interface, making it highly intuitive, and far easier to use. The product now matches the real needs of users across the organization, performing tasks as it should — simply, efficiently, and elegantly.
The real bonus came when the internal development team experienced a collective expansion of consciousness — the "Aha!" moment — with regard to future releases. The project is now a bellwether of user interface design, serving as a benchmark for best practice software development for years to come.