China Post, one of China’s largest state-owned enterprises, sought to develop a comprehensive, in-house budget management system to handle their complex financial operations. Our tech consulting team was tasked with designing scalable user flows, intuitive interfaces, and seamless interactions to support their goal.
Client
China Post Group Corporation
Team
2 Junior Consultants
1 Senior Consultant
1 Manager
Tools
Figma
Visio
PowerPoint
Excel
Timeline
Aug. 2021 – Jan. 2022 (strict 5-month timeline)
Key Accomplishments
The system is now implemented into the client's vast network that includes over 900,000 employees.
The new system reduced operational costs by 20-30%, eliminating the need for external software.
The system shortened the budget review process by one month, enhancing overall financial efficiency.
My Contribution
User Research
I facilitated 7 stakeholder interviews and documented over 40 interviews, identifying key pain points and aligning design solutions with user needs.
UX & UI Design
I designed the user flow for the cost budget planning section, crafting 20 interfaces that prioritized usability, ensuring smooth navigation for end users.
Crafting Key Artifacts
I independently developed the cost budget planning process map and org. chart, providing essential visual guides to inform design decisions.
Cross-functional Coordination
I developed 5 product requirement documents and worked closely with the development teams to align technical execution with design objectives.
User Acceptance Testing
I co-led the UAT with 100+ users, gathering crucial feedback that informed design iterations and making changes that ensured the system met the client's expectations.
Stakeholder Presentation
I co-presented project updates to stakeholders during 7 key milestones, integrating feedback and ensuring the project stayed on track to meet business goals.
The Problem
Our client faced significant challenges in managing its complex budget across multiple organizational levels due to inefficient manual processes. They aimed to digitally transform their financial operations to improve efficiency and accuracy. Specifically, their cost budget planning and reviewing processes had three major issues:
Lack of real-time budget tracking
Users had no access to real-time updates on expenses or budget performance, making it hard to gain timely and actionable insights for informed decision-making.
Slow and error-prone data processing
Users had limited access to historical data, and the extensive account items created a slow, error-prone process that made retrieving information time-consuming.
Insufficient tools for budget review
Current budget review processes lack visibility and adequate tools, leading to miscommunication and delays in budget plan approval and monitoring.
Design Outcome
A SaaS platform that addresses the key challenges of budget tracking, data processing, and review efficiency, transforming the client’s financial operations into a scalable system.
Research
We investigated stakeholders' needs and pain points to ensure the design solution effectively addresses core challenges.
Interview with Stakeholders
We conducted 16 interviews with department heads involved in budget planning at the corporate, subsidiary, and provincial levels to capture their expectations and needs for the new system.
Output from Stakeholder Interviews:
To plan the rollout and training effectively, I mapped China Post’s organizational structure, identifying necessary customizations for different units and departments. This analysis led to a phased implementation approach, starting with Express & Logistics, which is the main subsidiary and had the most complex and extensive account items.
Document Analysis
We gathered and analyzed existing documents used for budget planning, which were previously filled out manually. Each document was reviewed to understand the metadata and data fields required for accurate budgeting.
This analysis helped us identify opportunities for automation, ensuring the new budgeting system would streamline data collection and processing.
Interview with End Users
Within China Post Express & Logistics, we conducted interviews with department heads and budget managers across various apartments. I co-facilitated 7 interviews with budget managers.
Insights from end users:
01
Current quarterly budget reports created a significant time lag between financial activities and management awareness, hindering the ability to respond promptly to budgetary issues.
"We need to see what's happening now, not three months ago." -P3
"Instead of canceling projects in Q4, we could be smarter about spending throughout the year." -P12
02
Budget planning was slowed by cluttered tables filled with irrelevant account items, and difficulties accessing historical reference data.
"It's a nightmare...6 tables…each with hundreds of items. Half the time, I'm scrolling through stuff that doesn't even apply to us." -P16
"I spend days digging through old files trying to find the right reference..." -P7
03
Budget managers struggled to track approval status and manage document versions, leading to confusion and inefficiency in the review process.
"Once it's submitted, I have no idea where it is or who's looking at it. Sometimes I wonder if anyone's even seen it." -P5
"The files name...0820_v1…0820_final…but too be honest, I don't know which is the final version." -P8
Ideation
How might we help end users gain actionable insights from financial data, simplify data entry across various departments, and improve efficiency of budget review tracking?
Design Principles
01
Seamless Adoption
Design intuitive, easy-to-navigate interfaces that require minimal training, ensuring quick and smooth adoption across departments and subsidiaries.
02
Customization
Allow users to customize views and filters based on their department or subsidiary, making the system adaptable to various roles and needs.
03
Transparency
Ensure clear visibility at each stage, allowing users to easily track progress and understand who is responsible for each step.
04
Data Security
Implement robust measures to protect sensitive financial data, ensuring compliance with industry security standards and maintaining user trust.
Process Mapping
Based on insights gathered from interviews and document analysis, I developed a comprehensive process map detailing the current workflow for budget plan submission, review, and approval. This visual representation provides clarity on the overall process and identifies areas for potential improvement.
Information Architecture
I crafted the information architecture for the budget management system with a focus on the Cost Budget Planning feature. The goal was to create a clear, intuitive structure that would allow users to easily navigate and manage key tasks. By organizing the system around user needs and key functions, I ensured that the architecture was scalable and adaptable, supporting various departments and subsidiaries across the organization.
Layout Design
We started our design with the general layout of the budget management system. Since from research we found that users using the main working area most of the time, I purposed a collapsible navigation bar which allows users to have more focus on the budget data sheet.
Implementation
We collaborated with the in-house development team to turn the design into a technically tangible solution.
Align Business Terms with System Language
I discovered a mismatch between the selected organizational level and the displayed data and identified a communication gap: my Product Required Documents (PRD) used business terms, while developers worked with their own terminology.
To resolve this, I initiated detailed sessions with the development team to align our terminology and updated the PRDs to match their system language. This significantly improved communication and streamlined the development process, reducing unnecessary rework.
Adapting Design to Technical Constraints
Given the technical constraints and project timeline, we needed an alternative solution of implementing a dynamic data table.
I collaborated with the development team to create a workaround—making historical data column a selectable parameter. This allowed users to choose specific years for relevant historical data, ensuring we met the project deadline without sacrificing functionality.
Iteration
We tested the initial prototype and iterated based on users' feedback.
UA Testing
Over the course of one week, We tested the prototype with over 100 budget managers from 31 provinces. The participants interacted with the system, performing typical budgeting tasks and providing valuable insights into the user experience, functionality, and potential areas for improvement.
Dashboard
Findings:
Participants desire direct navigation from the dashboard to related detailed pages.
Participants want both amount and percentage display for departmental expenses.
Participants seek flexible timeframes for Budget Expense Trends.
Participants desire more efficient provincial expense visualization.
Corporate-level participants require customizable provincial data views
Data Table
Findings:
1. Participants preferred to review a single line of data at a time rather than the entire sheet.
2. Participants wanted a clearer, more direct view of when specific changes were made to individual data lines.
3. Participants often felt that using a dropdown to select benchmarking options required too much effort and could be streamlined.
Handoff
Delivered the product.
Deliverables
Interfaces
Reflection
Measure the effectiveness of the Budget Management System.
System-related Metrics
Time Saved
Compare the time taken for budget preparation before and after system implementation.
Reporting Efficiency
Measure the time taken to generate standard budget reports and compare with current baseline.
Error Reduction
Monitor the number of budget revisions or corrections required pre- and post-implementation.
User Satisfaction
Conduct user surveys after implementation and track the Net Promoter Score (NPS) over time.
Business-related Metrics
Performance Improvement
Monitor key financial ratios such as operational profitability and compare with it before the system implementation
Financial Decision-Making Efficiency
Measure the time taken from budget request submission to final approval, comparing it with historical data before implementation
Cost Control Effectiveness
Track the percentage of departments staying within their allocated budgets compared to pre-implementation figures
Return on Investment (ROI)
Calculate the financial benefits of the new system such as cost savings and efficiency gains against its implementation costs
Key Takeaways
Complexity of Large-Scale Systems
Through this project, I learned the complexities involved in designing a system for a large corporation like China Post. I discovered the value of phased implementation, which allowed us to manage the project's scale effectively and make iterative improvements. This approach helped in tackling the diverse needs across multiple organizational levels and geographical regions.
User-centered Design
Engaging with stakeholders through interviews and user testing was vital in creating a system that truly met the needs of its users across different roles and departments.
Collaboration with the Engineering Team
I learned the significance of flexibility in design solutions, adapting our ideas to technical constraints without compromising functionality. Creating comprehensive documentation and project artifacts deepened my understanding of the organization's complex needs.
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