UX/UI Design

Transforming a Custom Tool into a Scalable Global Product

Summary

September - December 2024

Led the design audit and redesign of a custom-built solution for one client into a scalable tool for a Global Market.

Context & Problem

The Continuous Professional Development (CPD) tool was originally built as a custom solution for a UK-based Financial Services Group. It allowed corporate learners and association members to track all of their professional learning in one place.

To expand its market reach, the business aimed to include CPD in the D2L for Associations package and sell it globally. However, this required converting it from a custom-built solution into a Brightspace Core tool that could serve a diverse customer base.

Task

I collaborated with another Designer at various points in the project, but I was responsible for the final design solution. This required:

  • Conducting a design audit to evaluate the existing solution against the Brightspace design system.

  • Identifying gaps in usability, accessibility, and scalability.

  • Collaborating with Product Management to define an ideal user experience for a diverse set of customers.

  • Delivering actionable recommendations to inform CPD’s transition from a single-client customization to a global product offerings, which were reasonable for the development team to accomplish within two months of development.

Actions

The project began with an information-gathering phase to understand how CPD functioned, what challenges it faced, and what improvements were needed.

1 Research & Stakeholder Collaboration

  • Interviewed internal subject matter experts who worked on the original customization to understand its design, workflows, and intended use.

  • Reviewed existing product walkthrough videos, accessibility test instructions, and implementation service documentation to infer key workflows and user interactions.

2 Workflow Mapping & User Needs Analysis

After gathering information, I created workflow diagrams using screenshots and test data to visualize how CPD currently functioned:

I collaborated on a Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) analysis to define user needs across key personas:

  • Corporate Learners & Association Members – Need to track learning and meet compliance requirements.

  • Managers – Need oversight of team progress and compliance completion.

  • Admins – Need configuration control and reporting tools

This allowed us to identify usability issues with the existing workflow. The other designer and I brainstormed issues separately (diverged) in Miro, and came together (converged) to combine our findings. I then mapped our findings to the diagrams we had created in Figma:

3 Design Assessment & Prioritization

  • We evaluated CPD against Brightspace’s design system and identified areas where the UX needed improvement.

  • I worked with Product Management to determine which UX issues were most critical for general release, within a short development timeline.

  • I recommended changes to key workflows that didn’t align with best practices or accessibility standards.

The image to the right is an example of my notes regarding visual design, usability, and language issues, which I then shared with my Product Manager.

Result

By the end of the project, we successfully:

  • Redesigned CPD as a Brightspace Core tool within a tight timeframe, and successfully:

    • Improved our brand consistency and usability by updating old components to our new design system.

    • Adjusted the Information Architecture, which sectioned information to make it easier to scan, and moved key workflows above the fold so they were easily findable.

  • Expanded CPD’s market reach, allowing global sales beyond the original UK client.

  • Improved accessibility by aligning CPD with Brightspace’s design system.

  • Defined clear personas and workflows, ensuring the tool met the needs of corporate learners, association members, managers, and admins. This will help any future design efforts focus on consistent user needs.

This transformation not only improved the tool’s usability but also positioned our team to increase market share by offering CPD to a broader customer base.

Reflections

This project reinforced the importance of scalability in product design. Custom solutions are tailored to a single client’s needs, but scalable product design requires a flexible approach that accommodates a broader user base. This meant shifting from fulfilling specific requirements to identifying universal workflows and patterns that could serve multiple industries and organizational structures.

I also saw firsthand how crucial cross-functional collaboration is in a redesign. Partnering with Product Management, Engineering, and subject matter experts helped fill knowledge gaps and balance both business goals and user needs.

Moving forward, I plan to apply these learnings by:

  • Engaging stakeholders early to understand business goals and user needs from the start.

  • Use modular design principles to ensure flexibility for different customer needs.