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Case study
Optimizing deal data entry for broker teams
As the lead designer, I redefined the framework for requesting deal data from brokers, used by every team utilizing the Deal module. I worked closely with Leadership, Product, Customer Success, and Engineering to deliver broker-centric enhancements. These improvements streamlined the process, reduced cognitive load, and ensured the platform requested only essential data at the right time. Additionally, I standardized the user experience by leveraging existing form components and created form guidelines, which reduced form design and development time across the company.
Success metrics:
92%
Deal creation CES
86%
Deal configuration CES
Reduced client development time with scalable components
Problem
During the problem/solution fit stage, Supercede relied heavily on Deals, a module that facilitates reinsurance placements. The deal creation flow was a critical component, serving as the primary point for users to input deal data.
Existing and prospective clients often requested specific data fields to be included in the system, which were rapidly added to the form without considering the overall usability. This led to a clunky, multi-step form with numerous fields and complex conditional logic that varied based on deal type and other factors. I received a directive from Leadership to revisit and improve the user experience for entering deal data.
Approach
The initial directive was to enhance the form's UX/UI while keeping the existing implementation. However, I requested additional time for research to identify challenges brokers face when filling in deal data.
I conducted interviews with the Customer Success team, which handles real-life scenarios during client onboarding and support, and reviewed their demo materials. I also spoke with several broker teams and analyzed deals at various placement stages. Key findings included:
Brokers often left many optional fields empty and filled mandatory fields with dummy data to pass form validation.
Customer Success received multiple client requests to make some obligatory fields optional.
Brokers usually updated the data gradually as the deal progressed.
Brokers frequently noticed missing or incorrect information late in the process, such as during document generation.
The Deals module was created expecting brokers to provide all information about the deal in advance. However, this approach overwhelmed them with the need to provide (temporarily) irrelevant data.
Brokers required a mechanism to allow them to update the necessary deal information at the right time.
During the project's development, one of our clients inquired if we could add an overview page to display all the deal/layer data. Discussions revealed that this request stemmed from the overcomplicated deal-creation form, which impeded their ability to identify missing information. This further supported the findings.
Solution
I presented results to stakeholders, proposing a split of the deal creation process into two separate entities:
Simplified deal creation with only the essential fields.
Deal configuration with additional fields divided into categories.
Additionally, I suggested a notification mechanism to alert users of any missing deal information during the placement process.
The goal was to streamline deal creation, allow incremental data updates, and ensure all necessary data was provided before advancing stages.
To-be
Engineering confirmed the logic was flexible with no technical blockers. Leadership and Product approved the idea. With a Product Manager, we demoed the updated flow to broker teams and received positive feedback. Through iterations, we finalized which fields should remain in the deal creation form (only 4!) and how to categorize other fields.
Prototyping (UI)
I developed interactive prototypes for the deal creation and configuration flows using existing components and Figma’s prototyping capabilities for early-stage usability testing. Later on, we built a coded prototype for more detailed testing.
Deal list
Create deal
The form was simplified from 4 complex steps to just 4 fields!
Deal page
The button badge indicates if any deal information updates are needed.
Deal details
Category cards signal which data updates are needed.
Deal details inner pages
Design system
In updating the deal creation and details pages, I leveraged existing field components (text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, selects, date pickers, buttons) to follow best practices for accessibility, styling, and behavior. I also created form guidelines to standardize the user experience across the company, reducing design and development time.
Using components with Figma color variables applied, all designs are available in light and dark themes out of the box, improving flexibility and user experience.
Rollout and adoption
We tested the new deal creation and configuration with a limited number of users and then presented it as a beta version for all the Deal clients. All the training and support materials were created in advance and published in the company’s knowledge base.
Results
The redesign enhanced the deal data entry experience, receiving positive feedback from brokers. This was reflected in an incremental increase in CES score. The new experience is now used by every broker team utilizing Deals.
Success metrics:
92%
Deal creation CES
86%
Deal configuration CES
Reduced client development time with scalable components
For confidentiality reasons, I have omitted the actual values for the metrics.
