meeting our users where they are | BLACKLINE

Summary

BlackLine software streamlined finance and accounting processes for companies by providing a suite of tools for Account Reconciliation. However, there was no mechanism for users to create their own reports, and BlackLine admins had to manually create them for clients. As a solution, I created a Report Wizard that allowed users to select from easy-to-understand report templates while also allowing customization. The project cut training time in half and shifted the BlackLine design process towards a more research-based methodology.

The Challenge

Companies that use BlackLine for Account Reconciliation have vast amounts of data available to them through the system at all times. Making Reporting flexible and easy to use will give them access to the metrics that matter. I was tasked with creating a Reporting module that would enable BlackLine users across different roles to create customized reports for their business.

Areas of Opportunity

• There was no mechanism for users to create their own reports, which meant that BlackLine admins were often manually creating them for clients

• Report data was available and able to be assembled on the fly

• When surveyed, users expressed an interest in parsing their data in different ways

Issues

• Number of variables available for reporting

• Different sizes of teams and companies using the reporting

• With great customization comes great complexity

Research

To start, I needed to gain as much understanding as I could about how accountants, treasury managers and CFO work day to day. Fortunately, a lot of the client managers hired by BlackLine had an accounting background. In addition, BlackLine, as a leader in their category, had assembled a team of executive champions who were available for questions and input.

I constructed a script and scheduled interviews with a cross section of internal employees and external professional consultants who could provide insights on how account reconciliation works in large companies. The interviews were an hour in duration and took the form of expert interviews, with me asking questions about their overall goals and day to day work. While conducting the interviews, I discovered that the majority of accountants and financial professionals need the same types of reports and run them over and over monthly. But there are also a number of situations when they want the ability to insert different data variables into their common reports.

Based on these findings, I recommended that we create a Report Wizard that allowed users to select from a few easy-to-understand report templates, but that would also allow for customization and saving of the templates.

Design & Testing

Four questions informed my design process:

• What approach works best for users, customization options offered a la carte, or a wizard style interface?

• How do we leverage the user’s knowledge of Excel but take it to the next level?

• What is the ideal experience?

• Do we have any data to help us construct the most common scenarios?

The most challenging question was the first one. Should we assume the user would want a la carte options to create their report? What this would mean is that they could choose any variables that they want in their report (variables such as liabilities, profits and losses, dates, equations, etc) in any configuration. If so, how, since there are hundreds if not thousands of variables to choose from? 

After about three months of meetings and collaborative sessions, the C-suite approved the wireframes and requirements. The next step was to create the visual design based on BlackLine’s existing brand guidelines and digital style guide. I led the visual design, creating comps that improved upon the wireframe functionality while keeping the focus on task completion for the user. I provided the C-Suite with a few variations on design and let them select the one they liked best, and once that was done, I created the comps, supplementing the digital style guide when there was new functionality.

Once the style guide and comps were completed, I created a deck of functional specifications for the developers who would be working remotely. The functional specifications detailed the screens, controls and interactions required, as well as how to handle edge states (like overflow of data) and error conditions. I also worked on a revised design for the main screens in our mobile and desktop experiences.

Implementation

Since most of the development team was remote and we were using Agile methodology, in the implementation step my role shifted. I helped break the work into small story chunks with the product team, helping to influence the order in which tasks were completed. I attended story planning and daily stand-ups to oversee resource usage and task definition and manage questions. I helped clear up ambiguity in the requirements and functional specifications, and often provided additional comps or wireframes when needed.

As code was produced, I worked closely with QA to ensure that the stories were developed properly and that the overall look and feel was correct. I logged issues and validated that the design matched the comp. The goal was to match the work that had been created and approved by the C-Suite so that no expensive re-coding would be required.

Impact

• The customer feedback was overwhelmingly positive and one company told us that we had just cut their training time in half

• Most importantly the report builder project also helped to shift the BlackLine design process towards a more considered research-based methodology, which I was able to carry forward into my next project

In accordance with my non-disclosure agreement with BlackLine, I have omitted confidential information from this case study. All information in this case study is expressed by me, and does not necessarily reflect the views of BlackLine or any of its employees.