Designing for SaaS Adaptability in Financial Systems
Description
As part of KPMG’s digital transformation portfolio, I led the UX strategy and design delivery across two large-scale ServiceNow-based financial management initiatives. Both programs aimed to improve visibility into technology and financial portfolios — providing decision-makers with a clear understanding of project status, budgets, dependencies, and future needs.
One engagement involved a custom implementation supporting multiple financial workflows, while the other centered on an out-of-the-box SaaS deployment focused on process standardization and adoption. Together, these efforts showcased how user-centered design could adapt to varying implementation models while maintaining consistency in experience, compliance, and performance.
Both initiatives operated under SAFe Agile delivery models with aggressive two-week sprint cycles, requiring close coordination across UX, product, and technical teams to ensure alignment, quality, and measurable outcomes.
Challenge / Goal
Create scalable and intuitive financial management experiences across different SaaS deployment models by:
- Improving transparency into project portfolios, budgets, and dependencies
- Designing flexible workflows aligned with organizational governance
- Integrating feedback from diverse stakeholder groups across departments
- Supporting training and adoption within accelerated implementation timelines
From Insight to Impact
Designing adaptable SaaS experiences through iterative research and collaboration.
Discover
Conducted 6–8 workshops and over 100 stakeholder interviews across program, financial, and technical domains to understand current-state pain points and desired future capabilities. Developed UX research artifacts including seven personas, journey maps, and analytical findings to visualize systemic challenges and guide design prioritization.
Explore
For the custom implementation, led iterative design sessions and stakeholder reviews to align on key interaction models across three integrated ServiceNow applications. For the out-of-the-box deployment, focused on usability validation and configuration decisions that balanced SaaS limitations with user expectations. Created interactive prototypes in Adobe XD and UI Builder to test and refine design concepts.
Establish
Collaborated with product owners and development teams to embed UX acceptance criteria into sprint definitions of done. Designed communication and training plans to support adoption and ensure stakeholder readiness. Delivered research synthesis reports, journey maps, and training assets that informed decision-making and improved usability across both programs.
Impact
- Enabled informed decision-making through improved financial visibility and data transparency.
- Produced actionable UX research deliverables that shaped configuration and design priorities.
- Delivered usable prototypes and adoption materials that accelerated deployment readiness.
- Demonstrated how human-centered design enhances SaaS success in complex enterprise environments.
My Role
As UX Lead across both initiatives, I was responsible for aligning user research, design, and adoption strategies within a scaled agile environment. My contributions included:
- Leading stakeholder research, synthesis, and prioritization of user pain points.
- Facilitating iterative design reviews and sprint planning sessions.
- Designing and validating interactive prototypes for key workflows.
- Developing UX research artifacts and communication assets for executive reporting.
- Collaborating closely with ServiceNow architects and developers to balance feasibility with usability.
Generated Artifacts
Due to the confidential nature of the work, visual deliverables cannot be shared publicly.
- Personas and journey maps (7 personas across multiple roles)
- UX research synthesis and findings report
- Interactive prototypes (Adobe XD, ServiceNow UI Builder)
- Workflow maps and experience blueprints
- Training and communication plans for adoption
Reflection
These parallel SaaS initiatives underscored the importance of design adaptability—how UX methods flex to serve both custom and out-of-the-box solutions. The experience reinforced the value of embedding research-driven design within Agile delivery, ensuring that every sprint produced not only functional outcomes but also measurable improvements in usability and stakeholder confidence.