About the project
Preparer payout is a tax software for tax preparers. The application is equipped with exceptional features for tax filing and helps you to easily calculate your preparer payouts.
The client (Clear Sky Local) tasked us to design and develop this product from start to finish with the aim of making it user-friendly as possible.
The client had already done some research on this product and had an outline and a vision of how they wanted to see their product look and feel.
Design Process
Research & Ideation
Much of the product research had already been done by the client, but I still went ahead and did some research to try and understand the key important things tax preparers need and their preferences when it comes to tax software.
In my ideation process, I used the already provided research info and wireframes to look for inspiration, and brainstorm on how to present specific features of this application.
Visual design
I developed a style guide to use for the visual design of this application. Brand Colors, typography, and other visual elements were tasked to me to create. I used my earlier research and inspiration to come up with a color scheme and typography.
Style Guide
My Role
As the only product designer, I was fully involved in the design of this product from start to finish. I designed a fresh-looking web application with an updated interface that brings users through a clear journey, improving the overall experience, and resulting in a higher conversion rate
I was working alongside a team of talented Front end and back-end developers We also had a project manager to who I was reporting to.
The Impact
The application just got launched and so far we’re getting a good amount of users using it to file their taxes. The overall impact will be determined after some time once a good volume of users has used it.
Furthermore, the developers liked the way I presented my designs to them which saved them a lot of time during the development phase of this application.
Challenges Faced
Throughout this design process, a few challenges came up.
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Including too many features in the visual design
My early research had me include extra features to the design which I deemed to be relevant in improving the User experience of the product. However some of them could not be added the right way in the first phase of launching this product, so I had to remove them from the designs.
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Not having enough knowledge about the product
The timeframe for this task was so short (Less than a week). This affected my general knowledge about the product as I didn’t have enough time to research and understand it, as a result, I might have missed the most important features that might have even improved the overall User experience of this application.
Lessons learned
I learned a few important things that I'll definitely improve on in future
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Understanding the product and the user flow
This is one thing I'll do differently in the future, I'll ensure I have a clear understanding of the product and the expected user flow so that I can come up with a solution that serves the user best and ensures product growth
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Research is always important
Another important thing to always include in my future designs. With more research, i realised i got to understand more about the product and make informed decisions on the features to include that will improve the overall user experience.