Now that we have developed and implemented the minimum viable product for the invoice flow in the platform, are there opportunities to further enhance the user experience by introducing features or adjustments that make managing invoices more intuitive and seamless for our users?
Length: 1 month
Stakeholders: CEO, Software Engineer, Sales, Key Account Manager x3
My role: Head Designer
Primary output: Design Handover Doc
Step 1: identify the problem
Clients often made large group bookings by phone, causing bottlenecks and errors in invoicing. The old invoice page was overwhelming, lacked real-time feedback, and missed key features like change tracking, adding contacts, and emailing invoices. As the sole designer in a 45-person company without a design system, I focused on desktop designs, aligning with SaaS users' preference for wider breakpoints.
step 2: ideation and brainstorm
I collaborated closely with the CEO and cross-functional team members to redesign the invoice page, focusing on addressing key client needs and improving overall usability. The process began with a structured approach to identifying and documenting existing pain points, such as missing features, overwhelming layouts, and lack of real-time feedback. Through regular brainstorming sessions and iterative feedback, we prioritized the most critical issues to ensure the redesign delivered maximum value to clients.
step 3: Design Handover
This redesign focused on simplifying the invoice process for large group bookings, making it more manageable for clients and efficient for our team. While the project wasn’t fully implemented, it was a valuable learning experience.
This design enables clients to search for availability directly within a calendar view, providing a clear and intuitive way to identify open slots. By combining search functionality with the calendar, clients can efficiently manage bookings and streamline their scheduling process.
The layout replicates a traditional printed invoice, making it easy for clients to read and scan key details. Itemized lists are clearly structured, with descriptions, quantities, and prices displayed prominently. Totals, due dates, and payment information are highlighted for quick reference, while client and company details are neatly organized. This familiar design ensures clarity and improves the overall invoicing experience.
It was important to work on the complexities of the invoice process for our clients. Many questions revolved around payment terms, registering payments and being able to track changes in the invoice as well as including the functionality to forward an email with the invoice attached from the platform. All of these small actions required special attention.
This project helped me understand the importance of MVP's. Like Elon Musk said, you should not optimise while you ideate. Optimisation should happen after ideation and deletion. Partly, this design was never implemented because the process of optimisation was constantly brought forward with new feedback loops. It was my responsibility as UX Designer to communicate the need to keep optimisation to a later stage of the product feature.
