B2B • SaaS • Fintech

B2B • SaaS • Fintech

March 2021-Present

March 2021-Present

Simplifying Complex and Data-heavy Workflows for Effortless Compliance

Simplifying Complex and Data-heavy Workflows for Effortless Compliance

Compliance means each transaction (sale or purchase) must be reported to Tax Authorities to ensure accurate tax calculation and payment. For global businesses, monitoring complex real-time reporting, spotting anomalies, and resolving issues are vital for compliance.


As Lead Designer, I built a product that simplifies Tax Managers’ workflows to report, track, troubleshoot transaction data to stay compliant but also gain strategic insights.


Today, e-Invoicing processes over 24 million transactions monthly, with the value of €26 million for our clients.

Role
Senior Product Designer, Design Team Lead
Role
Senior Product Designer, Design Team Lead
Role
Senior Product Designer, Design Team Lead
Team
Francois Bacourt (PO), Antonio Kristicevic (EM), Sara Tan (Full Stack), Rui Magalhães (BE), Valentin Mezev (BE), Flavio Silva (Full Stack), Kelly Muniz, Trent Targa, Enis Gencer (TaxTech), Nemanja (Designer)
Team
Francois Bacourt (PO), Antonio Kristicevic (EM), Sara Tan (Full Stack), Rui Magalhães (BE), Valentin Mezev (BE), Flavio Silva (Full Stack), Kelly Muniz, Trent Targa, Enis Gencer (TaxTech), Nemanja (Designer)
Team
Francois Bacourt (PO), Antonio Kristicevic (EM), Sara Tan (Full Stack), Rui Magalhães (BE), Valentin Mezev (BE), Flavio Silva (Full Stack), Kelly Muniz, Trent Targa, Enis Gencer (TaxTech), Nemanja (Designer)
duration: 1m17s

B2B • SaaS • Fintech

Achievements

  • Established the product’s front-end architecture.

  • 30+ features and functionalities designed end to end.

  • Evangelised a user-centric approach in the product development process.

  • Streamlined client workflows to enhance efficiency, minimised errors, and reduced costs associated with manual processes and compliance risks.

  • Shifted user behaviour from manual, tactical tasks to automated, strategic processes.

Increase in ARR

941.67

%

Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved

€42,500

p.a

from manual intergration
Reduced error rate

8.5

%

one month after release
Increase in ARR

941.67

%

Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved

€42,500

p.a

from manual intergration
Reduced error rate

8.5

%

one month after release
Increase in ARR

941.67

%

Jul 2022 - Aug 2024
Client's FTE saved

€42,500

p.a

from manual intergration
Reduced error rate

8.5

%

one month after release

Resource limitations, evolving regulations, data quality, and error management are the key challenges to compliance.

Through user interviews, desk research and Competitive Analysis, I identified the core challenges Tax Managers face:

Resource limitations, evolving regulations, data quality, and error management are the key challenges to compliance.

Through user interviews, desk research and Competitive Analysis, I identified the core challenges Tax Managers face:

Resource limitations, evolving regulations, data quality, and error management are the key challenges to compliance.

Through user interviews, desk research and Competitive Analysis, I identified the core challenges Tax Managers face:

Resource Constraints

Tax departments often lack the engineering support to:

  • Query and gather data.

  • Implement integration with Tax authorities.

  • Automatically handle errors.


This leads to a dependency on external consultants or vendors which increases costs and reduces agility.

Complex and Constantly Changing Regulations

  • Varied formats, requirements, and technical specifications.

  • Updates across multiple jurisdictions.

  • Documentation in local languages requires translation and legal consultation, adding operational costs.

Data Quality Issues

  • Synchronisation challenges due to scattered, inconsistent, inaccurate or incomplete data across large volumes of data.

  • Complex mapping between internal fields and tax authority schemas.

  • Incompatible technologies.

Cryptic Error Messages

  • Unclear guidelines

  • Lack of timely updates

  • Limited or no support from tax authorities.

  • Inconsistent terminology

User Journey throughout Transaction Life Cycle

To address user pain points, I established the Design Strategy to simplify, automate manual, labour-intensive tasks and to provide transparency, guidance and insights.

To address user pain points, I established the Design Strategy to simplify, automate manual, labour-intensive tasks and to provide transparency, guidance and insights.

To address user pain points, I established the Design Strategy to simplify, automate manual, labour-intensive tasks and to provide transparency, guidance and insights.

Simplify labor-intensive Data Scoping and Gathering

Via a centralised, customisable data hub helping users find the essential information from vast datasets.

Improve confidence in data

Provide data transparency, ensure clear status visibility, enable flexible queries for in-depth analysis.

Clarify and offer actionable guidance to aid troubleshooting

Empowering users to resolve issues independently and reducing support dependency.

Automate knowledge acquisition

Through real-time regulatory updates.

Deliver strategic insights

With aggregated analytics to enhance Tax Managers’ influence in financial discussions

Product's front-end architecture including five key areas (High-level overview of data, Unified data records, Manual data ingestion, Counterparties, Documentation)

Notable Solutions and Impacts

Fonoa Required Data simplifies labour-intensive Data Gathering

A centralised data hub that helps users find information in vast datasets.

Fonoa Required Data simplifies labour-intensive Data Gathering

A centralised data hub that helps users find information in vast datasets.

Fonoa Required Data simplifies labour-intensive Data Gathering

A centralised data hub that helps users find information in vast datasets.

Pin point data following users' mental model, apply Progressive Disclosure to reduce cognitive load

Stay Up-to-date with data changes

Easily share information, improving collaboration

Impact on User Workflow

Enable Tax Managers to independently scope and gather data for integrations, reducing engineering dependencies and speeding up market entry and expansion.

  • Reduced Remote.com's new country integration time from 2 months to 3 hours.

  • Reduce engineering dependencies from 3 to 1 engineers required on average for each new country integration, speeding up market entry and expansion

  • Minimise Fonoa’s support needs (2 to 1 Sales engineer per integration)

Strategic Impact

Empowering clients to confidently and quickly enter new markets:

  • Helped Uber expand to 3 new markets in a month.

  • Saves clients up to €42,500 p.a (FTE) cost on manual data scoping and gathering costs

  • Increased Fonoa e-Invoicing’s ARR by 941.67% (July 2022 - August 2024) by leveraging land-and-expand opportunities.

  • Serves as an essential demo tool, driving commercial opportunities.

Compliance Centre automates and provides tailored regulatory updates

A real-time compliance radar that tracks regulatory changes and allows users to receive tailored updates based on their interests.

Compliance Centre automates and provides tailored regulatory updates

A real-time compliance radar that tracks regulatory changes and allows users to receive tailored updates based on their interests.

Compliance Centre automates and provides tailored regulatory updates

A real-time compliance radar that tracks regulatory changes and allows users to receive tailored updates based on their interests.

Allow users to filter updates relevant to their needs, minimising noise and manual monitoring.

Impact on User Workflow

Tax Managers are freed from manual tracking, significantly lowering compliance effort.

Impact on User Workflow

Tax Managers are freed from manual tracking, significantly lowering compliance effort.

Impact on User Workflow

Tax Managers are freed from manual tracking, significantly lowering compliance effort.

Strategic Impact

  • Transforming compliance monitoring into a background task, keeping users informed without demanding significant time or attention.

  • The feature evolved into a strategic asset, enabling partnerships with consulting firms by providing a platform that delivers compliance insights to their clients.

Unified Transaction Records helps monitor and track data in one place

Unified Transaction Records helps monitor and track data in one place

Unified Transaction Records helps monitor and track data in one place

Unified transaction records with clear statuses, progress, and errors for deepdive troubleshooting.

Impact on User Workflow

Enables Tax Managers to quickly access and verify transaction data, eliminating time-intensive data monitoring and troubleshooting.

Impact on User Workflow

Enables Tax Managers to quickly access and verify transaction data, eliminating time-intensive data monitoring and troubleshooting.

Impact on User Workflow

Enables Tax Managers to quickly access and verify transaction data, eliminating time-intensive data monitoring and troubleshooting.

Strategic Impact

  • Consolidates data in a single view, establishing e-Invoicing as a Single Source of Truth for transaction data, enhancing client confidence in the platform.

  • Increased product MAU by 16% one month after launch.

Compliance Analytics Dashboard provides insights and elevates Tax to a strategic asset

Insights enable Tax Managers to proactively monitor compliance health and contribute to strategic financial planning.

Compliance Analytics Dashboard provides insights and elevates Tax to a strategic asset

Insights enable Tax Managers to proactively monitor compliance health and contribute to strategic financial planning.

Compliance Analytics Dashboard provides insights and elevates Tax to a strategic asset

Insights enable Tax Managers to proactively monitor compliance health and contribute to strategic financial planning.

Provide high-level actionable insights

Monitor Compliance, highlight issues, provide helpful error messages

Impact on User Workflow

  • Tax Managers can now quickly assess compliance health at a glance, identifying potential risks without manual data review.

  • Highlight patterns and trends shifting users’ focus from routine fire-fighting to high-level decision-making.

Strategic Impact

  • Offers Tax Managers strategic compliance insights, securing a role in key financial discussions.

  • Elevates the product’s value from a Continuous Transaction Control (CTC) tool to a critical source of strategic insights.

  • Serves as an essential and effective demo tool, visualising complex integration process, helping unblocking 100% of opportunities in commercial pipeline.

Error Management System makes troubleshooting a less dreaded task

Error Management System makes troubleshooting a less dreaded task

Error Management System makes troubleshooting a less dreaded task

Translate error messages, craft clear, helpful error messages.

Present error analytics clearly, turning error management into a structured, preventable process.

Impact on User Workflow

With actionable error descriptions and analytics, Tax Managers can address compliance errors swiftly and independently, minimizing delays and support dependency.

Impact on User Workflow

With actionable error descriptions and analytics, Tax Managers can address compliance errors swiftly and independently, minimizing delays and support dependency.

Impact on User Workflow

With actionable error descriptions and analytics, Tax Managers can address compliance errors swiftly and independently, minimizing delays and support dependency.

Strategic Impact

  • Standardised and improved errors messages across different Tax authorities and languages (+20).

  • Creates a unified troubleshooting framework share by clients, Fonoa CX, Sales Engineers, Engineering, and Product. This closed-loop approach minimises reporting disruptions and empowers users to resolve issues autonomously.

  • Error rates decreased by 8.5% one month after launch.

  • Reduced CX tickets by 12%.

Notable Iterations

Over four years of iterations, two primary themes have remained top of mind for Tax Managers: Operational Efficiency and Strategic Value Delivery.

Notable Iterations

Over four years of iterations, two primary themes have remained top of mind for Tax Managers: Operational Efficiency and Strategic Value Delivery.

Notable Iterations

Over four years of iterations, two primary themes have remained top of mind for Tax Managers: Operational Efficiency and Strategic Value Delivery.

Enhanced flexibility to improve Operational Efficiency

Despite common tasks and goals, each Tax Manager follows a unique workflow, requiring greater personalisations:

Data table customisations to help to prioritise key information within a vast dataset.

Nested filters for robust queries, improving workflow efficiency.

Tailored analytics for multiple workflows

Regardless of their workflows, all data consumers need high-level analytics upfront to grasp the broader context of their processes.

Tailored analytics for multiple workflows

Regardless of their workflows, all data consumers need high-level analytics upfront to grasp the broader context of their processes.

Tailored analytics for multiple workflows

Regardless of their workflows, all data consumers need high-level analytics upfront to grasp the broader context of their processes.

Takeaways

Takeaways

Takeaways

Understanding the Real Cost of Compliance

User interviews revealed how compliance demands drain resources, especially where tax compliance has low engineering priority. Added complexity risks adoption, underscoring the need for low-maintenance features. This insight shaped Fonoa Required Data, focusing on only essential data to streamline scoping and gathering.

Understanding the Real Cost of Compliance

User interviews revealed how compliance demands drain resources, especially where tax compliance has low engineering priority. Added complexity risks adoption, underscoring the need for low-maintenance features. This insight shaped Fonoa Required Data, focusing on only essential data to streamline scoping and gathering.

Understanding the Real Cost of Compliance

User interviews revealed how compliance demands drain resources, especially where tax compliance has low engineering priority. Added complexity risks adoption, underscoring the need for low-maintenance features. This insight shaped Fonoa Required Data, focusing on only essential data to streamline scoping and gathering.

The Power of Clear, Actionable Information

Client feedback highlighted how vague, cryptic error messages create friction. To address this, we designed the Error Management System to translate, standardise, and clarify errors, offering steps for resolution. This reduced support dependency and empowered users to troubleshoot independently, aligning with our low-effort strategy.

The Power of Clear, Actionable Information

Client feedback highlighted how vague, cryptic error messages create friction. To address this, we designed the Error Management System to translate, standardise, and clarify errors, offering steps for resolution. This reduced support dependency and empowered users to troubleshoot independently, aligning with our low-effort strategy.

The Power of Clear, Actionable Information

Client feedback highlighted how vague, cryptic error messages create friction. To address this, we designed the Error Management System to translate, standardise, and clarify errors, offering steps for resolution. This reduced support dependency and empowered users to troubleshoot independently, aligning with our low-effort strategy.