Self-Serve Customer Portal
I led the UX strategy and design to address a fragmented, support-heavy customer experience, scaling the team and embedding governance to deliver a unified self-service platform that automated key processes, reduced support demand, and positioned UX as a strategic partner.
SaaS
Self-Service
B2B
Technical System
Leadership
Hands-on
Systems Thinking
Scalable Design Practices
Full-Time Equivalent
Customer Support Team
(Projected)
50
%
Reduction
Strategic Alignment
Development Force
3
Squads
Context & Challenge
The Problem
The Business Problem
- Disconnected tools, manual workflows with high support costs.
- Lack of a unified UX vision or governance
The Customer Problem
- Customers navigated multiple inconsistent sites, struggling to complete routine tasks independently.
- Overly complex interactions forced heavy reliance on support, reducing satisfaction and confidence in the platform.
Why it mattered
- The fragmented ecosystem was undermining customer trust and operational efficiency, driving costs and support volumes up.
- Lack of scalability limited the company’s ability to onboard and retain enterprise clients effectively.
- High Customer Support calls prevented business growth.
- Addressing this gap was essential to enable automation, reduce support demand, and position the organisation for future growth with a more sustainable, customer-centred model.
Role & Team
Role: UX Design Manager & Design Lead
Scope: UX strategy, leadership, design and delivery for customer-facing platform and design system adoption.
UX Research
UX Vision
UX Strategy
UX Design
Accessibility
Design System
Governance
UCD Process Implementation
Stakeholder influence
UX/UI Design Team distributed globally
Started on my own and scaled the team
8
Designers
Hybrid / Matrix Model
Development Force Contributing
6
Squads
Cross-collaboration
Product, Development, Architecture, Legal,
CSOC, Support
6
Functions
Approach
1
Set vision & influence stakeholders: Defined a unified UX strategy, facilitated alignment workshops across Product, Engineering, Architecture, and secured senior sponsorship.
2
Shape discovery & foundations: Directed research and design sprints, introduced customer testing, and codified design principles to guide decisions.
3
Scale team & governance: Started on my own, and progressively grew a team of 8 designers, established agile design ops, and embedded governance through critiques, reviews, and accessibility compliance.
4
Deliver & anchor impact: Oversaw design of core platform features and integration with the new design system, while positioning UX as a strategic partner in roadmap planning and cross-functional governance.
Process
Discovery
- Conducted user research to identify pain points in the fragmented customer experience
- Identify personas that reflect the needs and compliance requirements of enterprise clients.
- Conduct an Information Architecture study that included a card sort and tree test to understand the hierarchy and mental models surrounding the organisation of information and labelling.
- Mapped customer journeys to understand support dependencies and manual workflow impact
What We Learn
Users fell into 2 main groups — technical and non-technical — with different needs and permission levels that shaped their overall experience.
One of the most critical challenges was helping users navigate complex processes without overwhelming them cognitively.
Clearer guidance and simplified task flows would significantly reduce confusion and improve confidence.
Ideation
- Facilitated cross-functional workshops to align vision across Product, Engineering and Legal teams
- Facilitated a design sprint to define the MVP scope, map key customer journeys, and establish the foundational interaction model.
- Created prototypes and design principles (Champion Simplicity, Empower the User, Design to Scale) to guide decisions and test core flows with target personas.
Outcomes
Stakeholder alignment on UX vision & Design Principles
Definition of key concepts for testing with Customers
Established stakeholder engagement model
Key Concepts for Testing
User Testing
I carried out usability testing with enterprise customers, capturing insights that shaped iteration cycles and validated the MVP’s ability to reduce complexity and support self-service
16
Participants – Customer & Staff
2
Weeks of Interviews
2
Studies
Design
- Consolidated multiple disconnected sites into a single, unified customer platform by introducing a platform-wide masthead.
- Combined automation with step-by-step workflows that guide the customer through the task.
- Introduced consistent interaction patterns and accessibility standards through the new design system.
- Enabled scalable, data-driven experiences through progressive disclosure and permission-based interaction patterns.
MVP Final Designs
Design to Scale
Design System
UX/UI Guidelines
In- Built Accessibility
Pattern Documentation
Design Blueprints
Design Reviews
Asynchronous Feedback
Stakeholders Show & Tell
Design Ops
Agile Rituals
UX Governance
- Embedded designers into product teams using an agile design ops model.
- Led the design of the platform features, stepping in hands-on when required to guide direction and ensure quality.
- Integrated and scaled the new design system, ensuring consistency across products and AA WCAG compliance built in.
This work later evolved into a broader Design Operations programme → Designing at Scale
Results
Outcomes
- Launched a foundational customer portal enabling scalable self-service interactions.
- Reduced reliance on support calls through automation and simplification.
- Increased stakeholder alignment and visibility of UX in governance.
- Embedded UX into roadmap planning and prioritisation processes.
- Elevated perception of design from executional to strategic partner in a compliance-driven environment.
Impact
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)– Projected
Support teams
50
%
Reduction
Team Growth
Started on my own and scaled
8
Designers
UCD Adoption across functions
Embedded User Research in Roadmap
12
Studies
Reflections
Leading this programme was both a challenge and a privilege — an experience that expanded my leadership and taught me lessons I carry forward. A few stand out as particularly important:
- Collaboration, communication, and visibility proved critical to success.
Establishing the right cadence with both the team and senior stakeholders ensured alignment and built trust at every stage of delivery. - Building the design system was the foundational investment that, although initially slowing us down, ultimately became the accelerator for scaling the platform.
It provided the structure for governance, enabled faster decision-making, and gave us the leverage to hold constructive but firm conversations with Product and Engineering — ensuring the experience was accessible, consistent, and truly usable.
If I were to do it again….
I would establish stronger governance and stakeholder communication rituals earlier in the process. This would have allowed us to achieve complete alignment with business goals even sooner, creating an even smoother path as the programme scaled.
I would have championed closer, regular communication and engagement with senior stakeholders during the platform’s development.