How Might We Streamline Workflows in Compliance?
RegXperience Compliance Software | Internship Project | General Assembly X DeepDive Labs | April - May 2024
Our team worked on streamlining workflows for compliance offices using qualitative and quantitative data. We collaborated with developers from DeepDive Labs to produce an AI-enhanced SaaS solution to simplify the compliance process.
We looked at existing companies for inspirations.
Understanding the market
We identified 3 existing companies that are already in the field of streamlining compliance workflow and looked at key features that make them stand out.
Vanta
One key feature for Vanta we identified about this software is timeline. Auditors and compliance officers often have tight time constraints. With Vanta, users are able to keep in view of how many controls were cleared.
Grand
Grand on the other hand has a collaborative sharing feature which will be useful for compliance offices as members work in teams. Different team members have different roles so this will be a great help for internal collaboration. Grand offers a semantic search that gives users instant access to all European regulation within the financial sector.
SWMS AI
SWMS offers a unique AI Generation feature. Compliance work is never simple and there are always workflows such as searching for regulations and extracting information that can be automated. So SWMS found a way to streamline manual tasks with a click of a button. SWMS has an AI assistant called Oscar. Oscar provides safety recommendations and information tailored to specific policies.
Finding the Unique Selling Point.
Making it uniquely accessible for anyone
Existing SaaS we found are only available on an enterprise level, and is not feasible for an individual. Our software should negate the need for a company subscription and brings the product right to our users’ lap, anytime anywhere. This flexibility, along with the power of AI, will not only help streamline workflow but also help bring opportunities to independent 3rd party auditors and compliance offices. The software will be design to satisfy the needs of the user specifically in the area of planning and documentation, which can take up an entire day.
We talked to actual professionals in the field.
User Research Interview
In addition to our research, we also reached out to 8 industry experts who worked in compliance offices so that we have a good understanding who they are, what they do and what they struggle with. We have listed down some key insights we have gotten from them.
Admin Note: Quotes below contains alternative names. Real names of our interviewees have been hidden to protect their personal privacy. Interviewees were recruited through personal connections, referrals and profiles via LinkedIn.
What they're saying
What we conclude
Jane | Lead Auditor
How am I gonna make sure that all these information that the clients send me is not co-mingling with each other?
Joe | Audit Assistant
If there was a chat GPT that plugs directly into my audit software. Well that would be like fantastic.
Careful Data Management
Audit and compliance is all about keeping security in mind. Compliance offices are mindful about uploading information online. We even have one interviewee mention that documents should kept private and confidential. There is also interest for an AI solution to streamline their workflow.
Jane | Lead Auditor
I have to review everything manually and read through everything myself.
Joe | Audit Assistant
The difficulty comes in identifying the effectiveness of the control and its relevance our business processes.
Difficulty in Assessing Relevancy
There were challenges in assessing control effectiveness and relevance to business processes. Manual review process is time-consuming and burdensome.
JT | Financial Crime Compliance
Dealing with fragmented and scattered compliance documents makes it hard to get a complete picture.
Jeff | Tech Compliance
For the most part it's a lot of manual work with looking at the different documents from start to finish.
Unorganized Documentation and Manual Review
There is also difficulty in having a complete overview of all the relevant documents which requires extensive manual efforts.
Jeff | Tech Compliance
Everything is quite manual, and we cannot just dump a policy into AI and expect the results we want.
Jane | Lead Auditor
My team member and I send back and forth then to somebody else. This increases the risk of discrepancies with each version.
Risk of Discrepencies
Interviewees described a manual collaborative process. Most compliance offices work in teams. And when things are reviewed manually, there is a risk of discrepancies for each revision
We personified data from our insights.
What are User Personas
Personas are fictional representations of a target user group, created based on real data and insights from user research. Personas help UX designers and stakeholders understand and empathize with their users' needs, behaviors, goals, and pain points.
Persona 1: Too Much Thomas (Left) | Senior Compliance Officer
Thomas Liwadi is a 35-year-old Senior Compliance Officer with a decade of experience in the financial sector. He seeks a tool for quick customization based on industry regulations, aiming for efficient management and retrieval of documentation with capabilities for editing, saving, and exporting lists. He is frustrated with the time-consuming and error-prone nature of manual document filing.
Persona 2: Caring Camilla (Centre) | The Collaborator
Camilla Lorenzo is a 31-year-old manager of a dynamic team at a fast-paced tech company. She seeks tools that enhance teamwork and document sharing, aiming for team efficiency. She also needs integrated platforms for both collaborative and compliance management. Her main frustration is dealing with outdated collaborative tools that hinder effective teamwork and timely updates in compliance procedures.
Project Collaborator | Rigid Reggie (Right) | Artificial Persona
A Custom GPT tailored to be our team's project collaborator with knowledge based on our research. Prompted with a strong background in user research, audit, and compliance. The GPT specialises in understanding compliance offices in Singapore and aims at streamlining workflows for auditors and compliance officers. Its knowledge base includes qualitative data from our research. The focus of the GPT is to help us on improving the tedious and manual processes of compliance.
Problem Statement
Thomas needs a simpler way to manage his compliance tasks because he finds it tedious to keep track of the mountain of information and documents that he receives
HMW
How might we guide Thomas to the overview of regulations and frameworks that applies to his project?
How might we implement a feature that caters to the Thomas’ need to customise objectives?
How might we speed up his workflow by designing an intuitive navigation system that allows Thomas to easily analyse multiple documents?
Problem Statement
Camilla needs better tools for teamwork and managing documents because she struggles with collaboration and has trouble delegating and sharing documents to multiple recipients.
HMW
How might we design a document management interface that streamlines filing, retrieval, and exporting?
How might we implement a collaboration feature that would enable teams to simultaneously view and edit documents?
How might we reduce the time taken for Camella to disseminate information amongst her team members?
We created a flow for Thomas.
Legend
Entry/Exit
Action
Decision
And another flow for Camilla.
We began building screens based on these flows.
Wireframing for RegXperience App UX/UI
Wireframes are mid-fidelity visual guides that represent the skeletal framework of a digital interface, illustrating the layout and structure of content and functionality. They serve as a blueprint for the design, focusing on the placement of elements without delving into visual styling or detailed content. Wireframes help in identifying the core components and their relationships within a page or screen, ensuring the basic functionality and user flow are well-conceived before more detailed design work begins.
We also built screens for admins of the software.
RegAdmin Hub UX/UI
This is designed for internal admins of this SaaS product. The objective is to make it easy for the team to manage quick updates on the site without the trouble of using a complicated terminal.
After sharing with our client, we improved our screens for RegXperience App.
High Fidelity Prototype
High-fidelity prototyping involves creating interactive models of our screens that closely resemble the final design, including real content, refined visuals, and fully functional elements. These prototypes simulate user interactions and provide a comprehensive preview of the user experience, allowing for thorough testing and feedback. They help bridge the gap between design and development, ensuring that the final product aligns with user expectations and design specifications.
We also established a design system.
Design System
A design system is a collection of reusable components, guidelines, and standards that ensure consistency in the design of a digital product. It includes elements such as typography and colour schemes providing a unified framework for designers and developers. Design systems streamline the design process, improve collaboration, and ensure that all aspects of the product adhere to the same visual and functional principles.
We tested the prototype with users of different background.
Usability Testing
Usability testing involves observing real users as they interact with a product to identify any issues or areas for improvement. It helps ensure the product is intuitive, efficient, and satisfying to use by gathering direct feedback on user experience and performance. This method provides valuable insights that inform iterative design improvements and validate design decisions. We recruited a 5 users from different backgrounds; mix of auditors and non-auditors for a balance observation.
We also designed logo for this application.
AI-Assisted Logo generation
We streamlined our logo creation using Generative AI to help with rapid idea generation.
And another one for our client, DeepDive Labs.
DeepDive Labs
The company is newly founded. As part of our stretch goals, we created a logo for them.
Personal Reflection.
What a ride this is.
This was one of the toughest projects I have faced. Primarily because it involved understanding unfamiliar workflows (compliance and audit) and getting the right people to interview. Ideally, 15 user interviews will be great to gather more qualitative data. We managed to get 8; a mix of auditors and compliance officers. While limited number, we managed to acquire enough insights to create 2 personas and one artificial persona GPT. Within 3 weeks, the time line of the project, we were able to work on unfamiliar grounds and build screens from scratch. We managed to deliver the artefacts to our clients who were satisfied with our work.
At the course of this project, we had daily stand-ups with our client and we were able to talk to their developers - interns who specialises in Software Engineering and AI/Machine Learning. Collaborating with developers taught us the importance of using components and design system. Having design systems is truly key in making our progress more efficient. During the course of the project, I have also learned to work with the team. I learned to be more confident when having disagreements, and engage in constructive discussion.
Project Background
The UX Team
As part of our 5th project at General Assembly, we were linked up with DeepDive Labs to be UX interns. Joseph Soh (left) is a former Audit Associate with KPMG with a strong creative background. Esther Zheng (right) is former UI Artist who is inspired by user centric design. As a team, we collaborated with our client to complete our internship project.
About the Client | Extract from DeepDive Labs' LinkedIn Page
DeepDive Labs (Pte Ltd.) offers unparalleled tech consulting and comprehensive training services in Data Science and AI tailored for the dynamic APAC region. Our young company stands as a catalyst for businesses, both traditional and startups, seeking to harness the potential of data-driven solutions. With a core emphasis on data consultancy and training, we offer bespoke strategies and hands-on education in cutting-edge technologies to help businesses gain a competitive edge. We are specialized in interdisciplinary areas spanning data science, machine learning, digital signal processing, natural language processing, AI, software engineering, data engineering, cloud architecting and product management. As our tagline reads, we are a team of extremely curious technologists committed to propelling businesses forward, transforming challenges into opportunities across the vibrant APAC market.
The Opportunity
The emergence of LLM presents fresh opportunities in the compliance and auditing sector for product development tailored to regulatory compliance. Data is currently gathered manually across departments, prone to errors due to human analysis and interpretation. We were tasked to design the UX/UI of SaaS platform with AI at its core, aimed to streamline workflows for auditors and compliance officers in planning and documentation phases.
The Challenge
How might we streamline workflows for auditors and compliance officers in planning and documentation phases?