Initial Conditions
- Fragmented workflows
- Multiple disconnected applications
- Operational complexity
- Limited visibility across teams
- Outdated user experience, need for clearer pathways
Enterprise Application
Creating Coherence Across Operational Complexity
Redesigned a unified enterprise platform that replaced fragmented tools, streamlined claims processing, and improved visibility across multiple business roles.
The Challenge
The work existed, but the pathway was hard to follow.
The company relied on multiple disconnected tools to manage claims, offers, payments, and customer programs. As the business grew, workflows became difficult to track, approvals took longer, and information was spread across different systems.
The challenge was to make operational work easier to understand and act on.
Understanding the System
Understanding the System
The platform supported a complex business ecosystem involving distributors, retailers, growers, and internal teams.
Each user had different responsibilities, permissions, and approval authority.
To understand how work moved through the organization, I mapped user roles, access levels, business segments, and workflow relationships.
Key Complexity
- Over 15 user roles
- Role-based system permissions
- 4 customer tiers
- 8 offer and claim programs
- Multiple approval workflows
- Large-scale product catalog
The matrix maps roles to business segments 1 through 5. A check mark indicates that the role applies to that segment.
- National Account Manager: segments 1, 2, 4, and 5.
- Area Sales Leader: segments 1, 2, and 3. Regional Sales Leader: segment 4. Account Manager: segments 1 and 3.
- District Sales Leader and Territory Manager: all five segments. Development Specialist: segment 5.
- Category Leader: segments 2 and 3. Programs Manager and Product Marketing Leader: all five segments.
- Product Manager: segments 1 and 5. General Manager: segments 4 and 5. Regional Marketing Manager: segment 4.
- Marketing Leader: segments 1, 2, and 3. Finance Leader and Finance Manager, Legal, and General Admin: all five segments.
The example Account Manager is a sales professional working directly with key accounts for a designated product segment, managing customer relationships and sales, sometimes alongside Territory Managers. The role needs account information in one location. The permissions table allows creation of contracts, claims or PQRs, competitives, business building funds, and business plans in segments 1 and 3; segments 2, 4, and 5 are marked not applicable.
Designing the Structure
More features did not create more clarity.
The deeper issue was not simply missing functionality. The system needed clearer relationships between information, workflow stages, user decisions, and operational outcomes.
We first created a clear structure for how information, workflows, and modules would connect. The goal was to make the system easier to navigate while supporting the complexity of the business.
Platform Architecture
- 01
Administration7 modules
- 02
Customer
Management4 modules - 03
Offers
& Claims8 modules - 04
Payments2 modules
- 05
Reporting
- 06
Search
& Tools
Login sits alongside global navigation and user administration: Home or Dashboard, Impersonate User, Resource Links, Approval Box, Profile, Resources Docs, and Download Reports.
Customer management groups distributors, retailers, farmers, and end users. Offers group claims types 1 and 2, contracts, business plans, competitives, reward types 1 and 2, and a program. Payment Batch Management contains payment types 1 and 2.
Administration tools cover price, customer, communication, governance, products, personnel, and approval.
Workflow
Designing the system so work could move.
The design focused on clarifying structure: organizing information, simplifying pathways, making status visible, and creating interfaces, that helped users understand where they were and what action to take next.
One of the most critical workflows involved creating, reviewing, approving, and processing offers and claims. We simplified the process into a clear sequence that improved visibility and reduced friction between teams.
- 01→Create Request
- 02→Submit
- 03→Review
- 04→Approve
- 05→Process Payment
- 06Track Status
Users begin from All Claims or a Customer Profile and create a new claim form, selecting a product and entity. Creation generates a read-only claim. Initiating approval sends the claim to the Approval Inbox. The Yes path continues to Batch Payment Management; the No path returns a status update to the claim. Dashed status-update paths also connect the approval process and payment decision back to the claim and the originating views.
Interface and Design
Interface System
With the platform structure defined, I collaborated on the interface patterns and UI system used across the application.
The focus was consistency, clarity, and efficiency for users managing large amounts of information every day.
Selected system design specs
Selected screens
The final platform brought together previously disconnected workflows into a single operational system.
Outcome
A unified experience
The platform created a more unified experience for managing claims, approvals, and payments across the organization.
- 01Reduced workflow fragmentation
- 02Improved visibility across teams
- 03Streamlined claims processing
- 04Eliminated duplicate effort
- 05Modernized the user experience
- 06Created a scalable foundation for future growth
Insight
Enterprise systems often struggle when relationships between people, processes, and information become difficult to see.
This project reinforced that complexity itself is not the problem. The challenge is making the system understandable so people can move through it with confidence.
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