Caseware International Inc.
April 2021 – May 2024
Global head (VP level) of User Experience (UX) for Caseware International, a world leader in the development of cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) audit and assurance software for accounting firms, corporations and governments. Responsible for all aspects of Caseware’s UX competency, including leading the Product Design, Design Operations, UX Research, UX Content (technical writing and documentation), and Localization (translation) teams, as well as setting and overseeing the UX strategy across Caseware’s product portfolio and aligning UX with all business, product, and engineering requirements. Specific areas of focus included user research, information architecture, product design, usability testing, content management, technical writing, documentation, and adapting all platforms and products to multiple languages and regions. Oversaw the operationalization of design at Caseware, including design system development, work prioritization, workflow planning, and the scaling of design for rapid growth.
Expanded the UX team from 12 to 30 staff members working remotely in four countries (Canada, Germany, Colombia, India). The team’s Canadian staff are currently based in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, and Halifax.
Created two new teams within the UX competency: UX Research and Design Operations.
Made key team leadership hires as well as recognizing, developing, and promoting existing talent into leadership positions.
Enabled team leadership to improve UX processes and deliver on strategic priorities.
Created a system for career development using parallel management and individual contributor career tracks, with clear guidelines for progression and corresponding performance criteria.
Increased employee engagement across UX from 58% to 77%, and reduced employee turnover to zero.
Led the ongoing transformation of Caseware from a development-driven to a user-focused organization.
The success of these strategic initiatives enabled the following significant achievements within the individual UX teams:
Built new UX Research competency by demonstrating the need for and value of research to Caseware’s Board and executive team.
Redesigned processes to integrate UX Research into every stage of the product life cycle.
Developed a robust user testing program with users of Caseware products, as well as with users of competitor products.
Identified key customer and operational performance metrics, and developed a system for their measurement, tracking, and analysis.
Product Design
Transformed Product Design from a rigid, siloed product-based structure to a more flexible and agile centralized model with Senior Designers responsible for key product verticals and more junior designers moving between teams according to operational need, providing them with broad cross-platform experience and improving consistency in the look and feel of Caseware products.
• Led the development of an extensive Design Review process, ensuring that Product and Development feedback is fully integrated into all final designs.
• Developed a comprehensive Work Management system that tracks the progress of all Product Design initiatives and their associated work streams, resulting in improved project control and a significant decrease in technical and design debt.
• Increased design capacity from 10 epics in April 2022 to 83 epics in April 2023.
Design Operations
• Redesigned the design process framework and architecture to reduce the length of the design phase of the software development life cycle and increase feedback opportunities from Product, Development, and industry stakeholders.
• Increased collaboration among designers, product managers, and developers through the adoption of team-based tools such as Figma and Miro.
• Operationalized Caseware’s design system, leading the development of its component libraries, patterns, use cases, and code base, ensuring all elements meet current accessibility guidelines.
UX Content (Technical Writing & Documentation)
• Oversaw the expansion of the UX Content team following the acquisition of Caseware’s German distributor, and the integration of its technical writing team into the UX team.
• Led the development of a company-wide product terminology database, providing a “single source of truth” for technical writing and translation across all Caseware offices worldwide.
Localization (Translation)
• Increased the speed of the translation process through better integration with distributed version control and translation management systems.
• Improved translation quality through the introduction of enhanced review methodologies.
• Integrated translation memory databases into Caseware’s translation software platform, reducing text requiring manual translation by 94% and dramatically improving the quality, speed, consistency, and efficiency of every translation job.
• Improved vendor management to optimize the selection of translation agencies, freelance translators, and translation process technologies.
Crow, David. Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics in the Visual Arts. (2nd Ed.) AVA Publishing AG, 2010. (First published 1993.)
Fletcher, Alan. The Art of Looking Sideways. Phaidon Press, 2001.
Hofmann, Armin. Graphic Design Manual. Verlag Niggli AG, 1965.
Noble, Ian & Russell Bestley. Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design. AVA Publishing AG, 2005.
Roberts, Lucienne & Rebecca Wright. Design Diaries: Creative Process in Graphic Design. Laurence King Publishing, 2010.
Tolleson, Steve. Soak Wash Rinse Spin. Princeton Architectural Press, 2000.
-
Share