Problem
Syniti is a 20-year-old software and consulting company, providing data migration, data quality, and master data management solutions for Global 2000 companies. The existing software platform had become difficult to use, with a steep learning curve. Leadership aimed to shift from a services-dependent model to a cloud-based self-serve customer onboarding, while modernizing the user experience.
Approach
Team Assembly & User Research
- Built a design team from internal talent and contracted a design agency to facilitate discovery
- Leveraged existing research we had already conducted: contextual inquiries, customer interviews, workflow documentation, and previous project post-mortems
- Developed five primary personas representing core data organization users, plus secondary personas for consultants and information consumers
Collaborative Design Process
- Facilitated multi-day alignment workshops with product, design, and engineering
- Implemented "pair design" model with designers embedded alongside developers
- Conducted weekly stakeholder feedback sessions and monthly customer roadshows
- Ran rapid user testing with internal consultant users for iterative feedback
Information Architecture
- Established three IA outcomes: shared functionality, unified navigation, and a knowledge graph foundation for business assets
- Personally led IA work as the information architect on staff
Solution
Delivered the Syniti Knowledge Platform with a modernized interface, improved information architecture, and streamlined workflows. The design successfully balanced self-serve accessibility with the consulting expertise the organization culture valued.
Outcomes
- Revenue: $3M booked in the release quarter with a $30M pipeline
- Services Growth: 50% increase in consulting services revenue
- User Feedback: Beta customers reported the experience was "much easier to use" than the previous fragmented system
Key Challenges
Navigated cultural tensions between a services-oriented company and product-focused design by engaging consultants as subject matter experts and coaching teams away from tactical "solutioneering" toward strategic problem-solving.