Redesigning Account Management Workflows


Fixing visibility gaps and handoff friction across Sales, Finance, CX, and Ops


Executive Summary

Context: The account lifecycle had no shared view across teams. Work lived in three core systems (System A/B/C) with no single source of truth.


Goal: Bring teams onto one shared lifecycle and glossary so handoffs take less time and work isn’t duplicated.


Methods: ≈25 stakeholder interviews · tool/data-access audit · archetypes · macro/micro journey maps · service blueprint · moderated usability on proposed flows.


Participants: Sales & Account Managers (AMs), Finance, CX, Technical, Ops (US/EU).


Key findings: Three disjoint systems; teams used different words for the same step; missing prompts at critical checkpoints; backstage work not represented.


Results: We paused risky changes, agreed a shared glossary, shipped blueprint v1 for Ops/Finance, and set next-quarter targets with owners.

The Problem

01

No shared view of the account lifecycle across three core systems (e.g., Salesforce, NetSuite, Sky) >  duplicated work and blind spots.

02

Terminology drift across teams (Sales vs. Finance vs. Ops) caused misinterpretation and rework.


03

Backstage work (hardware/installation/onboarding coordination) wasn’t represented handoffs broke down.


04

Approval latency grew due to missing key-data prompts at critical gates.


My Approach

Discovery → Modeling → Validation

Discovery & Alignment

  • Stakeholder mapping
  • Tool/data audit
  • Shared vocabulary

Modeling Complexity

  • Archetypes
  • Macro/micro journeys
  • Failure points & gates

System Insight & Validation

  • Service blueprint v1
  • Moderated tasks on Figma
  • Prioritized recs

Phase 1:  Discovery & Alignment

  • Mapped stakeholders and tooling across Sales/AM, Finance, CX, Technical, Ops; audited data/handoffs
  • Created a shared vocabulary to reduce terminology drift.
  • Outcome: Confirmed 3-system fragmentation and missing prompts at critical checkpoints.

I think Design is not started from the schools and institutes.Design even is not part of human's life. It is the life itself and design thinking is the art of living.


I decided to become a UX designer before knowing it as its common definition.


I ground my decisions in the empirical data collected and I embrace improvisational techniques for maintaining resilience and adaptability. I encouraged myself the cultivation of critical thinking habits and practices.

 Modeling Complexity

I defined internal actor archetypes and built macro/micro journeys to surface failure points, checkpoints, and invisible backstage work.


Outcome: We pinpointed where handoffs break and which checkpoints need prompts or checklists.

Phase 2: 


Phase 3:

System Insight & Validation

I drafted service blueprint and tested the proposed flows with 5–7 people (success = task completion without help). I then rewrote labels and added prompts where they hesitated.


Outcome: Final recommendations were prioritized with Ops/Finance owners.

Finding to Decision #1

Data completeness at a critical checkpoint

Finding to Decision #2

Terminology drift

Finding to Decision #3

Handoff gaps

  • Finding: Same data was entered twice and still incomplete at a critical checkpoint across System A/B/C.
  • Decision: Add required key-data prompts at that checkpoint and align labels across System A/B/C.
  • Expected impact: Raise data completeness toward 95%+ and reduce rework tickets.
  • Finding: Different teams used different names for the same step (terminology drift).
  • Decision: Publish a shared glossary and update UI copy/tooltips to match it.
  • Expected impact: Fewer crossed wires during approvals and fewer back-and-forths.
  • Finding: Backstage steps were invisible during the Sales/AM → Onboarding handoff.
  • Decision: Create a blueprint handoff checklist with clear owners at each step.
  • Expected impact: Shorter time-to-activation and fewer hand-backs.

Handoff Checklist

AM

Required client fields completed at the critical checkpoint


Finance

Billing terms + tax IDs confirmed; labels aligned

Ops

Backstage tasks surfaced (not hidden) and owner assigned

CX

Welcome microcopy localized; timezone set

Systems

Labels consistent across System A / B / C

Illustrative, anonymized checklist aligned with the blueprint pilot.

Expected Impact


  • Data completeness toward 95%+ at the checkpoint
  • Fewer rework tickets across teams
  • Shorter time-to-activation after handoff

🔒 Note on Confidentiality

Due to the sensitive nature of this project, all visuals, personas, and system references have been abstracted. This case study focuses solely on methodology and process to demonstrate research leadership, systems thinking, and stakeholder alignment.

Design Starts from exploring and exploring starts from observing

I think Design is not started from the schools and institutes.Design even is not part of human's life. It is the life itself and design thinking is the art of living.


I decided to become a UX designer before knowing it as its common definition.


I ground my decisions in the empirical data collected and I embrace improvisational techniques for maintaining resilience and adaptability. I encouraged myself the cultivation of critical thinking habits and practices.

While studying sociology my desire to understand people's behavior led me to become a field researcher. Anthropology and Sociology were providing me good backgrounds in theory by I was thirsty to feel and learn. So I stepped out of my safe box.

During 1 year field research I interviewed 905 women in the general public of Turkey. I realized that a  good researcher is essential when observing and/or interacting with target audiences in their real-life environment so I know this research one of the key roles on my career. This project was designed for ministry of family and social services in Turkey.


Despite the experiences I had in serving victims of violence, especially while I was volunteering in Morcati, this research was a huge eyeopener.


Meeting victims in their homes, economic and social conditions was essential to improve empathy.

The second research 1 year was about refugees and their social and economical conditions. During this research, I interviewed more than 510 refugees in whole Turkey.



It was middle of Syria's crises. Huge number of refugees were led into Turkey and their situations were heartbreaker tragedy. Middle of the darkness I found myself practicing being rational while observing my biases. Spending time with refugees in their tents in a camp with only 50 km distance from the war zone was the hugest experience of empathy. Life was not sweet but it was the reality outside and I was in complete acceptance to soak in people's life.

In 2017, I became part of Child Foundation family to help children to remain in school. I was lucky to work for both sides of sponsors and social workers. I did sponsor research with determining research methodology including, survey development, listening sessions, interviews, and diary studies.


After analyzing the collected data, I presented my suggested strategy to the board of Child Foundation including some changes in the outreach approach. Child Foundation successfully collected more donations and gains more volunteers and sponsors in compare with past decade.