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OFN · 2025
Lead Product Designer · Sole Designer

Delivering a scalable data collection system for financial reporting

I led the design of the Member Portal for the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), transforming fragmented reporting into a unified system with enterprise-grade data management and Power BI integration.

~60%
reduction in manual data verification
100%
autonomous report launching
195h
design budget — discovery to handoff
Year
2026
Role
Lead Product Designer / Sole Designer
Scope
End-to-end UX/UI, Information Architecture, Validation Logic, CMS Requirements, Design System, Content Plan
Core team
Senior Solution Architect, Program Director, Data Engineer, Project Manager

About the project

The challenge was to build an intelligent, scalable system rather than just a static interface. I designed a flexible template engine with built-in validation, enabling the client to launch new report types autonomously.

Business goal

The core goal was to minimize the operational load on the verification team (AMS), replacing manual "data cleaning" with logic the system enforces upstream.

The constraint

Skipped formal usability testing in favor of stakeholder validation cycles, accepting risk in edge cases I could mitigate post-launch.

Why it mattered

Qualtrics' fragmented structure had caused users to drown in errors. This release replaced an "exhausting obligation" with a trusted partnership — anxiety swapped for transparency and control.

Strategy

195 hours, decisions over discovery

Under a 195-hour budget, I shifted from traditional discovery to decision-oriented design, using AI tools for rapid prototyping. The goal wasn't to "explore everything" — it was to eliminate ambiguity fast and keep the technical team unblocked.

15% Research Phase
A compressed research window: stakeholder interviews with the AMS team, audit of the existing Qualtrics flow, and review of three months of support tickets. Enough signal to commit to a direction without months of discovery.
Wireframes as a Strategic Roadmap
Wireframes weren't a deliverable — they were an alignment tool. Each wireframe round resolved an open architectural question and unblocked the engineers waiting on it.
AI as a Production Multiplier
Leveraged AI tools for rapid documentation synthesis, IA structuring, and edge-case stress-testing. Not for visual design — for the parts of the work that scale linearly with hours.
Constraint-Based Design (Template System)
Designed against the platform's authoring constraints from day one — every component had to be safe for non-designers to compose without breaking validation.
Pragmatic Component Reusability
Reusability where it paid off, custom where it didn't. The component library covers ~80% of the reporting flow; the remaining 20% are bespoke and intentionally so.
Key product decisions

Two problems shaping the rest of the system

Problem 1

Systemic Errors & User Friction

The Issue

Qualtrics' non-linear, fragmented structure caused users to "drown" in errors. The verification team (AMS) was overwhelmed by manual clean-up and negative feedback.

Solution

Preventative Data Hygiene

  • 01
    Pre-fill with full edit access
    Automated data extraction with full edit access. Preventative labels surface original values so users can trust what was filled in for them.
  • 02
    Input-level character blocking
    Invalid characters never enter the field. The form enforces format at the keystroke, not on submit.
  • 03
    Default values for skippable fields
    If a question is allowed to be skipped, a sensible default ships with it — verifiers stop chasing missing values.
  • 04
    Sequential gating, configured in the CMS
    Order-of-operations rules live in content, not code. Business rules evolve without an engineering ticket.
  • 05
    Inline guidance — alerts, video, glossary
    Help is rendered next to the field, not in a separate document. Users get unstuck where they got stuck.
Problem 2

Rigid Architecture & Lack of Control

The Issue

The client couldn't implement new business rules or evolve the product without starting from scratch.

Solution

An Adaptive Ecosystem

  • 01
    Placeholders for future report types
    Built scaffolding for report types OFN plans to launch later, plus an internal messenger as a stable communication channel. The system anticipates the roadmap — no rebuild needed every time it grows.
  • 02
    Manager-side controls for business logic
    Program managers configure validation, gating, and routing themselves — the system stops being a designer-and-engineer-only tool.
  • 03
    Manual link integration as a budget trade-off
    A deliberate, documented compromise: integration via curated links instead of a custom data layer. Saves ~80 hours, deferable post-launch.
Collaboration

Collaboration & system delivery

195 hours leaves no room for back-and-forth between design and dev. I worked directly with the System Architect, translating UX into technical requirements detailed enough that validation logic and CMS rules shipped with minimal iterations.

Logic-Driven Specifications
Annotated hand-off files describing component behaviors, data formats, and UI triggers for seamless frontend / backend integration.
Atomic Design System
Tokens → components → templates. Each layer documented, each contract enforceable in CMS.
CMS Component Architectures
Schema-first authoring rules: what content authors can change, what they can't, and why.
# Question.NumberInput — spec excerpt component: Question.NumberInput extends: BaseInput on_load: - pre_fill: prior_period.value - editable: true - show_label: "Pre-filled" validation: - regex: /^\d+(\.\d{1,2})?$/ - min: 0 - max: 1e12 - skip: conditional on_skip: - guidance: video.id_42 on_invalid: - block_save - highlight - log_event: ams_review # Edge case · AMS-2025-04: allow NULL for Q.17
Impact

What shipped, in numbers and outcomes

Operational efficiency
~60%
Reduction in manual data verification. The verification team's workload dropped by more than half — most of what AMS was cleaning up is now caught at input.
Product scalability
100%
Autonomous report launching. OFN can launch new report types without designer or developer involvement.
Delivery speed
195h
Zero-waste hand-off within a 195-hour deadline. Minimal iterations between design and dev — the spec was the truth.
Reducing cognitive friction
↓
By integrating direct messaging, clear status tracking, and proactive guidance, I transformed an "exhausting obligation" into a trusted partnership. We replaced user anxiety with transparency and control.
From static form to living ecosystem
An extendable framework with modular CMS logic and placeholders for future features.
This provides a visualized roadmap, allowing OFN to scale and launch new services as the program evolves — without re-engaging design.
Back to all work
Iryna Nechytailo — selected projects