AFTRAS
Accounts Payable File Translator System
In this project, our client’s finance department requested we build a program to export data from MNR’s work order management system, and process the corresponding Fusion file to be accepted by accounts payable’s Oracle Fusion financial system. Our team developed using agile methodologies, iterating with user feedback. Prior to the launch of this system, end users would spend about 2 hours a day throughout the 5-day work week on this Fusion task. After implementing AFTRAS, users only spent about 1 hour per week, cutting time spent by 90%.
AFTRAS
User Problems: Unnecessary time spent exporting from MNR WO management and manually editing Fusion file to be uploaded into Oracle Fusion financial system.
“It is busy work that is easy but takes a long time”
User Goals: Reduce time spent on manually exporting data and creating fusion files.
“We have other important tasks to get to”
Objectives: Automate ETL process for the MNR work order data to the accounts payable system.
Design Goals
Reduce friction during process flow.
Make the UI intuitive to minimize training for new hires.
Design Decisions
Use of colors with contrast to background:
Red to draw attention to error pop up button.
Green for the progress bar to show completion success.
Blue/Purple color for items that are always present on the UI.
Labels using verbiage common to the AP department.
Simple layout with minimal clutter.
UX Takeaways from This Project
This project was so fun for me because we had heavy collaboration with our end users which I really enjoyed. Although our primary task was the software development, we naturally followed a user-centered design practice by iteratively working with our end users on the UI and requirements until we reached the final product.
If I could go back, I would have further strengthened the design by holding more formal usability testing and exploring accessibility. I distinctly remember connecting with one of our users over carpal tunnel, and the difficulty she had with the large amount of mouse-clicking required for their job. With that knowledge, I could have looked further into right-click options or reducing confirmation popups.