Xero Advisor Connect

Additional detail, process and artefacts available at interview. Xero Advisor Connect is currently live

TL;DR

Worked embedded in our product team, responsible for and contributed to; product experimentation and product iteration - concepts/sketches, user flows/journey maps, custom UI components, UI compositions and generative research and usability testing.

AIM

Experiment, learn and iterate on the small business and advisor matchmaking product concept. Develop and scale it into a global product bringing new clients to our accounting partners.

Iteration and experimentation

Over nine months, we conducted over a dozen experiments as we interacted with the product based on previous learnings. Our initial products were rough and manual, with our team personally responding to customer requests, analysing data in spreadsheets and introducing small businesses to advisors via email. As we learnt and built confidence, we used developed algorithms to find an advisor matcher, provided more comparison data points to users and increased the fidelity and branding of our email communications.

By the end of our experimentation phase, we had a pilot product with multiple user entry points, including, within Xero's business accounting product, Xero's public website and partnerships with 3rd party companies like Salesforce. The success of these latest product iterations had proven the business opportunity and was critical to the decision to invest further in a globally scaled product release.

Scaled release 

To achieve our goals, we needed to take what we’d learned through experimentation and turn it into a global, high-quality product aligned with Xero’s values and customer expectations.

Working with another designer, we split the experience into three parts:

• Product page and small business data collection forms

• Advisor matches and evaluation

• Connection and communication.

I took responsibility for the advisor match and communication experiences but worked closely with the other designer to ensure consistency across the user experience. This work included:

• Utilising core design system components to create dynamic and responsive advisor UI cards

• Introducing an advisor suitability data point that let users evaluate and compare advisors at a glance

• Building a contact flow that let users send custom messages to advisors, reducing spam without revealing personal advisor data

• Creating an email template sent to chosen advisors with added small business context to help them evaluate potential leads

• Planning and running several usability studies to improve the comprehension and effectiveness of the product

RESULT

Xero Advisor Connect launched globally and is live today, giving small businesses a way to find accounting and bookkeeping advisors directly through Xero, xero.com, and partner channels including Salesforce.

LEARNINGS

Designing across three interconnected experiences (data collection, matching, and communication) reinforced how much consistency at the seams matters; small gaps in tone or interaction between sections undermined trust in the product as a whole.

Starting with a manual, low-fidelity prototype (a Google Form and a matching script) let us validate the core value proposition before investing in scaled engineering, a sequencing I’d now default to earlier in any 0-to-1 project.