Unique users up 204% in redesign of Fitch Ratings Research Platform

Along with Moody’s and S&P, Fitch Ratings assesses the creditworthiness of debt issuers like banks and governments.

Digital products used in this space are complex and industry-specific, very much tailored to the particular needs of a unique kind of user. Which means they require serious Product Design.

This is what Fitch Ratings came to understand about their enterprise research platform, FitchConnect. When that product started losing subscriptions, they tried aiming a series of visual design experts at the problem. But its issues were more than skin-deep. The product needed a fundamental reconceptualization by a design leader with experience in research, usability, and crossfunctional collaboration.

It was my privelege to lead the design team that brought all those unique users back. And then add many more.

EDI Solution surpasses IBM’s to rank second in market

EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange. It’s how many partnered businesses talk to each other. To accomplish things like order fulfillment and shipping.

Software in this space is complex and industry-specific. Which means creating it requires a lot of business and technical expertise common to the industry. Which can make for a lot of overlap in functionality across competing solutions.

So how do you stand out in this market? What would differentiate a new EDI product from others in the supply chain space? My design would focus on the user’s experience.

I was able to make that case to Cleo Communications for two reasons. First, I make it my business to understand the business — especially the customers. And second, because I take design where few creatives dare to tread: The boardroom. And into the lion’s den of technical teams, who can be hesitant to bend their hard work around user need.

This is how I designed Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC), the second most popular solution in cloud-based supply-chain EDI, recently surpassing other big league players like IBM. In the eight years since it shipped, CIC has quadrupled Cleo’s enterprise valuation.

Quadrupled.

First-try success rate soars to 85% in doc app redesign