Transforming Symphony
Role Strategic design, vision development
Timeline2 years
How might we make Symphony the “everyday” collaboration platform for users in financial services?
Problem motivation
Symphony was initially a secure messaging tool for financial services. The CEO aspired to evolve it into a comprehensive collaboration platform, supporting complex financial workflows and driving market insights.
A crash course in financial servces
I led user research to map the roles and responsibilities in financial services. The visualization helped to pinpoint where Symphony could provide greater value and set the scope for the subsequent visioning exercise.
A map of key roles and interactions within financial services
Brainstorming workshop
I led cross-functional workshops to envision Symphony serving the needs of different user roles. We brainstormed various differentiating features based on key workflow insights.
Storyboarding the new experience
I led a storyboarding effort, collaborating with Business Development and Sales, to visualize Symphony’s cross-platform workflows. The storyboards we delivered were critical for socializing the new experience with leadership and business partners. The key concepts highlighted in the story drove strategic roadmap decisions.
Executing the vision
I focused on developing strategic design to help establish a clear product direction for the MVP. As the product owner, I also translated the vision into actionable features and user stories.
Developing a new IA
I first defined the IA for the new Symphony based on the output from a design sprint with the team.
Shaping the product backlog
By investigating each concept through mental model mapping and validating multiple design directions, I generated key insights that drove cross-functional roadmap discussion and expanded the product backlog.
Supporting tactical design
I closely supported more junior teammates in developing the design system and detailed interactions to deliver incremental product improvements.
Symphony transformed
Over the span of 2 years, Symphony was transformed from a messaging tool to a modern collaboration platform that supports over 600000 users in financial services.
