American Express · 2024 · Enterprise SaaS

Self-Serve Platform

Turning manual data requests.
into a self-serve workflow.

Corporate finance administrators needed access to transaction data for reports, audits, and reviews. Getting it meant emailing multiple teams and waiting days. We redesigned that process into a self-serve workflow.

Days Hours

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Year 2024

Role Product Designer

Platform Enterprise SaaS

Markets 20 +

This project sat within Global Commercial Services, the B2B division of a global financial services organisation. The users were personal assistants and finance administrators at enterprise client firms who managed corporate card transaction data across multiple markets. Their routine tasks included requesting reprints, reruns, and audit trails for reports, presentations, and financial reviews. Before this platform existed, every request started as an email.

The core problem

Users did not need more support.
They needed direct access.

Who the users were

Personal assistants and finance administrators managing corporate card programs across multiple markets.

What they were doing

Requesting data reprints, reruns, and audit trails for transaction files used in reports, presentations, and financial reviews.

What was missing

Direct access. Every request moved through an email chain, with no visibility into where it was or when it would arrive.

The work

Four moments of friction shaped the design.

The issue was not the data request itself, it was the dependency, silence, and delay around it.

01 · The Email Chain

Every request started as an email that had to be forwarded, picked up, and actioned by someone else.

4 people · days · no guarantee → 1 person · minutes · repeatable flow

Embed the action where users already worked. Self-service lived inside the existing business platform — no new login, no separate tool, no email chain.

02 · The Silence

Once a request was sent, the PA had no clear way to know whether it had been received, actioned, or lost.

sent · waiting · no idea → status visible · no follow-up

Make status passive and always visible. File availability surfaced at the point of access, so users did not need to ask another team for progress.

03 · The Handoff

Every handoff created another place for momentum to slow down.

shared ownership · unclear progress → direct path · controlled workflow

Reduce handoff dependency, not human collaboration.Routine requests moved into a repeatable self-serve flow, while people stayed focused on work that needed judgement.

04 · The Downstream Impact

The data request wasn't the end goal. It was a dependency blocking a report, a reconciliation, an audit.

team stalled · deadline missed → data on demand · workflow unblocked

Treat data access as a workflow input, not an outcome. Designing for on-demand retrieval removed data access from the critical path of downstream work.

What changed

Turning a manual, email-led process
into a self-serve experience.

Before

Email-led workflow
Multiple handoffs and inboxes
No visibility into status
Unclear ownership
Delayed downstream work

After

Self-serve workflow inside the existing platform
Direct access to files
Status and availability visible upfront
Controlled actions and clear ownership
Requests completed independently in minutes

System design

Designing the system behind the simplicity.

To make self-service work at enterprise scale, three constraints had to be solved in the architecture — not just the interface.

01 User role

02 File eligibility

03 Available actions

04 Review & submit

05 Audit trail

Decision 01

Access had to be shared, not open.

Users needed direct access to their firm's data files, but access still had to respect client, market, and permission boundaries. Being self-serve did not mean being unconstrained.

Decision 02

Visibility had to change by role and file state.

The platform needed to show users enough information to act confidently, without exposing data or actions they were not eligible to use. What you see is determined by who you are.

Decision 03

Every action had to leave a trail.

Requests like rerun, reprint, and audit trail needed to be traceable so the experience could remain self-serve without losing operational control. Autonomy required accountability.

Representative wireframes — production designs under NDA.

Entry point — data file list with status

The entry point. A PA lands on a list of all their firm's data files with status visibility and action type shown upfront.

Available and Processing states visible at a glance. No need to contact anyone to check progress.

Four actions available per file. Each one previously required an email chain. Now accessible in two clicks.

Rerun, Reprint, Audit Trail and Help & Support. All self-serve.

Step 1 of 3. Select the action type and define the date range before requesting.

The PA sets the scope of the request — no ambiguity for the processing team.

Step 2 of 3. The system surfaces eligible files based on the date range and file rules.

Only files matching the request criteria are shown. No guesswork.

Step 3 of 3. Review everything before submitting. A deliberate final step that builds confidence.

One screen. Full context. No surprises after submission.

The result

A manual email chain became a self-serve workflow inside the platform.

Piloted with two firms, reviewed by compliance teams across multiple markets, and designed to expand one market at a time.

40%

Reduction in request turnaround timeline

80%

Task success rate during usability testing

Pilot firms in the first market release

1×1

Market-by-market rollout model

Turning manual data requests.
into a self-serve workflow.

Users did not need more support.
They needed direct access.

Four moments of friction shaped the design.

Every request started as an email that had to be forwarded, picked up, and actioned by someone else.

Once a request was sent, the PA had no clear way to know whether it had been received, actioned, or lost.

Every handoff created another place for momentum to slow down.

The data request wasn't the end goal. It was a dependency blocking a report, a reconciliation, an audit.

Turning a manual, email-led process
into a self-serve experience.

Designing the system behind the simplicity.

Access had to be shared, not open.

Visibility had to change by role and file state.

Every action had to leave a trail.

Direct access. No intermediary. No waiting.

Other case studies.

Real Time Transaction Sharing

Returns and Exchange System

Cart Redesign

Turning manual data requests.into a self-serve workflow.

Users did not need more support.They needed direct access.

Four moments of friction shaped the design.

Every request started as an email that had to be forwarded, picked up, and actioned by someone else.

Once a request was sent, the PA had no clear way to know whether it had been received, actioned, or lost.

Every handoff created another place for momentum to slow down.

The data request wasn't the end goal. It was a dependency blocking a report, a reconciliation, an audit.

Turning a manual, email-led processinto a self-serve experience.

Designing the system behind the simplicity.

Access had to be shared, not open.

Visibility had to change by role and file state.

Every action had to leave a trail.

Direct access. No intermediary. No waiting.

Other case studies.

Real Time Transaction Sharing

Returns and Exchange System

Cart Redesign

Turning manual data requests.
into a self-serve workflow.

Users did not need more support.
They needed direct access.

Turning a manual, email-led process
into a self-serve experience.