Product Design Case Study
From Manual to Digital: a centralized invoice & quote workflow
Replacing a manual, Gmail-based invoice collection and quote process with a centralized digital workflow for banks, businesses, sales teams, resellers, and existing customers.
- Role
- Product Designer (Lead)
- Timeline
- 12 weeks
- Team
- 1 Designer · 2 PMs · 4 Engineers
- Platform
- Web
- Industry
- Fintech · B2B SaaS
73%
Customer adoption
34+
Hours saved weekly
45%
Faster response time
24%
Fewer manual errors
Business Context
A white-labeled SaaS marketplace for banks
The platform lets banks offer their customers an easy way to purchase and manage SaaS tools at discounted rates — helping 700+ businesses cut SaaS costs by up to 30% annually.
The existing process
When a bank passed a lead to the sales team, everything that followed — inquiries, price discussions, and finalizing estimates — happened offline over Gmail. Reps juggled dozens of threads to track conversations, manage requests, and close deals.
Why it mattered
Manual coordination capped how many deals the team could handle, slowed responses, and hid the pipeline from leadership. Scaling the business meant moving the entire workflow online and reducing back-and-forth between clients, sales, and resellers.
Methodology
Business Process Redesign using Lean UX Principles
The work followed a sequence focused on understanding the operation before touching the interface.
- 01
Business Problem Analysis
- 02
Stakeholder Mapping
- 03
Workflow Analysis
- 04
Process Redesign
- 05
Solution Design
- 06
Impact Measurement
Existing Workflow Analysis
A fragmented, email-driven service blueprint
Mapping the as-is process exposed where the workflow broke down.
Manual email tracking
Inquiries lived in individual Gmail threads with no shared source of truth.
Delayed follow-ups
No reminders meant warm leads went cold while reps juggled inboxes.
Lack of visibility
Leadership couldn't see pipeline status, volumes, or bottlenecks.
Operational overhead
Every quote required repeated manual data entry and coordination.
Fragmented communication
Clients, sales, and resellers were misaligned across scattered threads.
Stakeholder Ecosystem
Four interdependent user types
Each stakeholder had distinct goals and pain points, but shared the same broken handoffs.
Organic Users
Goals
Compare SaaS pricing and get a quote fast, without commitment.
Pain points
Forced sign-ups and slow, opaque email back-and-forth.
Dependencies
Depend on sales to translate invoices into quotes.
Sales Team
Goals
Capture leads anywhere and convert them efficiently.
Pain points
Manual detail collection over Gmail; no central CRM record.
Dependencies
Depend on resellers for pricing confirmation.
Resellers
Goals
Receive invoices and return pricing with minimal friction.
Pain points
Individual emails per client; untracked quote volumes.
Dependencies
Depend on sales to forward complete invoice data.
Existing Customers
Goals
Upload new invoices and track quote status independently.
Pain points
Had to contact support for every new request or issue.
Dependencies
Depend on CRM-driven status updates and notifications.
The Solution
One system, four tailored workflows
Each user type received a dedicated flow built on a shared, CRM-connected backbone.
User Type
Organic Users
Goal
Get a quote with zero commitment
Outcome
Frictionless, no-signup quote requests
Business Value
Higher top-of-funnel conversion and cleaner lead data
Solution 1 · Organic Users
Upload invoices and receive quotes without signing up
Problem solved
Prospects wanting to compare SaaS pricing were forced into sign-ups and long email threads before seeing any value, driving drop-off at the top of the funnel.
Key design decisions
- Reduced the path to value to three steps: upload invoice, add optional details, submit contact.
- Removed the account barrier entirely — quotes are requested anonymously.
- Supported multi-product invoice uploads in a single submission.
Business impact
Lowered the barrier to entry and captured qualified, intent-rich leads directly into the CRM instead of losing them to email friction.
User Type
Sales Team
Goal
Capture and convert leads anywhere
Outcome
One link, automatic CRM capture
Business Value
More qualified pipeline, less manual admin
Solution 2 · Sales Team
Instant lead capture and automated CRM follow-ups
Problem solved
Reps meeting executives at events or over Gmail had to collect details manually, with no reliable way to capture, store, or follow up on leads.
Key design decisions
- Created a shareable direct link reps can send instantly in any conversation.
- Routed all submitted details automatically into the CRM for follow-up.
- Enabled customized pricing workflows tied to each captured lead.
Business impact
Turned ad-hoc conversations into structured, trackable pipeline and freed reps from manual data entry.
User Type
Resellers
Goal
Coordinate invoices without manual email
Outcome
Automated routing and quote tracking
Business Value
Fewer errors and faster turnaround
Solution 3 · Resellers
Streamlined invoice coordination and quote management
Problem solved
Sales manually emailed each reseller per client, making it hard to track which invoices were sent and how many quotes were outstanding.
Key design decisions
- Centralized uploaded invoices in the CRM as a single source of truth.
- Automated invoice routing to the right reseller, eliminating manual emails.
- Added quote tracking so outstanding requests are always visible.
Business impact
Removed a fragile manual handoff and gave the business clear visibility into reseller quote volume and status.
User Type
Existing Customers
Goal
Self-serve new quotes and track status
Outcome
Transparent, self-service quote lifecycle
Business Value
Lower support cost, higher retention
Solution 4 · Existing Customers
Upload invoices, track quote status, and resolve issues
Problem solved
Existing customers had to contact sales or support for every new quote, and had no way to see status or fix invalid invoices.
Key design decisions
- Added an Upload Invoice action under Manage Subscriptions for self-serve requests.
- Built a quote-tracking view with status, expected activation, and savings.
- Notified customers of invoice mismatches via email and in-app re-upload prompts.
Business impact
Cut inbound support load by letting customers self-serve uploads, tracking, and re-uploads end to end.
Impact
Measured business outcomes
The redesign turned an opaque manual process into a measurable, scalable operation.
73%
Customer adoption
Of eligible customers now self-serve invoice uploads
45%
Faster response time
From first inquiry to quote delivery
34+ hrs
Saved weekly
Reclaimed across the sales team
24%
Fewer manual errors
Reduction in manual-email processing mistakes
61%
Fewer complaints
Drop in quote-related customer complaints
Key Learnings
Solve the core issue, not the surface
Manual work scales until it doesn't. As volume grew, systems — not screens — were what the business needed.
Systems thinking
Mapping the end-to-end flow revealed the real problem was process, not screens.
Service design
Designing the off-screen handoffs mattered as much as the interface itself.
Multi-stakeholder design
Four user types with conflicting needs required one coherent system.
Process optimization
Automating handoffs removed the bottlenecks that manual email created.
Operational efficiency
Centralization compounded into measurable time and cost savings at scale.
Positioning
A Product Designer who solves operational and business inefficiencies through systems thinking, service design, and process optimization within complex B2B SaaS ecosystems.