[Case 04]
100% task completion, but a 60.8% misclick rate I had to own
FinTech · Enterprise SaaS
Making approval status visible at a glance: a concept redesign of BILL's payables
A two-week self-directed redesign of an enterprise accounts-payable approval flow.
[Project Overview]
A two-week self-directed UX challenge with another designer, and no access to BILL's internal systems. BILL automates accounts payable, but its approval flow leaves users guessing about where an invoice sits, who's holding it up, and what needs attention first. I rebuilt seven core screens and tested the prototype with six users in Maze. Every task got completed, but the test surfaced a friction problem I didn't expect, and that's where I learned the most.
[Problem Statement]
BILL's approval process is feature-rich but hard to read. Users can't track where an approval stands, who's next in the chain, or what needs them first. Limited filtering, no bulk actions, and a cluttered inbox add delay and frustration. The problem wasn't missing features. It was missing visibility.
[Industry]
FinTech · Enterprise SaaS
[My Role]
Product Designer (UX & UI)
[Platforms]
Desktop web app
[Timeline]
2 weeks
[Persona]
Mark Reynolds (Approver)
Finance approver
I just need to see what's waiting on me and clear it quickly, without errors.
Age: 38 [illustrative]
Location: UK [illustrative]
Tech Proficiency: High
Gender: Male
[Goal]
See at a glance what needs his approval right now.
Approve or reject at volume without making mistakes.
Know who is holding up an invoice further down the chain.
[Frustrations]
Status is binary, approved or pending, with nothing in between.
No way to act on several invoices without going back to the inbox.
Notifications that are frequent but not useful.
[Process]
[01] User Research
Worked from secondary research, customer reviews, help-desk content, tutorials, and BILL's own screens, since I had no internal access.
Annotated the current screens for friction across the end-to-end approval workflow.
Built two working personas, an initiator and an approver, labelled as research-based assumptions.
[02] Insights
The core problem was visibility and control, not missing features.
Users couldn't see the approval chain, so they couldn't tell who was blocking an invoice.
Acting on invoices one at a time forced constant trips back to the inbox.
[03] Design Solution
Built an approver-breakdown overlay that shows every step in the chain and where it's stuck.
Split the dashboard by urgency and role, so the first thing you see is what's waiting on you.
Added batch selection for approvals, kept as a deliberate step because this tool moves money.
[04] Testing & Iteration
Tested the prototype with six users in Maze across six tasks.
Five of six tasks hit 100% completion, but the main flow had a 60.8% misclick rate.
That told me people got there but fumbled, so the fix was clearer affordances, not less information.
[Outcome]
Every task got completed, with five of six flows at 100% and the sixth at 83.3%.
The 60.8% misclick rate on the main flow showed the design worked without being obvious yet.
Task times stayed between 5 and 29 seconds, so the friction was discoverability, not speed.
[Key Learnings]
Read your own data honestly
A 100% completion rate next to a 60.8% misclick rate is the most useful thing in the study. Completion measured whether it worked. Misclicks measured whether it felt obvious.
Design for the domain, not just the screen
In a tool that moves money, I made bulk approvals a deliberate step rather than a default you could trigger by accident.
Prototype the hardest flow first
The workflow builder carried the most confusion and I left it to last. Next time I'd test it on its own, first.