"How Can We Not Know What We're Spending?"

Imagine trying to piece together a complex financial puzzle with information scattered across countless spreadsheets and databases. That's the challenge JP Morgan Chase's internal finance function faced. As one of the world's leading financial institutions, they needed to bring greater transparency to their budgeting and spending processes. But with manual data collation and disparate systems, it was a time-consuming and often frustrating task.

The User Experience team joined forces with the finance team to tackle this challenge head-on. Our approach: a collaborative 2-day kickoff workshop held in Columbus, Ohio. We brought together two key groups: Product Experience, and Technology. Now, these teams weren't just colleagues; they were a mix of seasoned veterans and fresh faces, all eager to contribute. One of the initial hurdles was getting everyone on the same page, especially with a steep learning curve for the newer members. Plus, they were in between hiring a head of product, which added another layer of complexity.

We didn't just throw information at them; we facilitated interactive exercises to uncover their primary and secondary personas, identify pain points, and define clear problem statements. We guided them through prioritizing data and setting objectives and key results. This workshop was like a lightbulb moment. It allowed us all to see the big picture and understand exactly what they needed.

One of the key outcomes was the ability to effectively configure ThoughtSpot, an AI-powered data visualization and search tool. Without our user experience research, the out-of-the-box experience wouldn't have been nearly as useful. We used the workshop insights to create sensible default data views, so users could get answers to over 80% of their questions right away. Think of it as giving them a head start, saving them countless hours of manual data wrangling.

The impact has been significant. They've centralized data from multiple sources, greatly reducing the need for tedious collation and correction. Two live dashboards are already in use within the finance function, providing clear insights into headcount, expenses, and product health. And there are plans to roll out even more in 2025, further enhancing transparency.

It's not just about the technology; it's about empowering people to make better decisions with clear, accessible data. We helped JP Morgan Chase turn a complex financial puzzle into a clear, insightful picture.

If you'd like to learn more about the ways a user experience researcher can help your organization streamline your data and improve transparency, let's chat.