Evo

Overview

Evo is a solution designed to tie all of Access' products together, powered by Copilot, Feed and Spaces. The product provides a platform for all existing customers that extends the functionality of their products.

The Challenge

Access has a vast collection of products spread across many divisions. The centralised solution had to make sure it could slot into each of these without interrupting how that product worked. Evo also had to make sure it was quick to deploy within divisions. My team and I needed to have something which would be up and running quickly whilst delivering a lot of value unique to each product.

Research

At the beginning of the project, research was the sole focus. However, research remained a fundamental part of the development process throughout.

Though research is continuous in this project, there was a clear window early on where research was the only focus.

The research phase consisted of:

• Several workshops with different stakeholders
• Multiple rounds of interviews with customers
• Competitor analysis
• Heuristic evaluation of Workspace (the precursor to Evo)
• Adaptation and evolution of my vision

"It allows us to create whatever we want from any of the systems and even in some instances link data together from the different systems."

"Everything in one place? One point of entry I would say. Yeah. Asking them to flit about causes no end of a problem."

"I think the main idea of it is to bring everything into one place so you're not sort of [going] between different systems, different platforms, different things. So you've got everything there in one place."

"…sometimes I feel like we might as well build our own internal system because I have so many touch points with it where actually… the logic was there that just could be automated and, and would set users reminders, you know, why haven't you completed this share or you know, make sure you complete that otherwise it's reported to your manager and the system."

Key Insights

Define

Through our research, we identified key challenges in the fragmented user experience across Access' product portfolio.

Design

It was required to explore multiple approaches through collaborative workshops with customers and business stakeholders, generating hundreds of sketches and wireframes.

The project was split into several key areas assigned to a designer each (including myself). I worked closely with the Design manager to ensure that we collaborated and had reviews. I set up a weekly 'Design Sync', a time where the whole team would get together and we would review work on a Friday.

Secondly I set up a fortnightly 'Evo review' where the team would present to the rest of the engineering function and stakeholders in order to share findings from research and Design outcomes.

Wireframes

Medium Fidelity

Higher Fidelity

Test & Iterate

I instructed the team I was working with that we would be doing weekly testing intervals to ensure we were moving forward with enough pace to test out ideas and pivot designs, if required. Due to the size of this project, there were many facets to design, validate and iterate.

Each week I would create a prototype (ranging in fidelity), ready to be tested through our testing platform Userzoom, as well as user interviews.

The collected data informed next steps and indicated if a certain aspect of the project should be deprioritised, allowing time to move onto the next most important part.

"I can see what needs doing urgently, so I definitely prefer that. Definitely."

"I'm interested in the unmissable items because it, it's highlighting this information in a different, in a more, I guess, urgent type of way, which I quite like."

Delivery

Evo evolved into three pillars based on capabilities that could integrate with any Access product.

1. Copilot: AI-Powered Assistant

An intelligent assistant that understands context across all Access products, helping users find information, complete tasks, and get answers without switching applications.

Design Innovation:

• Contextual awareness: Copilot knows which products users have and surfaces relevant actions
• Natural language interface lowering technical barriers
• Built-in prompts based on case studies per division
• Inline help that appears in workflow, not separate documentation

Copilot Interface Evolution

2. Feed: Unified Activity Stream

A centralised view of important information and notifications across all Access products, bringing the most critical updates to users rather than making them hunt.

Design Innovation:

• Smart prioritisation algorithm surfacing what needs attention through 'Unmissable'
• Customisable filters by product, urgency, and business function
• Action-oriented cards enabling task completion directly from Feed

Feed Design Evolution

3. Spaces: Cross-Product Workspaces

Collaborative environments where teams can bring together data from multiple Access products around specific projects or business processes.

Design Innovation:

• Widget model allowing for customisation
• Product-agnostic component system - tying the products together in the Evo space
• Permission inheritance from source products ensuring security
• Templates for common business scenarios (month-end close etc)

Feedback & Beta Testing

Beta testing with Copilot, early adopter programme with guaranteed customer feedback agreement, and Launch Darkly for A/B testing within customer pools.

Exploring Further

Learnings

What surprised me the most was how much people from the business got on board and pulled in the same direction once I learned to let go slightly. The project became so much larger than me and I had to learn to step back from it being my pet project and watch it grow into a key strategic part of Access' central strategy. Something I'm immensely proud of.

This project changed how I see everything. It showed me that I have a deep appreciation for strategy and the 'long game'. See how we took a product so unwanted to something desired by so many in the company really proved out how you can fix issues even when they are deep routed.

I learned that I can lead without being in the spotlight.