REVIEW POINTS
Enhancing workflow communication for accounting teams
Xero
SUMMARY
Our team launched a notes feature that kept teams informed about work status. While it received positive feedback, a communication gap emerged—accounting teams needed better ways to communicate around specific tasks.
I interviewed accounting practices across multiple regions and found that task overruns and errors were hindering productivity and limiting growth. Teams prioritized workflow efficiency and error reduction above all else.
Working with my Product Manager, I crafted a customer success narrative that earned leadership approval. By leveraging our existing notes feature, we reduced development costs and time-to-market. After iterative testing, Review Points became a robust solution addressing these core needs.
My role: I led design and research for Review Points, collaborating with a Product Manager, subject matter experts, Engineering Lead, and design colleagues. Our goal: leverage existing UI patterns while building a scalable communication solution.
User Experience
- •High satisfaction scores in rollout testing
- •Improved workflow communication
- •Top-tier usability ratings for financial software
- •Threaded review point conversations
Business impact
- •Met key objectives for product-market fit and engagement
- •Enabled modern, scalable codebase development
- •Strong adoption in first month
THE PROBLEM
Through research and competitive analysis, we identified a critical gap—our solution couldn't effectively track work progress throughout engagements. Teams were frustrated tracking work across multiple platforms, causing miscommunication and workflow disruptions.
Review Points act as a decision registry
Managers and partners use review point records to evaluate accountants work performance and as evidence in compliance related issues.
A Review Point requires a response
As standard practice, managers require a preparer accountant to reply to an outstanding review point before marking as closed.
“A review point is a visible nudge for preparers to resolve an account related issue.”
CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Through customer research, I mapped the workflow journey from error detection to resolution. The journey revealed that accountants view the Trial Balance as their "source of truth"—the starting point for calculations, reconciliation, and journal entries. More importantly, it serves as critical evidence during audits.
The communication breakdown typically occurred when managers identified discrepancies but lacked an efficient way to flag issues contextually. This led to scattered conversations across email, phone calls, and separate messaging platforms, creating accountability gaps and delayed resolutions.
I translated these insights into jobs-to-be-done statements that guided our design decisions and performance tracking throughout the product lifecycle:
Practice Manager: When I observe unusual account variance, I need to notify my accountant so they can take corrective action.
Accountant Preparer: When notified of an error, I need to discuss the issue to take informed action and resolve it efficiently.
“As a manager, that allows me a teaching moment, to go through a list of review points with a junior accountant.”
DESIGN APPROACH
I researched task management patterns from Asana to Google Keep, focusing on one central question: How might we enable practice teams to work more efficiently?
The core challenge: create a messaging system that felt integrated rather than bolted-on. We needed threaded conversations while maintaining the focused, task-oriented workflow managers required.
DESIGN EVOLUTION
Review Points evolved through three key phases based on user feedback. We initially built it as an extension of our existing notes feature to reduce development time, but this approach lacked the scalability and distinct workflow patterns the feature demanded. Customer testing revealed users needed review points to feel separate from notes since they represented a different work mode. Our final solution implemented a side drawer pattern that provided a focused workspace for managing review points while maintaining context within the broader trial balance interface. This approach tested exceptionally well, allowing users to complete communication tasks efficiently without the cognitive overhead of context switching.
An extension of notes
Notes Extension Built on existing notes feature to reduce development time. Met basic requirements but lacked scalability.
A standalone feature
Customer feedback revealed users wanted review points separate from notes—they represented a distinct workflow mode.
Side Drawer pattern
The side drawer enabled a focused workspace for managing review points while maintaining trial balance context. Users could complete micro-tasks efficiently without context switching.
The drawer pattern tested exceptionally well, with users appreciating the contextual conversations tied to specific accounts.
MEASURING SUCCESS
We tracked key signals across the customer journey: time-to-create first review point, monthly creation volume, conversation engagement, satisfaction trends, and support ticket impact. This validated that users weren't just adopting the feature—they were genuinely improving workflow efficiency.
TECHNICAL FOUNDATION
We built Review Points as a scalable foundation using established design system components while introducing new patterns for threaded workflow communication. This reduced complexity while enabling future integrations.
Defining goals, signals and metrics
- •Using JTBD to guide Mixpanel tracking implementation
- •Delivering tracking requirements with context and purpose
- •Key information included Attribution, Date created, Time, Search
IMPACT
Review Points transformed a workflow communication gap into a competitive advantage. By balancing constraints with user-centered design, we created a solution that helps accounting teams flag issues, communicate clearly, and complete tasks with greater confidence and accountability.