Case Study.

Transforming Carbon Accounting:
From a Spreadsheet Jungle to an Automated SaaS Platform

Role:

Principal UX & Service Designer

Project Duration:

9 months

Project Duration:

9 months

Under A Non-disclosure Agreement

This case study represents my own work and insights. To view further details, please Request Access.

Under A Non-disclosure Agreement

This case study represents my own work and insights. To view further details, please Request Access.

Overview

Challenge

Challenge

Transform a start-up’s manual workflows to an automated platform, allowing the business to scale rapidly

Services

Services

  • User research

  • Service design

  • Wireframing

  • User experience design

  • User interface design

  • Prototyping

  • Design system updates

  • Developer collaboration

  • Migration strategy

  • User research

  • Service design

  • Wireframing

  • User experience design

  • User interface design

  • Prototyping

  • Design system updates

  • Developer collaboration

  • Migration strategy

Deliverables

Deliverables

  • User research reports

  • Service blueprints

  • Fully detailed journey maps

  • Data state models

  • Design system updates

  • Wireframes

  • User interface designs

  • High-fidelity prototypes

  • User research reports

  • Service blueprints

  • Fully detailed journey maps

  • Data state models

  • Design system updates

  • Wireframes

  • User interface designs

  • High-fidelity prototypes

Impact

Impact

Large reduction in processing time

Fewer errors

Capacity increase

NPS increase

Large reduction in processing time

Fewer errors

Capacity increase

NPS increase

Tools

Tools

Figma & Figjam

Notion

When the copy-paste economy is holding back your growth

Picture this: It's 2023, and carbon accountants are still juggling dozens of spreadsheets, manually copying data between systems, and hoping they haven't made a calculation error that could cost their clients millions. Meanwhile, regulatory demands are intensifying, clients expect real-time insights, and the team is drowning in manual processes that simply don't scale.

Sound familiar?

This is the challenge I tackled when I was brought in to completely reimagine how carbon accounting workflows could be automated.

My approach

Unpick the business reason

Designing beautiful products can be fun, but designing beautiful products that are the crucial step in scaling the business - now that's what I thrive on.

The Business Need

The Business Need

The business couldn't take on new clients without hiring exponentially more staff

Get under the hood

I don't believe in designing from an ivory tower. So I rolled up my sleeves and embedded myself with the teams doing the actual work.

What I Discovered

What I Discovered

Watching carbon accounting consultants work was like watching a masterclass in creative problem-solving - and a horror show of inefficiency. These brilliant professionals were spending 60% of their time on data wrangling (and swearing at Excel spreadsheets) instead of the strategic analysis their clients actually valued.

Workflow complexities

Complex handoffs between team members created single points of failure

Customer communication gaps

Clients had no visibility into project progress, leading to constant status update requests

Knowledge silos

Critical process knowledge lived in people's heads, not systems

Compliance stress

Manual audit trail creation was consuming entire days per project

Mapping the Mess: Current State Analysis

I created comprehensive service blueprints that revealed the true scope of the challenge. To ensure all of my findings were accurately representing the process and pain-points, I validated the blueprints and resulting data models in a series of workshops with the internal team.

What looked like a simple "carbon accounting process" was actually a complex web of:

47

47

distinct process steps

12

12

handoff points

8

8

manual compliance checkpoints

3 weeks

From policy idea to implementation

10+

10+

different customer communication touch-points with inconsistent messaging

The visualisation was shocking. Even to the team who lived this reality daily.

Rapid low-fidelity iteration

One of my most favourite tools to utilise when designing a solution for a complex problem are low-fidelity, usually hand-drawn wireframes, allowing for large number of ideas to be tested thus reaching the most elegant solution fast.

This might appear as to be a rather slow process, however I completed the work described in this section in just under one month, delivering current and future state service blueprints, data models, user flows, and an interactive prototype, all of which acted as the basis of the following solution.

The Solution: Intelligent Automation with Human Insight

My Design Philosophy

Automate the Tedious, Liberate the Talent

Rather than replacing human expertise, I designed a system that eliminates the mundane tasks so professionals could focus on what they do best - strategic carbon accounting analysis.

My Design Philosophy

Automate the Tedious, Liberate the Talent

Rather than replacing human expertise, I designed a system that eliminates the mundane tasks so professionals could focus on what they do best - strategic carbon accounting analysis.

Internal automated system that handles the heavy lifting while keeping humans in control of critical decisions
Internal automated system that handles the heavy lifting while keeping humans in control of critical decisions
Internal automated system that handles the heavy lifting while keeping humans in control of critical decisions
Thoughtful Migration Strategy

The Challenge: Waving a magic stick and removing manual work overnight is everyone's dream, but building a complex system in a single step is neither practical nor something anyone would recommend.

My Solution: I worked with the Head of Engineering to craft a user-centred strategy to approach building and migrating to the new system in a considered and careful way, where we are removing manual steps from the workflow, not accidentally adding more.

Impact: Zero downtime during the entire migration process.

Thoughtful Migration Strategy

The Challenge: Waving a magic stick and removing manual work overnight is everyone's dream, but building a complex system in a single step is neither practical nor something anyone would recommend.

My Solution: I worked with the Head of Engineering to craft a user-centred strategy to approach building and migrating to the new system in a considered and careful way, where we are removing manual steps from the workflow, not accidentally adding more.

Impact: Zero downtime during the entire migration process.

Intelligent Data Ingestion

Before: Highly paid carbon accounting consultants had to manually sort through thousands of submitted documents of various formats, coming through a number of different sources.

My Solution: The system automatically processes multiple file formats and data sources and extracts the required information, ready to be approved by the consultants.

Impact: 75% reduction in manual processing time across data processing workflows.

Intelligent Data Ingestion

Before: Highly paid carbon accounting consultants had to manually sort through thousands of submitted documents of various formats, coming through a number of different sources.

My Solution: The system automatically processes multiple file formats and data sources and extracts the required information, ready to be approved by the consultants.

Impact: 75% reduction in manual processing time across data processing workflows.

Exception Handling

Before: Only manual checks were performed on both submitted and calculated data looking for errors and anomalies, leading to multiple issues missed internally.

My Approach: Projects automatically flow to the right team members based on complexity and expertise

Result: 300% increase in policy creation by non-technical users.

Exception Handling

Before: Only manual checks were performed on both submitted and calculated data looking for errors and anomalies, leading to multiple issues missed internally.

My Approach: Projects automatically flow to the right team members based on complexity and expertise

Result: 300% increase in policy creation by non-technical users.

Real-time Collaboration

Before: The carbon accountants had to manually chase customers (and third parties providing services to customers) to ensure all required data was submitted in a timely manner, multiplying their workload.

My Solution: Integrated the communication process within the system, utilising intelligent, automated reminders and allowing internal users and customers to coordinate seamlessly during the entire process.

Business Impact: 50% faster data submission times for customers as well as over 20 hours per week freed up time for internal users.

Real-time Collaboration

Before: The carbon accountants had to manually chase customers (and third parties providing services to customers) to ensure all required data was submitted in a timely manner, multiplying their workload.

My Solution: Integrated the communication process within the system, utilising intelligent, automated reminders and allowing internal users and customers to coordinate seamlessly during the entire process.

Business Impact: 50% faster data submission times for customers as well as over 20 hours per week freed up time for internal users.

Customer-Facing Platform: Transparency and Self-Service
Customer-Facing Platform: Transparency and Self-Service
Customer-Facing Platform: Transparency and Self-Service

Before: Clients submitted data and waited weeks for updates

After

Project Dashboard

Customer Pain Point: Lack of visibility, updates, and understanding of the process, leading to multiple support tickets and low Net Promoter Score (NPS) results.

My Solution: Live visibility into data submission, calculations progress, and milestones.

Results: 60% reduction in support ticket volume. 120% improvement in project visibility satisfaction.

Customer Pain Point: Lack of visibility, updates, and understanding of the process, leading to multiple support tickets and low Net Promoter Score (NPS) results.

My Solution: Live visibility into data submission, calculations progress, and milestones.

Results: 60% reduction in support ticket volume. 120% improvement in project visibility satisfaction.

Self Service Reports

Customer Pain Point: As carbon accounting is becoming a requirement for companies, the number of specific reports for various governmental bodies had been steadily increasing and, due to all of them were prepared manually - so was the amount of time customers had to wait for them.

My Solution: Customers can access and download reports independently.

Result: 85% adoption of new self-service features within the first two months.

Customer Pain Point: As carbon accounting is becoming a requirement for companies, the number of specific reports for various governmental bodies had been steadily increasing and, due to all of them were prepared manually - so was the amount of time customers had to wait for them.

My Solution: Customers can access and download reports independently.

Result: 85% adoption of new self-service features within the first two months.

Interactive Data Visualisation

Customer Pain Point: Customers couldn't understand the technical language used in static reports, leading to not being able to take any action to improve their results.

My Solution: Carbon impact insights presented in engaging, actionable formats.

Results: NPS improved from 53 to 81 (that's over 50% improvement).

Customer Pain Point: Customers couldn't understand the technical language used in static reports, leading to not being able to take any action to improve their results.

My Solution: Carbon impact insights presented in engaging, actionable formats.

Results: NPS improved from 53 to 81 (that's over 50% improvement).

What made this work

Collaboration was the key

This wasn't a solo effort - it was a masterclass in cross-functional collaboration. Working intensively with operations teams, engineering, and customers throughout the process was crucial for success.

This wasn't a solo effort - it was a masterclass in cross-functional collaboration. Working intensively with operations teams, engineering, and customers throughout the process was crucial for success.

User-Centred Design

Every design decision was validated against real user needs and workflows. No assumptions, no ivory tower thinking - just solutions that actually worked for the people using them.

Every design decision was validated against real user needs and workflows. No assumptions, no ivory tower thinking - just solutions that actually worked for the people using them.

Migration Strategy as Product Design

Treating the migration process as a design challenge in itself was critical. The transition experience was just as important as the final product.

Treating the migration process as a design challenge in itself was critical. The transition experience was just as important as the final product.

Continuous Validation & Iteration

Built-in feedback loops and rapid iteration cycles ensured we could respond quickly to issues and opportunities as they emerged.

Built-in feedback loops and rapid iteration cycles ensured we could respond quickly to issues and opportunities as they emerged.

What I Learned

Early and Continuous Customer Communication

Keeping clients informed throughout the migration process turned potential anxiety into excitement about improvements.

Cross-Functional Validation

Having technical, operations, and compliance teams validate every design decision prevented costly mistakes and ensured feasibility.

Whether you're dealing with regulatory compliance, manual processes, or scaling challenges, I specialise in designing solutions that respect the human expertise whilst dramatically improving efficiency.

What I bring:

Deep research and discovery to understand your unique challenges

Deep research and discovery to understand your unique challenges

Collaborative design process that includes your team throughout

Collaborative design process that includes your team throughout

Migration strategy expertise to ensure smooth transitions

Migration strategy expertise to ensure smooth transitions

Measurable results that impact both user satisfaction and business growth

Measurable results that impact both user satisfaction and business growth

I'm currently available for new projects and would love to explore how user-centred design can solve your most pressing challenges.

Ready to Transform Your Complex Workflows?

Get in Touch

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Ready to Transform Your Complex Workflows?

Get in Touch

arrow_forward

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Contact me

Ready to Transform Your Complex Workflows?

Get in Touch

arrow_forward

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Contact me