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Andy Yu

Andy Yu

Workiva

Simplifying the finanical, accounting, and auditing processes for 80% of Fortune 1000 companies.

Company
Workiva

Organization
Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC)

Role
User Experience Design Intern

Team
1 UX Design Intern
1 UX Designer
1 Product Manager
2 Software Engineers

Project Type:
Visual Design
End-to-end Design
Web Development
Risk & Compliance

OPPORTUNITY

Redesigning Evidence Testing Experience for Financial Auditors

Traditionally, complex financial compliance and auditing was done manually on paper, making it time-consuming and prone to errors. Workiva modernized this process by bringing it to the cloud, enabling teams to collaborate on complex financial audits in real time.

Over 6,400 companies rely on Workiva’s platforms. The Evidence Testing Experience (ETE) platform is an important tool used by financial auditors and SOX (Sarbane-Oxley) compliance teams to review, tag, and test financial documents.

As part of the Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team, my role was to revamp core aspects of the ETE experience, making it easier for users to navigate large documents, add and manage testing attributes, and confidently export and organize their work.

 
How can we turn manual complex auditing tasks into a streamlined, real-time digital workflow?

METRICS

80%

80% of Fortune 1000 companies use Workiva

340k

340,000 monthly users across 180 countries

97%

97% revenue retention rate

6,400+

Trusted by over 6,400 companies

OPPORTUNITY

Redesigning Evidence Testing Experience for Financial Auditors

I conducted stakeholder interviews with product managers, engineers, and senior designers, and sat in on usability testing to understand user pain points and areas of opportunities for the ETE platform. I also audited the ETE platform to identify usability gaps and visual inconsistencies.

We identified the following areas of improvement:

Navigating complex documents: Create a more efficient way for users to jump between sections in multi-page financial files.
Managing attribute tests: Clarify the annotation process and make metadata easier to access and understand.
Improving export reliability: Ensure that document exports can continue seamlessly, especially when files are unavailable or corrupted.
Filter capabilities: Expand filtering system, including managing access and locking capabilities for documents.
Consolidating panels: Integrate the Sample Matrix panel with the Right-Hand Panel for simplicity and efficiency.

TOOLBAR (TOP PANEL)

Introducing an attribute tagging feature to mark key document information

Financial auditors and SOX compliance teams often work with hundreds of pages of complex documents. Adding ‘test markers’ help users flag specific data points for review.

There are two entry points for tagging attributes: A dedicated toolbar button and right-click contextual menu. Attribute metadata is now housed on the Right-Hand Panel (RHP).

RIGHT-HAND PANEL (RHP)

Introducing an attribute tagging feature to mark key document information

The Sample Matrix was consolidated into the Right-Hand Panel (RHP) to for easy access to sample information. It freed up screen real estate, and gave users the ability to cross-reference data without breaking focus.

When redesigning the attribute testing feature of the RHP, we identified five core elements essential to attribute testing: test title, description of test, status (pass, fail, N/A), instance count indicator, and attribute footnotes. These components were organized into scannable cards within the RHP.

LEFT-HAND PANEL (LHP)

File Navigation Improvements

In complex audits, documents can be hundreds of pages long with many sections inside. This makes it hard for auditors to find the right part quickly, often causing them to scroll or try to remember where it is.

I redesigned the LHP to enhance section and sub-page navigation, allowing users to jump directly to relevant parts of the document without losing their place. In addition, I introduced an added search functionality, introduced filters for locked/unlocked status and for section documents.

TOOLBAR (TOP PANEL)

Introducing an attribute tagging feature to mark key document information

As a side project, I partnered with engineers and product managers to improve the export process’s reliability. Previously, if one corrupted file appeared, the entire export would fail.

I designed a more resilient flow that allows valid files to download uninterrupted, notifies users in real-time about any failed files, and generates a summary log for quick review. This update minimized disruption in the export process without requiring a full-scale redesign.

REFLECTION

A Multidisciplinary UX Experience!

This project was an incredibly rewarding opportunity to learn and apply a wide range of skills across the UX spectrum!

Beyond designing the Evidence Testing Experience platform, I had the chance to engage with UX research by sitting in on user testing sessions and listen firsthand insights into auditor workflows and pain points, collaborate with a content designer to craft concise messaging that aligns with company branding, and I also worked alongside engineers to review UI code, which broadened my understanding of technical implementation.

This cross-functional collaboration made the work especially exciting and has prepared me to contribute effectively in diverse product teams moving forward!