Reduced customer licence request from ~5 days to 90 mins
Embedded automation removed 85% of accidental requests, freeing up time to surface real user needs faster, with 100% of ongoing licence requests granted same-day access. Cost centre data capture upfront unlocked £10k in savings and recovery.
RESEARCH & INSIGHTSDelays caused by the ‘noise’: accidental Figma licence requests
Around 20 Figma licence requests came through a week, through multiple channels - Figma, email, and Teams - with no clear process, costing time and money.
With no user clarity on license types, costs, or approval steps, requests took ~5 days to process. Other admins often granted urgent access without cost centre approval, which had led to a £5,700 cost to our team.
Because most requests were accidental, following up felt inefficient and resource-draining, evident from the service journey across request channels and approval paths. This created friction and delays for genuine cases.
Excerpt: Through a quick call, I gathered feedback from a genuine requestor who was delayed in collaborating
Reducing user confusion at the point of request
ANAYLSIS & PRIORITISATIONTo address this, I explored several ways of improving clarity and guidance at the point of request. This included clearer written guidance, a structured request form or briefing to managers. Each option was assessed against effort, impact and its ability to also reduce unnecessary requests. The Microsoft Form and Email were the winning ideas that could be implemented in a few days, and are recognisable formats to users across the business.
Analysis of the user journey showed that users lacked clarity on licence types, costs and approval steps leading to avoidable follow-up work with no value to either Design Ops or the requestor.
Power Automate or SCIM provisioning (automation through ServiceNow) were other considerations to be explored following the 'low hanging fruit’ wins.
Excerpt: An effort / impact matrix highlighting the value of different options
ITERATING DESIGNSThe content aimed to educate and empower decision making
I created an initial email and form to provide clarify the request process. When some users continued to ask follow-up questions, I iterated on the content to support better decision making.
Key areas of improvement, across email and form, included:
Recognition over recall (e.g. seat type, role, cost centre details)
Clear, simple tone with direct action
Clear expectations set for response times
Excerpt: Email intro - v1 (top) to v2 (bottom)
Excerpt: Email table - v1 (top) to v2 (bottom)
OUTCOMESAutomation reduced handling time for genuine requests
Measuring time to approval showed a clear improvement across each iteration, demonstrating how reducing confusion first and then introducing automation on a clear journey can significantly improve internal user journeys.
Excerpt: Time taken to approve licence requests across iterations
Once the content and request journey were stabilised, I introduced automation through Power Automate to notify users with the email content immediately. This ensured genuine requests could be approved faster, while reducing time spent triaging accidental submissions.
FEEDBACKUser feedback reflected improved decision making
Responses to the updated email and form showed users correctly identifying the level of access they needed, reducing accidental licence requests.
Excerpt: Responses to emails showing clarity of users from email and form
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