Key activities
Key outcomes
Impact
55% Faster Customer On-boarding
Recommended changes that resulted in faster customer onboarding time, with a 55% reduction of manual steps.
Business Process & User Workflow Simplification
Removed the complicated workflow logic and unnecessary manual actions forced upon the user by Salesforce and SAP
Recognition & Praise
This project was showcased at a Thomson Reuters Global UX town hall, where it received significant recognition and praise from the wider design community.
Seminal Work
Years later, it remains well-regarded within the global UX and Service Design teams across Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and now LSEG — often cited as a reference point for newer initiatives.
About the company
Thomson Reuters is a global information services and media company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It provides professionals with trusted intelligence, technology, and solutions across legal, tax and accounting, compliance, government, and media industries. Known for its commitment to accuracy, speed, and insight, the company combines deep subject matter expertise with advanced technology to support critical decision-making in highly regulated environments.
Prior to 2018, Thomson Reuters operated a major Financial & Risk division that served the global financial industry — delivering market data, news, analytics, and trading tools to banks, asset managers, and financial professionals. A flagship product of this division was Eikon, a powerful financial data and analytics platform designed to rival the Bloomberg Terminal. Eikon offered real-time and historical market data, advanced charting, financial modeling, and integration with tools like Microsoft Excel. Its interface allowed for customized workflows and access to a broad range of asset classes.
In 2018, a majority stake in the Financial & Risk division was sold to Blackstone, forming a new entity called Refinitiv, which continued to develop Eikon until its eventual evolution into LSEG Workspace under the London Stock Exchange Group.
Background
Genesis is an internal end-to-end sales workflow designed to simplify the order and onboarding process for Thomson Reuters' strategic products, including Eikon and Elektron. It relies on a customised implementation of Salesforce and SAP as its primary user interfaces and integrates with a legacy Siebel system.
Task
Following negative to mixed feedback from Sales and Client Specialist teams, the Product Manager for the Genesis programme requested a UX review of the customer onboarding process for Eikon trials. The goal was to identify pain points and propose improvements.
I was assigned to this task.
Approach
I deliberately chose not to begin with the existing user feedback. Instead, I conducted an independent analysis of the workflow to form an unbiased view. My intention was to later compare my findings with the existing feedback to identify overlaps and gaps.
Task analysis
Using heuristic evaluation and recorded walk-throughs, I mapped the complete end-to-end journey required to onboard a customer—spanning three separate systems.
I documented every screen view, state change, and user action across Salesforce, SAP, and the internal Eikon Administration Services application, breaking the process down into discrete tasks and sub-tasks to expose pain points and inefficiencies.
Findings
The current process:
| Stage | Applications used | Required user actions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Set up an Eikon trial | 2 - Salesforce & SAP | 40 |
| 2. Assign a licence to a user | 1 - Eikon Administration Services | 18 |
| Total | 3 applications | 58 |
Summary of findings
- Workflow seems over-complicated and/or may not match users' mental model
- Over-complicated and inefficient user interface (UI)
- Too many steps
- Unnecessary manual tasks
- Lack of clear sign-posting of where users are in the process and what to do next
Validating findings
with user feedback
I reviewed internal feedback from the most recent Global Sales survey and mapped it against my own findings to identify recurring themes and outliers.
Unsurprisingly, all major pain points highlighted by users were already reflected in my analysis.
Proposal
Dedicated Genesis User-Interface
Design a tailored interface that:
- Guides users clearly through each step with improved signposting
- Displays only the necessary controls at each stage (progressive disclosure)
- Minimises manual input through automation
- Replaces the fragmented Salesforce experience with a streamlined, re-engineered workflow
API Dependency
Delivering this simplified UX/UI for setting up Eikon trials would require a unified API that connects Salesforce, SAP, and potentially the Eikon Administration Services system.
UI & interaction design
Wire-framing
Low-fidelity wireframes and mockups were created to demonstrate how a unified Genesis UI could consolidate all user interactions into a single application.
Key improvements include:
- Streamlined Workflow: Eliminates the need to navigate multiple Salesforce screens by leveraging a central API to populate data across Salesforce and SAP in the background.
- Reduced Manual Input: The system can pre-fill fields and automate tasks that previously required manual intervention, significantly reducing the number of steps.
- Real-time Validation: Automated validation and approval checks occur in real-time, removing the burden from the user.
- Seamless Handoff: When transitioning between systems (e.g., from Genesis UI to Eikon Administration Services), key parameters like user account numbers are passed automatically—avoiding manual copy-paste errors.
View the original report for example wireframes and mockups.
Testing
Task analysis of proposed solution
Results:
| Stage | Applications used | Required user actions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Set up an Eikon trial | 1 - Genesis UI | 9 |
| 2. Assign a licence to a user | 1 - Eikon Administration Services | 17 |
| Total | 2 applications | 26 |
Workflow Comparison
to set up an Eikon Trial and assign a licence to a user
Current Workflow
Salesforce, SAP, & Eikon Administration Services
58
user actions
Proposed Workflow
Genesis UI & Eikon Administration Services
26
user actions
Workflow Efficiency Gain
with proposed design solution
+55%
Stakeholder Feedback
"This is exactly what I was looking for. It's spot on. This really highlights in the simplest process we offer, Trials, how over-complex it really is and some options on how to improve."
— Alan B. Head of Business Process Management, Financial & Risk, Genesis Program Lead.
Solution 2
Enhance Existing Salesforce and SAP Interfaces
As an alternative to building a dedicated Genesis UI, my report also proposed enhancements to the existing Salesforce and SAP interfaces, focusing on usability and visual clarity:
-
Reduce Visual Clutter
- Remove unnecessary UI controls and text links
- Hide or disable controls until relevant (progressive disclosure)
-
Improve Layout and Structure
- Group related navigation elements and controls
- Optimise placement for better scanning and interaction
- Introduce clearer visual signposting to guide users through the process (e.g. via sidebar progress indicators)
-
Fix UI Behaviours
- Address quirks such as buttons showing inaccurate status labels (e.g. changing “Save” to “Saving…” without confirmation)
-
Apply UX Best Practices
- Follow established design conventions to improve overall usability and reduce friction in user workflows
Note: Without administrative privileges to Salesforce and SAP, I was unable to determine how feasible any of the above recommendations were.
UX Outcomes
Efficiency & Workflow Improvements
- Reduced onboarding actions from 58 to 26 steps (55% reduction)
- Simplified multi-step onboarding workflows
- Reduced time required to onboard new clients
- Decreased operational friction for onboarding teams
Usability Improvements
- Improved clarity of onboarding tasks and process flow
- Reduced cognitive load through simplified UI and task grouping
- Improved visibility of progress within onboarding workflow
Business Impact
- Increased operational efficiency for client onboarding teams
- Reduced manual processing and duplicated effort
- Faster client onboarding → improved time to revenue
- Lower operational risk through clearer process structure
Strategic Value
- Established clearer UX patterns for enterprise onboarding workflows
- Provided a scalable structure for future workflow improvements
- Contributed to modernisation of internal enterprise systems within the Eikon ecosystem
Conclusion
Project Impact & Outcomes
The report effectively convinced the Programme Manager that the system faced genuine usability challenges, aligning closely with early end-user feedback.
It presented a strong case that requiring users to interact with three separate UIs to complete a single workflow led to a fragmented experience. Additionally, the enforced use of Salesforce introduced numerous unnecessary steps, further compounded by poor navigation—such as excessive links and a lack of clear signposting — making the user journey even more complex.
Recognition & Praise
This project was showcased at a Thomson Reuters Global UX town hall, attended by design teams across all business units — including Legal, Tax & Accounting, Trade & Supply, and Reuters News — and received significant recognition and praise.
Seminal Work
Years later, it remains well-regarded within the global UX and Service Design teams across Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and now LSEG — often cited as a reference point for newer initiatives, as I discovered upon my return to Refinitiv / London Stock Exchange Group.
What I Would Have Done Differently
Due to tight deadlines for the initial report, my focus was limited to high-level issues—namely, the use of multiple UIs, poor navigation, excessive dialogs, and the number of steps required to onboard a new client. I did not conduct deeper usability analysis (e.g. time-on-task, keystroke count, mouse-click analysis).
Given more time, I would have also proposed integrating the product licence assignment process—currently handled via a separate in-house tool. Since this tool supports API access, I believe the workflow could be further streamlined by reducing manual user actions.
Original Report
View and download
Contains a step-by-step walk-through using blurred screenshots of Salesforce and other UIs (due to sensitive data), task analysis documentation with solution design wireframes / mockups, and appendix with user reported pain-points.
- Genesis UX Review - Eikon Trial Set-Up Process – (March 2017)
Testimonials
Yooch has been a great member of the team at Thomson Reuters. He is armed with a rock-solid set of core skills, covering interaction and UI design, prototyping and technical work, and the ability to systematically analyse, deconstruct, and improve complex workflows.
His extensive domain knowledge in finance and related areas, and his dedication to understanding new fields, has meant that he's been a key player on some of our most complex work.
The team and our senior product stakeholders around the business always enjoy working with Yooch thanks not only to his fast, efficient delivery, but also to the fact that he's a team player and has a knack for lifting everyone's mood when he's around. I have no hesitation in recommending him to other UX directors and teams.
— Andrew M. Director - Financial & Risk Experience Design Team
Andrew managed Yooch directly at Thomson Reuters
I've worked with Yooch on the same team for 2 years and on the same project for 6 months.
Yooch's design outputs are always top-notch with very well thought-through solutions. He is always able to quickly understand a design problem and evaluate different solutions to come up with a feasible one. The combination of his interaction design and front-end development skills also makes him a true asset on design projects. On one occasion he was able to code-up a working prototype of a complex input form for a last minute workshop to make sure we are able to gather useful findings from the end-users.
Yooch is a perfectionist, always demanding 100% from his work. I particularly like his way of solving problems creatively.
On a particular project, he was able to convince stakeholders of the severity of a convoluted business process by quantifying it and subsequently proposing a simpler process which gained interest from various teams within the company wanting to use similar methods.
Yooch is a great team player and collaborator. He is always helping out with design critiques and constantly testing his own concepts to make sure they work. His excellent interpersonal skills also makes him a joy to work with and his diplomacy always comes in handy during 'tough negotiations' with multidisciplinary teams.
I look forward to working with Yooch again in the future!
— Yeevon O. Senior Interaction Designer, Financial & Risk Experience Design Team
Yeevon worked with Yooch in the same group at Thomson Reuters
Have had the opportunity of working with Yooch several years now.
His contribution and Design expertise have been key in driving the Product forward.
He has a wide set of Design and Financial skills; always highly collaborative with team and open with his contributions and ideas.
— Jorge S. Global Head of Product Management, Desktop Platform
Jorge was an internal client of Yooch at at London Stock Exchange Group, Refinitiv & Thomson Reuters
If you need a professional and reliable UX designer with great and broad set of skills, great technical background, experience and ability to resolve the most complex design problems, look no further.
Yooch is also genuine, honest and fun to work with.
I hired him for two companies already and I'll do it without the shadow of hesitation if the chance comes again.
— Jiri S. Human-Centred Design Lead
Jiri managed Yooch directly at Lloyds Banking Group and worked together at Thomson Reuters
More testimonials
You can find 15 more testimonials from colleagues across Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and London Stock Exchange Group in the testimonials section.
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