End-to-End Solution

A case study about the creation of a new product and operational optimization through the solution

In its three years of existence, Wiipo serves more than 1,300 client companies. These companies care about their employees and want to offer benefits while avoiding an increase in their workload.

To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted confidential information in this case study. All information is my own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Wiipo or Grupo Senior Sistemas.

START

Employees using Wiipo can access their payroll data, request payroll loans, and manage benefits and partnerships. This requires a system capable of managing the entire process and maintaining employee benefits.

I had the opportunity to work on the development of end-to-end solutions: the management platform, the operations platform, and the employee app.

In this case study, we’ll explore the process of building the client platform for its first version, focusing on payroll loans and digital payslips.

CONTEXT

In 2022, we launched the Wiipo Payroll Loan product in the app. We had the opportunity to collaborate with credit partners to offer this benefit to new companies as well as those already using the Digital Payslip product for their employees.

The product saw immediate adoption. Employees could use the app to run their loan simulations. Once submitted for approval, they were able to track changes to their loan status directly in the app. This ease of use became a key factor in the product's adoption among users.

Similarly, companies recognized the significant value of including the product in their corporate benefits offerings. They saw it as an opportunity to support the financial well-being of their employees, use the benefit as an incentive for new hires, and provide a safety net for employees in case they needed quick access to emergency credit—a highly positive feature for talent retention.

THE CHALLENGE

As the number of users requesting payroll loans via the Wiipo app grew, we saw an opportunity to centralize the management of benefits offered by companies. We understood that, as a new brand competing with industry giants, we needed to provide an exceptional experience within our product.

At the time these discussions began, the benefits management experience was decentralized. While HR could manage the Digital Payslip product directly on the Wiipo platform, payroll loan management was handled on our commercial partners' platforms.

To get closer to our clients, better understand their challenges, and assist their processes, we began discussing a more robust, centralized platform that would offer a unique, personalized experience tailored exclusively to our target management persona.

Initially, the platform was quite simple, with very basic features designed for easy Digital Payslip management. However, conversations with the sales and support teams revealed the platform’s strategic potential in attracting new companies.

To better understand the challenges faced by companies and the reasons behind rejections from unqualified leads or churns, we began asking questions:

What is the manager's process routine?

What is their daily workflow?
What tasks are the most time-consuming?
How can we reduce process time?
What is their biggest pain point?
What are the most valuable opportunities to optimize time?

Where do we stand in the market?

What is our business value in offering a service like this?
Where are we positioned today?
What do people expect from Wiipo?
What are we delivering to our clients?
How do we get closer to our competitors?

How does the market offer solutions?

How do companies with similar models offer management solutions?
What experiences have managers had with similar platforms?
How do competitors integrate information?
How do they optimize the user’s process?

What is the manager’s priority?

What is the client’s biggest pain point?
What should be the first step in building a solution?
What should be included in a V1?
What’s the most valuable feature to include in this first version?

MY ROLE

I joined the Wiipo product team in 2021 and was responsible for leading the design ownership of the new platform experience. I led the design workflow and experience design for this project from 2023 to 2024. I collaborated with a product team that included a Product Head, a Product Manager, and a CTO.

My goal was to understand the entire process and routine of the HR manager persona. I aimed to identify opportunities where technology could optimize time and simplify the management of benefits we offered to companies.

In this case study, you will see some of the processes and methodologies used to achieve the final UI construction.

PARTNERSHIPS AS A BRIDGE

Our first step was to meet with our partners to assess the feasibility of integrating our platforms. These meetings aimed to understand the technical and time efforts required to build an integrated solution using APIs versus building the solution independently.

Key questions included:

Does the partner already have this API, or does it need to be developed?

What are the technical requirements for initiating the integration?

How long would it take to integrate the information?

From these discussions, we designed a structure that worked with APIs built by us and provided by our partners. This allowed us to align expectations regarding development timelines and resources needed for the solution.

With the feasibility of development more clearly defined, we moved on to the next phase: understanding the users' routines. How do managers carry out their processes? How do they currently use our partners' platform? What experiences have they had with similar products?

USER INTERVIEWS

We conducted interviews with clients who had subscribed to the Payroll Loan product. Criteria for user selection included companies with low, medium, and high volumes of loan requests.

The primary goal of this research was to understand the operations of companies of different sizes and design a democratic solution.

We asked questions like:

How do requests reach the manager?
How does the manager approve or reject requests?
How does the manager view requests?
What information does the manager want to access?
What is their experience with the partner's platform?

We interviewed 15 companies, focusing on the manager responsible for benefits or loans. Interviews were conducted online, lasted an average of 25 minutes, and involved one or two professionals per session.

User intervew print. User identity was preserved

My company has many branches, and each operates differently. I wish I could customize benefits based on each branch, but I can't do this easily right now...

- User

There are employees I’d like to block from this option. I always have to deny their requests manually, often because they are in the process of leaving or have already been scheduled for termination...

- User

I manage over two thousand employees, you know? I’d like a way to pre-approve or automatically block certain requests...

- User

I’d like to see the total amount requested by our employees. It would be helpful to understand how well this benefit is being utilized in our company...

- User

KEY INSIGHTS

ALL IN ONE

62% of respondents reported dissatisfaction with managing products across multiple platforms.

As anticipated, decentralized management was problematic. 62% of users expressed confusion due to having multiple platforms for benefits management. Many reported difficulties managing multiple logins and passwords, leading to frequent account recovery requests—a trend also confirmed by support tickets.

PARAMETERIZATION

49% of respondents were dissatisfied with the available configuration options

The main frustration was the inability to set predefined criteria for automatically rejecting certain requests. This lack of parameterization added manual review work for managers.

EYE ON THE MARKET

At this stage, we conducted an analysis with 6 competitors, identifying around 25 criteria that could guide the research during this discovery phase.

In this way, we compiled a list of criteria that appeared in more than one player. Understanding what was considered vital for building the platform from the market's perspective started to become clearer.

We gathered insights on potential market differentiators, which players are the most established and recognized among users, the pain points captured from conversations with users, and market behavior, which all guided us to start drafting a possible flow for the platform.

These insights helped clarify what was considered vital for the build from a market perspective:

Player 1: 87% of the criteria covered.
Player 2: 80% of the criteria covered.
Player 3: 63% of the criteria covered.
Player 4: 49% of the criteria covered.
Player 5: 44% of the criteria covered.
Player 6: 38% of the criteria covered.

Competitor analysis – some information was hidden and others were reduced for the case.

In this way, we gathered insights on potential market differentiators, which players are the most established and recognized among users, the pain points captured in conversations with users, and market behavior, all of which guided us to start drafting a possible flow for the platform.

CARD SORTING

We conducted a Card Sorting exercise to organize the menu structure and information. Teams from support, CS, technology, product, and implementation participated in building the client platform’s new structure.

Card Sorting – Collaborative activity. Some information was hidden and others were reduced for the case.

A dot voting exercise helped refine the features for the Now, Next & Later prioritization method, streamlining efforts for the platform’s V1 and future updates.

Sitemap – Menu structure. Some information was hidden and others were reduced for the case.

NOW, NEXT & LATER

We used the "Now, Next & Later" method to structure a V1 and the subsequent waves of the platform’s launch. Once again, we relied on the support of teams from customer support, CS, technology, product, and deployments.

THE FRAMEWORK

With the direction of the waves that we derived from the "Now, Next & Later" method, and the structure we built in Card Sorting, we created a sitemap to understand the effort divisions according to the products that would be available in this first version. Since each team had a direct responsibility for their product, the same squad working on mobile consignments would also work on the platform. This way, our plan was to deliver a high-value set of features in a short time for the user.

THE FIRST DRAFTS

With the direction of the waves that we derived from the "Now, Next & Later" method, and the structure we built through Card Sorting, we created a sitemap to understand the effort divisions based on the products that would be available in this first version. Since each team had direct responsibility for their product, the same squad working on mobile consignments would also work on the platform. In this way, our plan was to deliver a high-value set of features in a short time for the user.