Structure
Split setup into five decision-focused steps.
Xactly Corp · Associate Product Designer · 2024–2025
Making commission setup safer for finance admins under audit pressure.
Commission workflows with validation, preview, and auditability for finance teams.
65%→87%task success
12admins tested
3/12→11/12preview discovery/use
Overview
Financial complexity had to stay visible.
The goal was not to make commission logic look simple. It was to organize the rules, validation, preview, and approval states so admins could understand the consequences before payroll.
The problem
The old flow delayed confidence until the riskiest moment.
- Dense configurationTier relationships were difficult to inspect while building a plan.
- Hidden consequencesAdmins could not easily see how the rules changed payout behavior.
- Risky reorderingDrag-and-drop introduced mistakes in a high-stakes setup task.
- Quiet reassuranceOnly 3 of 12 participants noticed the payout preview in Round 1.
The solution
One guided path from rules to approval.
Verify
Keep validation and payout preview beside the rules.
Approve
Make review, ownership, and change history explicit.
Decision 01
Turn setup into five clear decisions.
I compared single-page, seven-step, and guided five-step structures. The five-step direction balanced clarity with repeat-user speed.
- Context first. Establish the plan before asking for detailed rules.
- One risk per step. Keep each screen focused on the next decision.
- State stays visible. Show where the admin is and what remains.
Decision 02
Put validation beside the payout rules.
Round 1 showed that Step 3 was too dense and the preview was easy to miss. I moved reassurance to the point where doubt appeared.
12 adminsTesting exposed dense rules, risky reordering, and a preview that was too quiet.
- Preview in context. Show payout consequences while rules are still editable.
- Deliberate controls. Replace drag-and-drop with safer tier actions.
- Errors before publish. Surface validation before the final review.
Decision 03
Make the final review a verification step.
The review brought rules, exceptions, ownership, and approval context together before the plan could affect payroll.
- Consequences first. Summarize what the plan will do, not only what was entered.
- Approval is visible. Show who must review changes.
- History remains available. Keep an inspectable record after launch.
Outcome
The revised workflow made confidence measurable.
In scoped usability testing, participants found and used the safeguards more reliably after the revisions.
First-time task success moved from 65% to 87% in the 12-admin study.
Preview use moved from 3 of 12 participants to 11 of 12.
Deliberate tier controls replaced the drag-and-drop interaction that caused mistakes.
Evidence boundary: results are limited to usability testing with 12 client admins. Project screens were supplied by Savita; this preview does not claim revenue, time savings, adoption, or production causality.
Final product
The guided commission workflow.
The final screens appear together only after the problem, design decisions, testing, and outcome.
