What finance leaders were missing
In interviews, AP Managers, Controllers, and CFOs kept telling us the same thing: they didn't need more numbers. They needed to know what they were missing, what required attention, and how to stay ahead of month-end close. Sage Intacct's dashboard was built for monitoring metrics, not managing work. Static widgets lacked role-specific context, and without proactive notifications, critical issues could go unnoticed.
Understanding where work breaks down. I facilitated a cross-functional workshop with Product to map the AP lifecycle and explore the motivations, frustrations, and needs of different roles, from AP Clerks to CFOs. We uncovered recurring challenges around manual follow-ups, limited visibility, delayed approvals, and unexpected issues. These findings helped us identify where the experience needed to become more proactive and role-aware.
Identifying opportunities for intelligence. Working with the design team, I explored how AI could detect missing bills, duplicates, pricing discrepancies, and anomalies before they became larger problems. We aligned on improving cash flow visibility, reducing manual work, and keeping accountants in control.
Challenging the dashboard model. Around this time, our VP of UX shared Nathan Rosidi's The Death of Dashboards. It sharpened a question I was already exploring:
If dashboards show us what's happening, what should the experience become when AI can understand what actually needs attention?
I saw an opportunity to move Sage Intacct beyond passive reporting toward an adaptive, role-aware workspace that connects financial insights directly to action.
From monitoring to attention
The challenge wasn't simply to modernize a dashboard. It was to rethink how finance teams identify priorities, make decisions, and take action before issues affect month-end close.
I defined two priorities for the experience:
Fix the foundation. Address the limitations of static dashboards by introducing role-specific information and proactive notifications.
Add intelligence. Use AI to prioritize issues, explain why they matter, and guide users toward action while keeping them in control.
Traditional Dashboard: Show me what I'm monitoring.
Intelligent Workspace: Show me what needs my attention.
Defining a new interaction model
I deliberately called it a workspace because dashboards imply passive monitoring. I established the model Understand → Prioritize → Notify → Act to connect financial insights with decisions and actions.
Designing for different roles. I defined how the experience would adapt to each user's responsibilities:
AP Manager: Stalled approvals, payment risks, anomalies, and team workload.
Controller: Cash position, financial risks, and close readiness.
Finance Leader: Business performance and decisions requiring attention.
Establishing design principles. I grounded the experience in three principles informed by Nielsen Norman Group's usability heuristics:
Working with Product, Engineering, and AI, I used Figma, Figma Make, and ChatGPT to explore scenarios and prototype the experience for stakeholder evaluation.
Getting leadership to invest
Building on existing AI capabilities. I was already leading AP intelligence design, partnering with Engineering and AI teams on anomaly detection and automation. I brought that knowledge into the Intelligent Workspace, grounding proactive insights in capabilities already under development rather than speculative AI features.
Leading the design direction. After presenting the concept to Product Managers and Design Directors, I brought in a Senior Product Designer I was mentoring to expand the exploration. I owned the core workspace experience and partnered with the Product Management Director on end-to-end approval workflows. The Senior Designer focused on first-time setup and turning workspace metrics into presentations.
Connecting intelligence to action. I designed a scenario demonstrating how an anomaly could move through five stages:
Detect: AI identifies an unusual invoice.
Explain: Copilot shows why it was flagged and offers next steps.
Escalate: The AP Manager routes the issue to the Controller.
Approve: The Controller resolves the issue through a text-based approval.
Automate: An administrator reviews and saves an AI-drafted rule for handling similar exceptions.
The concept demonstrated how AI could reduce manual intervention while preserving human oversight and financial controls.
Securing executive support. I reviewed the experience with our VP of Design, incorporated feedback to close gaps in the workflows, and produced a vision video following a Controller through her workday. Rather than presenting disconnected screens, the video demonstrated how the workspace would operate in context.
The Product Management Director presented the video to executive leadership, helping secure support to continue investing in the Intelligent Workspace.
Turning research into product direction
Leading cross-functional alignment. I partnered with our Design Director and a Senior Product Designer to plan and facilitate a two-day workshop with Product Managers, Researchers, and Designers. We explored real financial scenarios, prioritized opportunities, and aligned on four experience requirements: predictable, trustworthy, simple, and actionable. Proactive anomaly detection and identifying pricing discrepancies before payment emerged as priorities.
Validating the concept. UX Research evaluated workspace concepts with Sage Intacct customers across two rounds of 10 sessions, including AP Managers, Controllers, and CFOs.
9 of 10 found the Intelligent Workspace useful for bringing fragmented work into one actionable view.
8 of 10 valued anomaly detection.
6 of 10 preferred moving from the workspace into familiar product screens for detailed work.
Only 2 of 10 saw added value in configuring the workspace through chat.
Clarifying the experience strategy. Research challenged an important assumption: How is this different from a dashboard? The findings helped clarify how each experience should support a different user need.
Experience | Role | What the user is asking for |
|---|---|---|
Dashboard | Monitor | Show me the information I care about. |
Intelligent Workspace | Prioritize | Show me the information I care about. |
Copilot | Assist | Help me ask, create, configure, or simplify something when conversation is easier. |
Product UI | Investigate + Act | Give me the detail and control I need to complete complex financial work. |
Outcome. What began as an opportunity I identified outside the original project scope became an executive-backed product direction. Leadership committed to continued investment, and the UX team is advancing the Intelligent Workspace beyond my contract.
The work reinforced a principle that shaped my approach to adaptive UX: AI shouldn't replace familiar interfaces. It should help people move between the right experiences based on what they're trying to accomplish.
Success measures identified: Days to close, outstanding AP items at close, exceptions caught before payment, and time from invoice receipt to approval.
Use case framework
Prioritization board from workshop
