Miso3

MISO3 Vendor Management – Cut Audit Prep by 70% and Tripled Adoption

Project: SaaS redesign for telecom vendor visibility
Outcome: Reduced audit prep from 20+ hours to 6; tripled user adoption
Client: B2B services firm using MISO3
Role: Product Designer & UX Strategist (sole designer)
Team: CEO, 2 Engineers, 1 Client Success Lead
Duration: 12 months

TL;DR

I redesigned a vendor management platform to reflect users’ existing spreadsheet workflows—cutting audit prep time by 70%, aligning ownership on 91% of subscriptions, and increasing product adoption from 28% to 84%.

Outcome / Problem Statement

The company couldn’t track over two dozen telecom vendors effectively.

• 65% of subscriptions lacked clear ownership

• 70% of audit time was spent compiling, not analyzing

• MVP adoption remained low—users defaulted to spreadsheets

Goal: Replace spreadsheet chaos with a centralized tool that matched how users already worked—without forcing unnatural changes.

Users and Needs

Users were finance and operations staff managing telecom contracts. They needed:

• Quick access to vendor usage and renewal info

• A familiar, low-friction way to input and manage data

• Reports that reflected real usage—not just paperwork

Users weren’t rejecting the product—they were rejecting workflow disruption.

My Role and the Team

As the sole designer, I led UX strategy, UI design, and validation:

• Conducted user interviews and workflow mapping

• Created interactive prototypes to test behavior-driven flows

• Collaborated with engineers on UI logic, validation, and data inputs

• Partnered with Client Success to monitor post-launch feedback

Constraints and Process

Constraints:

• Users highly dependent on spreadsheets

• Low tolerance for input friction

• Platform had to support audit-readiness at any moment

Process:

1. Interviewed users and mapped their Excel workflows

2. Audited MVP usage logs and error trends

3. Designed spreadsheet-style UI with real-time validation

4. Built mid- and hi-fidelity prototypes with inline editing and paste support

5. Tested key flows and rolled out guided onboarding

Design and Iteration Highlights

Initial Design:
Form-heavy UI, structured fields
Feedback:
“I already track this in Excel. Why do it twice?”

Redesign:

• Spreadsheet-style grid with keyboard shortcuts

• Paste-from-Excel, inline edits, real-time validations

• Smart suggestions and usage lookups from live data

• Context-aware reports generated directly from user inputs

Result: The familiarity of Excel, with the power of a SaaS platform.

Results (Before vs After)

“We can finally align our budget to actual usage. We’ve never had that clarity.”
— Finance Lead

What Worked

• Familiar Interface: Spreadsheet-style grid lowered adoption barriers

• Smart Validations: Prevented duplicate, outdated, or invalid entries

• Real-Time Reporting: Data-driven insights, not just static exports

• Onboarding Flow: Guided first-week setup improved early engagement

Reflection

Biggest Lesson:
We weren’t competing with spreadsheets—we were extending them.
Success came not from forcing change, but designing into users' existing behaviors.

Key Insight:
Technical improvements don’t guarantee adoption—friction determines value perception.

Next Steps

• Add bulk import with preview and conflict resolution

• Build role-specific dashboards for finance, operations, and leadership

• Integrate Slack alerts for upcoming renewals and audit flags