The High Stakes Match: Moving Beyond Spreadsheets to Intelligent Talent Allocation
The High Stakes Match: Moving Beyond Spreadsheets to Intelligent Talent Allocation
In the professional services industry, the "perfect match" is the foundation of client retention. However, as firms scale, the ability to manually track every employee's evolving certifications, software proficiencies, and industry specific experience becomes an impossible bottleneck.
In the professional services industry, the "perfect match" is the foundation of client retention. However, as firms scale, the ability to manually track every employee's evolving certifications, software proficiencies, and industry specific experience becomes an impossible bottleneck.
The Solution Discovery phase focused on translating our high level objectives into a functional, user centric ecosystem. We identified three core modules to bridge the gap between fragmented data and operational execution:
The Solution Discovery phase focused on translating our high level objectives into a functional, user centric ecosystem. We identified three core modules to bridge the gap between fragmented data and operational execution:
The primary objective was to create an intuitive, intelligent system within the portal to streamline matching and improve operational efficiency.
This feature transformed a fragmented process where key data lived in scattered spreadsheets into a centralized, intelligent engine.
The result is a system that not only accelerates onboarding but ensures every client is paired with a professional whose expertise precisely matches their unique business requirements.
This feature transformed a fragmented process where key data lived in scattered spreadsheets into a centralized, intelligent engine.
The result is a system that not only accelerates onboarding but ensures every client is paired with a professional whose expertise precisely matches their unique business requirements.
Duration
Duration
-5 months
-Feb 2025 - Jun 2025
-5 months
-Feb 2025 - Jun 2025
My Role
My Role
-Strategic Alignment
-Research & Design
-System Documentation
-User Testing
-Strategic Alignment
-Research & Design
-System Documentation
-User Testing
Team
Team
-1 PM
-1 EM, 1 QA, 8 Developers
-1 Product Designer (myself) & my Principal Designer
-1 PM
-1 EM, 1 QA, 8 Developers
-1 Product Designer (myself) & my Principal Designer
B2B FEATURE DESIGN
Context
Context
The Challenge
The Challenge
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objectives
Solution Discovery
Solution Discovery
FINAL FEATURES
FINAL FEATURES
Scope Matrix (Categorization)
Enables administrators to define specific professional categories and mandatory qualification checklists for different service levels.
Global Searchability
Provides HR and managers with a searchable dashboard to proactively identify expertise across the firm and fill specific skill gaps.
Talent Data Bank
Operates as a centralized "Single Source of Truth" to track employee certifications (e.g., CPA, ACCA), software proficiencies (QuickBooks, Xero), and comprehensive project histories.
Smart Capacity Filtering
Automatically excludes professionals who are currently at full workload capacity or on leave to ensure feasible assignments.
FINAL FEATURES USER FLOW
FINAL FEATURES USER FLOW
FINAL DESIGN PROTOTYPE
FINAL DESIGN PROTOTYPE
Start
Sales teams use guided digital forms to capture mandatory criteria like industry, software, etc
Professionals self manage "live" profiles & update their certificates & software knowledge in real time.
The system automatically categorizes client needs with searchable keywords
Engine cross-references requirements against the talent bank
The engine runs a suggestion algorithm that ranks available professionals
Managers perform a review of the professional's "Scope Matrix" against the client’s checklist
Upon selection, the system logs the project in the professional's experience history
End
Balancing Automation with Trust:
I discovered that successful automation requires a "human in the loop" approach, providing managers with side by side comparisons and ranked scores to validate system logic
Empowering Users through Ownership:
Allowing professionals to self manage their profiles in the Talent Data Bank significantly increased data accuracy compared to traditional top down administration
Empowering Users through Ownership:
Allowing professionals to self manage their profiles in the Talent Data Bank significantly increased data accuracy compared to traditional top down administration
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES
Significant increase in first time assignment success.
Match Accuracy
95%
Reduced "Time to Assignment" from days to minutes.
Reduced Time to Assignment
85%
Real-time "Skills Map" allowing leadership to identify and fill team expertise gaps proactively.
Enhanced Strategic Visibility
90%
Data Silos:
Employee skills and certifications were not centrally documented, making them invisible to decision makers.
Inconsistent Onboarding:
Client requirements were captured haphazardly, leading to "matching" based on incomplete information.
Operational Risk:
Sub optimal assignments led to client dissatisfaction, reassignments, and increased churn.
Create a single, searchable database for all employee skills and specializations.
Centralization
Implement a structured method for capturing essential client requirements during onboarding
Standardization
Automate the matching process to suggest the best fit talent, reducing manual effort and time to assignment
Optimization
Data Silos:
Employee skills and certifications were not centrally documented, making them invisible to decision-makers.
Inconsistent Onboarding:
Client requirements were captured haphazardly, leading to "matching" based on incomplete information.
Operational Risk:
Sub-optimal assignments led to client dissatisfaction, re-assignments, and increased churn.
Balancing Automation with Trust:
I discovered that successful automation requires a "human-in-the-loop" approach, providing managers with side-by-side comparisons and ranked scores to validate system logic
