design challenges

differing perspectives

While the experience is client-facing first and the tax pro will be operating on their own separate screen, what the client sees will affect the interaction between both parties. Both perspectives deserve consideration.

transparency vs. presentation

One of the biggest pieces of feedback we found from our initial client research was that there were often questions or discomfort when what the client was seeing was not the same as what was on the tax pro’s screen, which is sometimes visible to the client. We want to give the client a purposeful, edited experience, but don’t want to create dissonance or confusion if the two screens don’t match.

difficult data mapping

While it’s possible to show data updating in a summary section, the technical partners on the project expressed concerns about the difficulty of mapping this data. Any designs leaning on that as a feature needed to take that into account and evaluate what is necessary or adding value.

urgent need for mvp

When I came on board the Companion team, there was an urgent need from the business side to bring an MVP version of Companion to the field as soon as possible. That consideration set our design effort priorities and restricted exploration time to the shorter side.

pacing & engagement

In the tax interview, there’s really not clear built-in orientation for the client as to where they are, where they’re going, etc. outside of what clues can be gathered from the client and tax pro monitors — it’s all up to the tax pro’s discretion. Likewise, while there are common steps in each interview, the actual points of conversation are up to the tax pro to deliver. Can the pacing and engagement in the experience be improved?

change aversion

While we didn’t hear this as much from clients, field, product and business stakeholders expressed concerns when a great degree of deviation was proposed. There was a ton of room for reimagining what could be possible for the product, but that same desire for innovation also created tension at times.

emphasize the relationship

One of the main business metrics for retail is retention, and our data suggests this is driven by the tax pro-client relationship. Wherever we can keep the focus on the conversation and the client’s specific needs, we want to do so.

convey meaning with clarity

The content we use should focus on delivering one clear message at a time, and use language that removes pretense and jargon. In addition, anytime we show clients information, we want to explain why it matters.

reinforce brand

The new design system for Block was more developed by the time we started this project, so it was clearer where the visual direction was headed when we began. That being the case, the design to support expanded functionality and overhauled apps that might appear in the screen mirror down the line and still fit within the brand identity.

improve accessibility and legibility

One of the biggest pieces of client feedback was that reading what was happening on the mirror of the tax pro’s screen was sometimes impossible, but made the client feel like they were following along. We want to make sure that every element we include has high affordance.

Empower the client

The client wants clear information, good advice they can’t get without coming into the office, and the ability to drive parts of the tax conversation. The client monitor should empower them in those ways.

empower the tax pro

Tax pros often felt that the client monitor caused insecurity and confusion and, thus, questions and conflict that bogged down the tax interview. Often tax pros felt forced into sequences or talking points that weren’t natural or apropos to the current point in the conversation. We want the Companion screen to keep the tax pro in the driver’s seat.