Helping Xero simplify admin tasks for sole traders, using design sprints, user insights, and prototyping to drive results.
Role
Design team lead
(5-person team)
Timing
3 weeks
Impact
Green light on next round funding
Mission
Build a narrative strong enough to secure board approval and unlock the next round of funding.
Constraints
- Unmovable board presentation deadline
- Nuanced AU / UK / US market considerations
- Limited access to technical feasibility assessment
Key calls
- The process to undertake
- The structure of the narrative
- The key concepts to put forward
The situation
The goal was clear; reduce admin friction for sole traders. But the team needed a fresh angle and a sharper story to win board support.”
The stakes
Xero had gained a strong market position with small/medium/large enterprises. But as their products matured, the sole-trader segment had been left behind. That gap represents a 42.2m global TAM and a clear opening for challengers.
Our role
Refocus the vision, align stakeholders, and drive the work toward something genuinely useful for sole traders.
Framing the challenge
How do we build tools that free sole traders from admin overload so they can focus on their actual business?
The approach
We put desirability first, with feasibility and viability close behind. Our adapted design sprint pushed the team beyond incremental thinking, while keeping output grounded enough for leadership to act on.
Our solutions
Status scores
A status score and points system guided users to what needed attention, cutting cognitive load and making the platform feel more supportive.
Fast purchase classification
To speed up tedious classification, we used a quick-swipe pattern that let users sort purchases in seconds. Turning a typically time-consuming process into something fast and intuitive.
"I really like the main benefits of the accounting tool mentioned here. They really resonate with freelancers/traders, who are mainly looking use something intuitive, save time and concentrate on their business."sole trader, AU - lab participant
The wildcard idea
We added a wildcard; a lightweight financial-services marketplace inside the app. It connected users to help at the moment they needed it, without leaving Xero.
Process breakdowns
Lightning-fast discovery
Discovery made one thing obvious; another admin tool wouldn’t cut it. Sole traders wanted something that supported their ambitions. Reframing the product around progress, not paperwork, shaped the ideation that followed.
What we learned in testing
Core insight
Admin tools won’t win over people who hate admin
Instead, the tools need to be positioned as enablers of broader ambitions.
Market differentiators
UK — Compliance anxiety dominated.
Australia / US — Users cared more about freedom; admin was just a hurdle.
Key takeaways
Position the product as a catalyst for progress. Build tools and content that move sole traders toward their goals, not just help them tidy their books.
The cutting room floor
We explored a Tamagotchi-style cast of ‘finance guardians’. Tests killed it instantly. Nobody wants their cash flow turned into a cartoon pet. Clear signal; even for sole traders, business is not a game.
Building the narrative
We wrapped it all up with a 12-month user journey, showing how Xero’s tools could free sole traders from the grind of admin. In the end, we delivered prototypes and a strategy that armed Xero’s leadership to move forward. This wasn’t another admin tool. It was positioned as an enabler of momentum and success.
What I’d change next time
I’d flip the sequence; instead of generating ideas and then hunting for gaps to slot them into, we should have aligned on the gaps first and generated ideas specifically to close them.
- Lead with a “why xero, why now” story , not a feature sprint.
Nail the value proposition upfront. This becomes the filter for the ideas that follow. - Translate proposition gaps straight into an opportunity backlog.
Score where Xero falls short against that promise, and prototype only what closes the gaps. So we have sharper concepts instead of hopeful wildcards. - Draft the slide deck and set the north star while prototypes are still rough
So as evidence lands, we have a clean pitch narrative, grounded in evidence. Not a retrospective wrap-up. —
Team composition
Our team
- Experience design lead
- Visual designer
- UX designer
- Strategist / researcher
Xero’s team
- Product marketing lead
- Product lead
- User researcher
My contributions
- Developed the project plan and led its execution
- Facilitated workshops and cross-functional collaboration
- Coordinated activities between teams
- Contributed concepts and provided design critique
- Crafted the narrative that linked user needs with product vision