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Case study · 010 · Enterprise · Regulated

Wolters Kluwer

Spearheaded user feedback analysis for a strategic Wolters Kluwer FRR project — turning fragmented user voices across regulated industries into a new end-to-end solution for diverse user types.

Client
Wolters Kluwer · FRR
Industry
Enterprise SaaS · Regulated
Engagement
Oct '22 – Dec '23 · Embedded
Services
User Research · Usability Testing
Role
Lead UX Researcher
I · The challenge

A strategic FRR initiative. Twelve user roles. Zero shared definition of "the user."

Wolters Kluwer's Finance, Risk & Regulatory (FRR) division serves some of the most operationally complex software users in any market — risk officers, compliance leads, EHS managers, internal auditors. Each role uses overlapping tools differently, under different regulatory pressures, with different definitions of done.

My remit: spearhead user feedback analysis for a strategic FRR project building a new end-to-end solution. The brief required consolidating fragmented user voices across multiple business units into a coherent product strategy — and delivering rigorous usability validation on Enablon's Bowtie Suite using Nielsen's 10 Heuristics methodology.

"We have user feedback in twelve different folders, owned by twelve different teams. Nobody can answer 'what does the user actually need' in one sentence."

— FRR product leadership, kick-off
II · How I worked

Methodological rigor. Cross-business-unit reach.

Enterprise software in regulated industries doesn't reward improvisation. The work needed proven methodology — Nielsen's heuristics, structured usability testing, evidence-based synthesis — combined with the relationship work that makes findings actually land across business units.

01
User feedback analysis at scale
Phase 1–2 · Months 1–5

Spearheaded the analysis of fragmented user feedback across the FRR strategic project — consolidating signals from multiple business units into a single coherent picture of what diverse user types actually needed.

02
Nielsen's 10 Heuristics usability testing
Phase 3 · Bowtie Suite

Led and executed usability tests on Enablon's Bowtie Suite using Nielsen's 10 Heuristics methodology — surfacing the issues that matter in regulated software where the user can't choose another tool.

03
Cross-business-unit collaboration
Throughout

Worked closely with the CX/UX Lead, FRR business units, and product teams — translating between research, design, business, and product so insight didn't get lost in the handoffs between functions.

04
E2E research execution + analysis
Throughout

Oversaw the entire end-to-end research process — from question framing through fieldwork to synthesis and stakeholder delivery. Used the engagement to coach team members and raise overall research maturity across the FRR organisation.

III · How it unfolded

Fourteen months. Five inflection points.

Months 1–2 · landscape

Mapping the user-feedback estate

Started by mapping where user feedback already existed across FRR business units — what had been collected, what was siloed, and where the gaps in evidence sat. Most of the answer was already there. It just wasn't connected.

Months 3–5 · synthesis

Cross-unit consolidation

Synthesised feedback across business units into a unified picture of diverse user types. Output: a shared definition of "the user" the entire strategic project could finally orient around — replacing twelve overlapping definitions with one.

Months 6–9 · validation

Bowtie Suite usability testing

Designed and led usability tests on Enablon's Bowtie Suite Product using Nielsen's 10 Heuristics. Brought rigor to a product where users can't simply switch — making each finding count for compliance officers and risk managers under real regulatory pressure.

Months 10–12 · translation

Insight to product strategy

Translated research findings into concrete input for the new E2E solution — across business units and product teams. Made sure the strategic project was building against evidence, not assumption.

Months 13–14 · embedding

Raising research maturity

Spent the final stretch coaching stakeholders and team members — embedding a stronger research and validation mindset across the FRR organisation so the work continued maturing after the engagement ended.

"

In regulated software, the user isn't one persona. It's twelve roles trying to use the same tool — and only research can tell you which job each one is actually doing.

— The pivotal insight
IV · What I built

Substance, methodology, and maturity.

Rigorous research output paired with the methodological infrastructure FRR could keep using long after the engagement ended.

01
Cross-unit user-feedback synthesis
A unified picture of diverse user types across the FRR strategic project — replacing fragmented signals with one coherent evidence base.
02
Nielsen-led usability test reports
Structured usability testing on Enablon's Bowtie Suite — applying Nielsen's 10 Heuristics with the rigor regulated software demands.
03
E2E solution evidence base
Research input that shaped the new end-to-end solution for diverse user types — concrete, traceable, built on real user voice.
04
Cross-functional research model
A way of working with the CX/UX Lead, FRR business units, and product teams that kept research signal visible across the organisation, not stuck in one silo.
05
Research maturity coaching
Stakeholder and team member coaching that raised overall research and validation maturity across the FRR organisation.
V · Results

Fourteen months. Strategic shift.

14m
embedded as Lead UX Researcher
1
new E2E solution shaped by research input
10
Nielsen heuristics applied across Bowtie Suite
research maturity raised across FRR
"

Cansu is a real 'getting things done' researcher. She led multiple research streams on our flagship initiatives and excelled at generating deep insights and ensuring the knowledge was shared in a systematic and engaging manner. She's an excellent storyteller and a proficient listener — able to empathise and connect with both users and internal stakeholders around key value-add opportunities. As we were setting up from the ground up and accelerating our transformation towards a more user-centred mentality, she really helped bring the research and validation mindset into the company to a next level.

NP
Nicoleta Pana
Lead CX/UX Designer · Wolters Kluwer FRR
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