I take over the new client file the day before its beta goes live, with most of it already built. An opinion does not move a half-built product. User data does.
The client file is where tax advisors start every task. The old one opens every tax type and every year at once, on technology that cannot grow.
Beta 1 swaps the list for tabs and cards that scroll sideways. The product manager wants to hold it back. Viewport data says ship, so it goes live on time.
Trade-off: users work in a version I know is not final.
With our UX researcher I run a preference test in March 2024: the beta cards against a list grouped by year. 70% choose the list. Extension and authorisations show at a glance, and the data is denser.
Trade-off: the always-visible data of the cards goes.
File managers, webshop accounts, chat apps and SaaS tools share one layout. It becomes the anatomy of the new client file.
The versions settle the menu, the year accordions and the client relations: fiscal partner, allowance partner and owned companies, each one a link.
Creating a tax return now starts from the plus next to a tax type.
Feedback asks for fewer clicks. An audit finds pages that open in three different ways, so every page gets one header: back link, client name, main action.
In 2025 every user works in the new one.
A beta in real hands ends more debates than any review meeting.
People who work in a screen all day want to see everything at once. Familiar placement is a feature.
Next: the task list, the Werkzaamhedenlijst. It has been through two designers before me. The same playbook is now at work there.