RaiseMe Portal
RaiseMe Portal
What if trust wasn't broken by a bad decision, but by hundreds of small ones?
Role
UX Researcher
Skills
B2B UX Research
Roadmap Influence
Timeline
Nov 2019 - June 2020
Team
Katie Zellner (VP of Customer Succes)
Dan Carew (Director of Product)
Laura Reisert (AVP of Sales)
Challenge
Challenge
Leaders signed contracts. Data operators bore the daily cost
Leaders signed contracts. Data operators bore the daily cost
RaiseMe is a B2B2C edtech platform where students earn micro-scholarships and colleges pay for enrollment data.
RaiseMe's business model depends on college partners renewing. But the people signing contracts weren't the people doing the work. I previously served on the Customer Success team and noticed that there was this recurring challenge that our users faced.
Data operators manually exported, cleaned, and imported enrollment data every cycle under deadlines, facing errors, server downtime, and frustration.
RaiseMe is a B2B2C edtech platform where students earn micro-scholarships and colleges pay for enrollment data.
RaiseMe's business model depends on college partners renewing. But the people signing contracts weren't the people doing the work. I previously served on the Customer Success team and noticed that there was this recurring challenge that our users faced.
Data operators manually exported, cleaned, and imported enrollment data every cycle under deadlines, facing errors, server downtime, and frustration.
Impact at a Glance
Impact at a Glance
90% ARR Retained
15 —> 2 minutes saved weekly
95% —> 99% Portal Uptime
90% ARR Retained
15 —> 2 minutes saved weekly
95% —> 99% Portal Uptime
Average experience of our college portal users (reformatted for anonymity and legibility)
Average experience of our college portal users (reformatted for anonymity and legibility)
Pivot
Pivot
Interviews killed the initial API assumption.
Interviews killed the initial API assumption.
We had a company-wide Hack Week and I assembled a cross-functional team to examine and structure in defining this challenge.
We entered Hack Week assuming API integrations would solve the problem. Through user interviews and workflow observations, we discovered partners already used middleware to standardize data ingestion across vendors. A bespoke API would add complexity, not reduce it.
What operators actually needed wasn't more access to raw data, it was data that arrived CRM-ready, already mapped to their own fields.
We reframed around reducing variance and prototyped Scheduled Templates: standardized, recurring exports aligned to partners' existing workflows.
We had a company-wide Hack Week and I assembled a cross-functional team to examine and structure in defining this challenge.
We entered Hack Week assuming API integrations would solve the problem. Through user interviews and workflow observations, we discovered partners already used middleware to standardize data ingestion across vendors. A bespoke API would add complexity, not reduce it.
What operators actually needed wasn't more access to raw data, it was data that arrived CRM-ready, already mapped to their own fields.
We reframed around reducing variance and prototyped Scheduled Templates: standardized, recurring exports aligned to partners' existing workflows.
Moving from assumptions to real needs after interviews and workflow observations
Moving from assumptions to real needs after interviews and workflow observations
Building a case
Building a case
I made the cost of inaction concrete and relevant.
I made the cost of inaction concrete and relevant.
The partners most frustrated with reliability were also among the highest-value accounts.
By pulling Salesforce data and mapping partner sentiment to ARR values by name, I drew a direct line from data errors to renewal hesitation to ARR exposure. Additionally, a designer and I collaborated on creating a journey map to visualize the current challenges and opportunities.
The partners most frustrated with reliability were also among the highest-value accounts.
By pulling Salesforce data and mapping partner sentiment to ARR values by name, I drew a direct line from data errors to renewal hesitation to ARR exposure. Additionally, a designer and I collaborated on creating a journey map to visualize the current challenges and opportunities.
Aligning ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) and adjectives by our college partners
Aligning ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) and adjectives by our college partners
Journey Mapping to visualize the current experience and opportunities to improve it
Journey Mapping to visualize the current experience and opportunities to improve it
Alignment
Alignment
Product needed executive approval. I built the case that got it.
Product needed executive approval. I built the case that got it.
Sales and CS had a history of crying wolf. Product had heard the complaints before, but there was no connective tissue between partner pain, business impact, and our team's ability to deliver. I conducted a workshop as well as identified how it affected sales and retention efforts.
I worked with the PM to understand what he needed to be convinced this was worth deprioritizing other work for on the existing roadmap. I built that connective tissue. We successfully presented to the CEO to get the sign off and resources on prioritizing the College Portal.
Sales and CS had a history of crying wolf. Product had heard the complaints before, but there was no connective tissue between partner pain, business impact, and our team's ability to deliver. I conducted a workshop as well as identified how it affected sales and retention efforts.
I worked with the PM to understand what he needed to be convinced this was worth deprioritizing other work for on the existing roadmap. I built that connective tissue. We successfully presented to the CEO to get the sign off and resources on prioritizing the College Portal.
Speaking with our Sales and Customer Success team members helped capture the Why behind this project
Speaking with our Sales and Customer Success team members helped capture the Why behind this project
Outcome
Outcome
90% ARR retained. Research made the difference.
90% ARR retained. Research made the difference.
In March 2020, leadership committed to the College Partner Portal. Weeks later, COVID disrupted higher education budgets nationwide. Because the team had already invested in partner trust before the crisis hit, partners had reason to stay.
RaiseMe retained 90%+ of projected ARR. Portal reliability improved from 95% to 99%. Export time dropped from 15 min to 2 min. The Portal continued in use after RaiseMe's acquisition by CampusLogic.
In March 2020, leadership committed to the College Partner Portal. Weeks later, COVID disrupted higher education budgets nationwide. Because the team had already invested in partner trust before the crisis hit, partners had reason to stay.
RaiseMe retained 90%+ of projected ARR. Portal reliability improved from 95% to 99%. Export time dropped from 15 min to 2 min. The Portal continued in use after RaiseMe's acquisition by CampusLogic.
An updated College Portal, with increased uptime and auto Scheduled Downloads.
An updated College Portal, with increased uptime and auto Scheduled Downloads.
Reactions to Schedule Downloads feature: what used to be a manual re-export every cycle became an automated, field-mapped pipeline.
Reactions to Schedule Downloads feature: what used to be a manual re-export every cycle became an automated, field-mapped pipeline.
Reflection
Reflection
In B2B, the user and the buyer are rarely the same person and therefore have difference experiences to design around.
Operators feel the friction. Executives sign the contracts. Experiences and service that only talks to one of them misses half the story.
Research only moves organizations when it speaks in each stakeholder's language.
Sales and Customer Success had been raising the same concerns for months. The connective tissue between partner pain and business impact was built on understanding different business unit's prioritizes and finding alignment.
In B2B, the user and the buyer are rarely the same person and therefore have difference experiences to design around.
Operators feel the friction. Executives sign the contracts. Experiences and service that only talks to one of them misses half the story.
Research only moves organizations when it speaks in each stakeholder's language.
Sales and Customer Success had been raising the same concerns for months. The connective tissue between partner pain and business impact was built on understanding different business unit's prioritizes and finding alignment.