Operational Workflow
& Process Redesign

Overview

When I joined Wakanow in 2014 as a business analyst, core operational processes — booking fulfilment, supplier coordination, customer complaint resolution — were undocumented and inconsistent between teams. This led to duplicated effort, slow response times, and no visibility into where work was in the system.

My first major project was to audit, map, and redesign these processes — producing the first formal service documentation Wakanow had for these workflows.

Problem

Different teams had different versions of the same process. Handoffs between customer service, operations, and finance were verbal, prone to error, and invisible to management. There was no audit trail and no way to identify where delays were occurring.

Process

• Conducted process observation sessions across customer service, operations, and finance teams
• Mapped current-state processes through interview and observation
• Produced 3-swimlane service blueprints (frontstage, backstage, support processes) for 6 core workflows
• Identified 14 failure points and prioritised by impact
• Designed future-state blueprints and facilitated sign-off sessions with team leads
• Produced system documentation and handoff protocols

Design Decisions

The service blueprint format was chosen over standard process maps because it makes the relationship between customer experience and internal operations explicit — letting operations leads see how backstage failures translate to frontstage problems.

The documentation was designed to be maintained, not just referenced. Each blueprint was formatted so team leads could update it when processes changed, rather than requiring a designer or analyst to intervene.