From messy sheets to clean, reliable data.
uDeal is an M&A system that allows users to collect, enter, modify, and send data securely and privately, maintaining a single database as the source of truth.
Client
Uber
Industry
SaaS, M&A, Financial
Role
Senior Product Designer
Date
2022
Problem
The M&A team faces a major challenge: limited control over data entry, edits, and deletions. With multiple teams involved, maintaining data integrity across different databases becomes difficult, leading to a slow and stressful process.
Data collection is not systemized
Email, Clouds, currently they are all scattered in many GSheets
Transfer data relies on nonsecure methods
Some users can be external to the company
Data analysis are done by multiple parties
Reduce the visibility of sensitive data (PII)
High impact on data quality review process
Data and task hand off is disjointed
Challenge
Help employees connect with colleagues and feel part of a global culture
Centralize and simplify access to onboarding and internal resources
Enable fast, self-service creation of groups without engineering involvement
Solutions
Connect people, teams and groups across Uber
Centralize fragmented onboarding processes
Strengthen company culture through shared knowledge
Goals
The goal was to create a centralized system giving the M&A team control over data changes while ensuring integrity—making the process faster, more efficient, and less stressful.
Only one Database as a source of truth
Secure methods to transfer data
Control the visibility of sensitive data
Share only what matters
Uber
I started by exploring the M&A team’s roles, the data they handle, and the flow of a typical deal—tracking key questions in a FigJam wall.
To deepen insights, I ran a discovery session with the M&A team, involving them early to ensure our technical solutions matched real user needs.
User interviews
For the user interviews, I used contextual inquiry. Which is the observation and interviews of a small sample of users to gain a robust understanding of work practices and behaviors in their context.
User personas
The data gathered from the interviews was sufficient to develop proto-personas that acted as a reference for making initial design choices.
based on the data collected it was possible to create 2 personas
Serena - M&A Manager
Serena's Journey Map
Calvin - Data Analyst
Data synchronization was done directly to a single data source
Data synchronization was done directly to a single data source
A session dedicated to informing about all the group's visibility
In the groups section, quick filters help you find groups by type
When inserting a profile image for the badge type group, the inserted image is automatically displayed in the personal profile.
UI Design
The M&A process is complex and requires significant focus from everyone involved. Since the team’s day-to-day work centers around data analysis and maintaining data integrity, the interface was designed to be minimalistic and free of distracting colors. This approach helps experienced users navigate efficiently, while also making it easier for other departments to use and understand.
Assigning members
The interaction below shows how access control was done
Importing data
Once a project is created, the user can import a database to serve as the source of truth throughout data collection, editing, and sharing. At this stage, the system automatically detects issues in the imported data, such as duplicates or system errors. Users are then provided with a detailed report, allowing them to address problems directly and efficiently.
Sync data
At this stage, the person responsible for the process can request or input data using uDeal’s synchronization feature. This ensures greater security by updating a single, centralized database. The system handles data check-in and check-out to maintain integrity and prevent conflicts during the update process.
Results
50% reduction in manual workload
By centralizing data and improving workflows, we successfully reduced the team’s workload from 55 to 25 hours per week during peak M&A periods—achieving a 55% increase in efficiency.
Granular user access control
Implementing column-level permissions ensures that users only view or edit what’s relevant to them, reducing errors and increasing data security.
Secure and auditable actions
A check-in/check-out system will prevent accidental data overwrites, while an exportable audit trail enhances transparency and compliance.
Single source of truth for M&A people data
Mapping and validating data from target companies in one place will streamline collaboration and eliminate redundant tools.
