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Yanyu Zhou
Portfolio
Case study 03Operations · Project management · Contracts

Business Systems Transformation

Tools changed. The operating logic still had to work.

Delivered

Business value

When the platforms changed, the way work was requested, approved, tracked and reported kept working.

My role
Project lead for each transition · Requirements and process redesign · Field mapping and permissions · Automation rebuild · UAT, training and rollout
Skills
  • Project management
  • Requirements gathering
  • Process redesign
  • Data mapping and migration
  • UAT
  • Training and documentation
Built with
  • Work-management platforms
  • Collaboration suite
  • E-signature platform
  • APIs and webhooks
  • Workflow automation

Confidentiality note. Company-specific data, configurations, workflows and diagrams in this case study have been anonymized and reconstructed for public presentation.

01

The request

From · Operations, project and contract teams

As the business evolved, the platforms running day-to-day operations and contracts had to change. Each transition risked breaking how work was requested, approved, tracked and reported.

  • Pain point 01

    A new platform meant every workflow, field and automation had to be rebuilt.

  • Pain point 02

    Missed handoffs and integrations break quietly, long after go-live.

  • Pain point 03

    Teams still had to do their jobs during the switch.

02

What I built

  1. 01Requirements and process architecture for each new platform
  2. 02Rebuilt data structures, permissions, integrations and automations
  3. 03UAT, documentation, training, rollout and post-launch support
03

Try it — check migration readiness

A simplified version of the checklist behind each transition. Tick items layer by layer and see when the platform is ready to cut over.

How to use
  • Select any item to see what breaks if it is skipped.
  • Cutover only unlocks when every layer is complete — including adoption.
01Process
1/3
02Data
1/3
03System
1/3
04Automation
0/3
05Adoption
0/3
If this is skipped
Rebuild triggers

Work stops moving on its own.

Cutover readiness
20%
Not ready — open items in Process, Data, System, Automation, Adoption
Simplified demo · fictional data · not the real system
04

How I thought about it

  1. 01

    Field mapping is a business decision

    Fields encode process states, ownership and handoffs. Mapping them is redesigning the process, not copying data.

  2. 02

    Rebuild the logic, then move the records

    The fragile parts are the automations and integrations around the records, so they were rebuilt and tested first.

  3. 03

    Adoption is part of deployment

    Documentation, training and post-launch support shipped with each rollout, not after it.

05

How it was delivered

Run as a project: from the team’s request to something people use every day.

  1. 01
    Requirements

    Worked with each team on how work is requested, approved, tracked and reported today.

  2. 02
    Design

    Redesigned process architecture, field mapping and permissions for the new platform.

  3. 03
    Build

    Configured the platform and rebuilt integrations, triggers and notifications.

  4. 04
    Migrate & test

    Moved the records and ran UAT with the people who do the work.

  5. 05
    Train & roll out

    Shipped documentation and training with the cutover.

  6. 06
    Support

    Handled post-launch questions and fixes until the new system was the normal way of working.

06

Result

BeforeA platform change risked breaking requests, approvals and reporting
AfterEach transition rebuilt the operating logic first, then moved the records
BeforeAutomations and integrations lived around the old tool
AfterTriggers, notifications and integrations rebuilt and tested on the new platform
BeforeTeams had to relearn their work on their own
AfterUAT, documentation and training shipped with each rollout
Each platform transition delivered rebuilt workflows, fields, permissions, automations and integrations — with UAT, documentation and rollout support — not simply migrated records.
07Technical detailsFor the deeper read: Five layers, rebuilt at every transition · Migration playbook · What I found · Contract workflow transformation

Five layers, rebuilt at every transition

Each migration looks like a software change. It is really an operating-model change: every move required redesign across five layers.

  • Process
    • Workflow logic
    • Ownership
    • Handoffs
    • Statuses
  • Data
    • Field mapping
    • Record structure
    • Migration
  • System
    • Permissions
    • Configuration
    • Integrations
  • Automation
    • Triggers
    • Notifications
    • Workflow rebuilds
  • Adoption
    • UAT
    • Documentation
    • Training
    • Rollout
    • Post-launch support

Migration playbook

I owned the operational transformation at every platform transition — from requirements through post-launch support.

The playbook, repeated per platform
  1. 01Discover
    • Business requirement discovery
    • Process mapping
  2. 02Design
    • Workflow redesign
    • Field mapping
    • Permissions
  3. 03Build
    • Configuration
    • Data migration
    • Automation rebuilds
  4. 04Validate
    • Testing
    • UAT
  5. 05Launch
    • Documentation
    • Training
    • Rollout
    • Post-launch support
Repeated each time the underlying platform changed.

What I found

  • Field mapping is a business decision, not just a technical one. Fields encode process states, ownership, decisions and handoffs.
  • The fragile parts of a migration are often the handoffs, automations and integrations around the records — not the records themselves.
  • Adoption depends on whether the system matches how people actually work, not on how many features the platform offers.
  • Documentation and training are part of deployment, not follow-up tasks after the build is finished.

Contract workflow transformation

Contract platform → new e-signature workflow

A separate workflow transformation. When the contract platform changed, the documents were the easy part: templates, field placement, signing order and the automations linking contracts to the rest of the workflow all had to be redesigned and rebuilt.

What moved with the contract platform
From
Previous e-signature platform
Redesigned and rebuilt
Everything around the document
TemplatesField placementSigning orderLinked automationsOperational process
To
New e-signature platform