Table of Contents
During my time at SAP's Order Management Software (OMS) team, I was primarily embedded in the Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit (OSTA) capability. I worked across multiple initiatives navigating the complexity of enterprise systems while staying anchored in what actually matters: the people using them.
Projects
Agentic AI Use Case Discovery in Omnichannel Order Orchestration
I conducted AI use case research using To-Be storyboards with 5+ external order management practitioners. Through those sessions, recurring escalation patterns emerged and a concept for "Proactive Order Issue Resolution" started taking shape: shifting order issue handling from reactive firefighting to proactive, AI-driven intervention. I co-presented the findings, opportunities, and a forward-looking strategy to the broader OMS department alongside my teammate.
Usability Validation with Prototype Testing
I led usability validation for an audit configurability feature within OSTA. I designed five scenarios and ran tests with 10+ customers and implementation partners, focusing on workflow customization and API integration. The synthesis and insights fed directly into product team refinement sessions, helping sharpen the MVP scope ahead of release.
Process & Tools
SAP encouraged using AI in our workflows, so I used A LOT of it
Understanding the personas, their responsibilities, and how they actually move through complex financial systems required a lot of ramp-up. I used Claude to build mental models quickly, learning how an auditor approaches their day versus how an IT manager navigates financial system access. That grounding helped me design usability test scenarios that felt realistic and purposeful for the people in the room.
For synthesis, I used Copilot and Figma's thematic analysis as a first pass, then reviewed everything manually to validate the themes and make sure nothing slipped through. I used AI as a starting point, not the final word.
Collaboration with PM and engineering
I got better at speaking across disciplines. Refinement sessions with PMs and engineers pushed me to translate user insights into language that resonated, not just "users found this confusing," but framing it in a way that made sense for scope decisions and technical trade-offs.
Reflection
I was wrong about enterprise software
I walked into SAP with zero prior knowledge of enterprise order management systems, and a quiet assumption that they'd be confusing for everyone, not just me. That turned out to be wrong in the best way.
Session after session, co-innovation workshops, usability tests, discovery interviews, I kept seeing the same thing: people who genuinely love using these systems. Because for them, it's not a clunky enterprise tool. It's the thing that makes their job actually work and their workflows 10x easier. An auditor who lives in a financial audit system every day doesn't find it intimidating, they find it powerful. I learned that what felt unintuitive to me was often completely natural to the person actually doing the work.
Complex systems thinking after SAP
SAP also changed how I think about systems more broadly. Enterprise software isn't a collection of screens, it's a web of interconnected processes, roles, and dependencies. Learning to hold that complexity, and design within it without losing sight of the human in the loop, is something I carried out of SAP.
“Maivel was a pleasure to work with during her time at SAP. From the start, she stood out for her proactiveness and independence, quickly getting up to speed and navigating complex contexts with ease. She conducted a significant amount of research and demonstrated strong critical thinking, translating her findings into strategic, actionable insights that helped improve the product. She brought a thoughtful balance of empathy for users while also understanding the practical constraints of the business, which made her contributions especially impactful.”
Wanna see more?
This is only a snapshot of my time at SAP. The products and designs I worked on are private, but I’m happy to chat more about my process over a call. Reach out to me at abdelnoormaivel[at]gmail[dot]com!