Streamlining SEC Filing Workflows
This was a proof of concept (POC) project I designed for Fidelity, aimed at solving a critical compliance challenge: helping executive shareholders (like company directors, officers, and major stakeholders) submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of a transaction. 💬 ✅Why this project mattered to me: What I really loved about working on this POC was the level of complexity and responsibility. The SEC has strict regulations, and Fidelity is a large organization with many interconnected teams. Every day brought new problems to solve—from figuring out how to automate data delivery, to syncing with legal and compliance teams, and making sure we were accounting for every possible use case. It pushed me to think system-wide and solve not just for users, but also for internal operations and regulations.
Role
User Experience Researcher and Designer
year
2025
Tags
Design, Research, B2B, POC
Overview
Executive shareholders (directors, officers, >10% owners of public companies) are required to submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of when they acquire or dispose of shares. Some issues/concerns regarding this
Slow data delivery: Existing Sale Participation System (SPS) reporting runs on an overnight batch cycle, delaying access to critical sale data needed to create, review, and submit the Form 4 within the timeframe.
Suboptimal reporting: The current SPS report intended to aid Form 4 completion suffers from usability issues and occasional inaccuracies, further hindering efficient form preparation.
Compliance risk: Increased SEC scrutiny on Section 16 filings raises the risk of hefty fines (as evidenced by the $1.6 million and $3.8 million fines in 2023 and 2024 respectively) for inaccurate or late reporting.
Target Users
Legal Team member/filer at Issuer company
Responsible for ensuring timely and accurate Form 4 filings with the SEC on behalf of company executives.
Receives trade data from various sources (e.g., Sale Participation System (SPS), internal reports).
Reviews and analyzes trade data to identify reportable transactions.
Prepares and reviews Form 4 filings, including data entry, signature verification, and adherence to SEC regulations.
Collaborates with executives and other departments (e.g., finance, HR) to gather necessary information for filings.
Maintains accurate records of all Form 4 filings and related correspondence.
Stays informed of SEC regulations and updates regarding Form 4 filings.
Manages the Form 4 filing process, including deadlines, approvals, and submissions.
Goals:
Streamline the Form 4 filing process to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.
Gain real-time or near real-time access to trade data to meet filing deadlines.
Improve the accuracy and usability of reports used for Form 4 preparation.
Reduce the burden of manual data entry and streamline workflows.
Ensure compliance with all SEC regulations and minimize the risk of fines and penalties.
Proactively identify and address potential compliance issues.
Reviewer at Issuer Company
Primary Reviewer: Act as the primary reviewer of all Form 4 filings prepared by the Legal/Compliance team.
Data Verification: Conduct thorough data checks on all fields within the Form 4, ensuring accuracy and consistency with trade data and SEC regulations.
Error Correction: Identify and correct any data errors or inconsistencies identified during the review process.
Second Line of Defense: Serve as the final checkpoint before submission to the SEC, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of all filings.
Time-Sensitive Actions: Complete all review and correction actions within the 48-hour SEC filing deadline.
Issue Resolution: Add detailed comments and questions regarding any identified issues or discrepancies.
Follow-up: Actively follow up on all comments and questions raised during the review process to ensure timely resolution.
Documentation: Maintain detailed records of all reviews conducted, corrections made, and communication with the Legal/Compliance team.
Goals:
Streamline the review process to improve efficiency and reduce turnaround time.
Minimize the risk of errors and delays in the filing process.
Enhance communication and collaboration with the Legal/Compliance team.
Proactively identify and resolve potential issues before submission to the SEC.
Results & Impact
This Proof-of-Concept clearly demonstrated the power of a streamlined process, showing how we could significantly improve efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. Here's a summary of the key outcomes:
Simplified Form 4 Preparation: Users could instantly see all recent trade data directly on the main dashboard, drastically reducing manual data gathering.
Streamlined Collaboration & Approval: We built in a system with timed deadlines that automatically closed comments, ensuring reviews and approvals happened efficiently and on time.
Confident Submission & Tracking: While we didn't have a dedicated review screen, the system guided users with clear prompts and individual field validations, making sure all information was accurate before final submission.
Smart Notifications & Alerts: The main dashboard provided a complete overview, clearly highlighting any pending approvals or overdue filings, so users always knew what needed attention.
Enhanced User Experience: We designed the interface so that all necessary features and information were easy to find, organized into clear categories and presented in a holistic view.
Streamlining SEC Filing Workflows
This was a proof of concept (POC) project I designed for Fidelity, aimed at solving a critical compliance challenge: helping executive shareholders (like company directors, officers, and major stakeholders) submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of a transaction. 💬 ✅Why this project mattered to me: What I really loved about working on this POC was the level of complexity and responsibility. The SEC has strict regulations, and Fidelity is a large organization with many interconnected teams. Every day brought new problems to solve—from figuring out how to automate data delivery, to syncing with legal and compliance teams, and making sure we were accounting for every possible use case. It pushed me to think system-wide and solve not just for users, but also for internal operations and regulations.
Role
User Experience Researcher and Designer
year
2025
Tags
Design, Research, B2B, POC
Overview
Executive shareholders (directors, officers, >10% owners of public companies) are required to submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of when they acquire or dispose of shares. Some issues/concerns regarding this
Slow data delivery: Existing Sale Participation System (SPS) reporting runs on an overnight batch cycle, delaying access to critical sale data needed to create, review, and submit the Form 4 within the timeframe.
Suboptimal reporting: The current SPS report intended to aid Form 4 completion suffers from usability issues and occasional inaccuracies, further hindering efficient form preparation.
Compliance risk: Increased SEC scrutiny on Section 16 filings raises the risk of hefty fines (as evidenced by the $1.6 million and $3.8 million fines in 2023 and 2024 respectively) for inaccurate or late reporting.
Target Users
Legal Team member/filer at Issuer company
Responsible for ensuring timely and accurate Form 4 filings with the SEC on behalf of company executives.
Receives trade data from various sources (e.g., Sale Participation System (SPS), internal reports).
Reviews and analyzes trade data to identify reportable transactions.
Prepares and reviews Form 4 filings, including data entry, signature verification, and adherence to SEC regulations.
Collaborates with executives and other departments (e.g., finance, HR) to gather necessary information for filings.
Maintains accurate records of all Form 4 filings and related correspondence.
Stays informed of SEC regulations and updates regarding Form 4 filings.
Manages the Form 4 filing process, including deadlines, approvals, and submissions.
Goals:
Streamline the Form 4 filing process to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.
Gain real-time or near real-time access to trade data to meet filing deadlines.
Improve the accuracy and usability of reports used for Form 4 preparation.
Reduce the burden of manual data entry and streamline workflows.
Ensure compliance with all SEC regulations and minimize the risk of fines and penalties.
Proactively identify and address potential compliance issues.
Reviewer at Issuer Company
Primary Reviewer: Act as the primary reviewer of all Form 4 filings prepared by the Legal/Compliance team.
Data Verification: Conduct thorough data checks on all fields within the Form 4, ensuring accuracy and consistency with trade data and SEC regulations.
Error Correction: Identify and correct any data errors or inconsistencies identified during the review process.
Second Line of Defense: Serve as the final checkpoint before submission to the SEC, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of all filings.
Time-Sensitive Actions: Complete all review and correction actions within the 48-hour SEC filing deadline.
Issue Resolution: Add detailed comments and questions regarding any identified issues or discrepancies.
Follow-up: Actively follow up on all comments and questions raised during the review process to ensure timely resolution.
Documentation: Maintain detailed records of all reviews conducted, corrections made, and communication with the Legal/Compliance team.
Goals:
Streamline the review process to improve efficiency and reduce turnaround time.
Minimize the risk of errors and delays in the filing process.
Enhance communication and collaboration with the Legal/Compliance team.
Proactively identify and resolve potential issues before submission to the SEC.
Results & Impact
This Proof-of-Concept clearly demonstrated the power of a streamlined process, showing how we could significantly improve efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. Here's a summary of the key outcomes:
Simplified Form 4 Preparation: Users could instantly see all recent trade data directly on the main dashboard, drastically reducing manual data gathering.
Streamlined Collaboration & Approval: We built in a system with timed deadlines that automatically closed comments, ensuring reviews and approvals happened efficiently and on time.
Confident Submission & Tracking: While we didn't have a dedicated review screen, the system guided users with clear prompts and individual field validations, making sure all information was accurate before final submission.
Smart Notifications & Alerts: The main dashboard provided a complete overview, clearly highlighting any pending approvals or overdue filings, so users always knew what needed attention.
Enhanced User Experience: We designed the interface so that all necessary features and information were easy to find, organized into clear categories and presented in a holistic view.
Streamlining SEC Filing Workflows
This was a proof of concept (POC) project I designed for Fidelity, aimed at solving a critical compliance challenge: helping executive shareholders (like company directors, officers, and major stakeholders) submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of a transaction. 💬 ✅Why this project mattered to me: What I really loved about working on this POC was the level of complexity and responsibility. The SEC has strict regulations, and Fidelity is a large organization with many interconnected teams. Every day brought new problems to solve—from figuring out how to automate data delivery, to syncing with legal and compliance teams, and making sure we were accounting for every possible use case. It pushed me to think system-wide and solve not just for users, but also for internal operations and regulations.
Role
User Experience Researcher and Designer
year
2025
Tags
Design, Research, B2B, POC
Overview
Executive shareholders (directors, officers, >10% owners of public companies) are required to submit Form 4 filings to the SEC within 48 hours of when they acquire or dispose of shares. Some issues/concerns regarding this
Slow data delivery: Existing Sale Participation System (SPS) reporting runs on an overnight batch cycle, delaying access to critical sale data needed to create, review, and submit the Form 4 within the timeframe.
Suboptimal reporting: The current SPS report intended to aid Form 4 completion suffers from usability issues and occasional inaccuracies, further hindering efficient form preparation.
Compliance risk: Increased SEC scrutiny on Section 16 filings raises the risk of hefty fines (as evidenced by the $1.6 million and $3.8 million fines in 2023 and 2024 respectively) for inaccurate or late reporting.
Target Users
Legal Team member/filer at Issuer company
Responsible for ensuring timely and accurate Form 4 filings with the SEC on behalf of company executives.
Receives trade data from various sources (e.g., Sale Participation System (SPS), internal reports).
Reviews and analyzes trade data to identify reportable transactions.
Prepares and reviews Form 4 filings, including data entry, signature verification, and adherence to SEC regulations.
Collaborates with executives and other departments (e.g., finance, HR) to gather necessary information for filings.
Maintains accurate records of all Form 4 filings and related correspondence.
Stays informed of SEC regulations and updates regarding Form 4 filings.
Manages the Form 4 filing process, including deadlines, approvals, and submissions.
Goals:
Streamline the Form 4 filing process to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.
Gain real-time or near real-time access to trade data to meet filing deadlines.
Improve the accuracy and usability of reports used for Form 4 preparation.
Reduce the burden of manual data entry and streamline workflows.
Ensure compliance with all SEC regulations and minimize the risk of fines and penalties.
Proactively identify and address potential compliance issues.
Reviewer at Issuer Company
Primary Reviewer: Act as the primary reviewer of all Form 4 filings prepared by the Legal/Compliance team.
Data Verification: Conduct thorough data checks on all fields within the Form 4, ensuring accuracy and consistency with trade data and SEC regulations.
Error Correction: Identify and correct any data errors or inconsistencies identified during the review process.
Second Line of Defense: Serve as the final checkpoint before submission to the SEC, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of all filings.
Time-Sensitive Actions: Complete all review and correction actions within the 48-hour SEC filing deadline.
Issue Resolution: Add detailed comments and questions regarding any identified issues or discrepancies.
Follow-up: Actively follow up on all comments and questions raised during the review process to ensure timely resolution.
Documentation: Maintain detailed records of all reviews conducted, corrections made, and communication with the Legal/Compliance team.
Goals:
Streamline the review process to improve efficiency and reduce turnaround time.
Minimize the risk of errors and delays in the filing process.
Enhance communication and collaboration with the Legal/Compliance team.
Proactively identify and resolve potential issues before submission to the SEC.
Results & Impact
This Proof-of-Concept clearly demonstrated the power of a streamlined process, showing how we could significantly improve efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. Here's a summary of the key outcomes:
Simplified Form 4 Preparation: Users could instantly see all recent trade data directly on the main dashboard, drastically reducing manual data gathering.
Streamlined Collaboration & Approval: We built in a system with timed deadlines that automatically closed comments, ensuring reviews and approvals happened efficiently and on time.
Confident Submission & Tracking: While we didn't have a dedicated review screen, the system guided users with clear prompts and individual field validations, making sure all information was accurate before final submission.
Smart Notifications & Alerts: The main dashboard provided a complete overview, clearly highlighting any pending approvals or overdue filings, so users always knew what needed attention.
Enhanced User Experience: We designed the interface so that all necessary features and information were easy to find, organized into clear categories and presented in a holistic view.