Deal Room

01 — The problem

Shareholders get paid less than they expect, and don't know why

When a private company is sold, its shareholders are paid through an online portal. Part of their money is held back for one to three years to cover buyer claims, tax issues and sale costs.

Most people have never been through this. They see a total, then a smaller payment, and assume something went wrong. That confusion turns into support calls and distrust.

02 — What I uncovered

Shareholders ask the same five questions

Reviewing payout portals, public filings and shareholder forums kept surfacing the same questions:

• Is this email real?
• How much did I get?
• Why is it less than my total share?
• When could the rest come, and what has to happen first?
• Do I need to do anything?

Two kinds of people ask them: first-timers who need the basics, and people who've been through a sale before and want the detail behind every number.

03 — What testing showed

Three rounds of testing shaped every money screen

The first round found two real problems: people couldn't account for the gap between a $132,600 total and the $118,000 they were paid, and they read a $1,800 buyer claim as an extra loss. Every round after that checked the fixes.

Round 3 was a pilot, and parts of it were simulated walkthroughs, so the next step is running it again with real participants.

04 — What I designed

One app, with each answer placed next to the question it answers

• A status home that leads with what was paid, then shows every held-back amount in the order it could come back
• An “explain my number” screen that adds up line by line, with notes nested under the rows they explain
• A claim notice that says “No action needed” right under the headline, and shows the $1,800 as part of the $11,600
• A setup flow that puts the one blocking fix first, and says in plain words what signing does and doesn’t change
• A design system of tokens and components shared with a desktop admin console, so colors mean the same thing on both sides

05 — What I learned

Adding a visual layer, then pulling it back

Midway through hi-fi I added trays, icon tiles and status chips inspired by fintech apps. One screen grew from 1,320px to 1,760px, and none of it came from a test finding. I cut back with one rule: every element has to help answer a money question, or it goes.

“It says it’s already counted, not extra. Okay, so they’re not taking another $1,800.”

Round 3 participant, first payout