Amazon AWS Plato — smaqsood

Amazon: AWS PLATO

Product Library & Taxonomy Organizer (PLATO)

What's the problem?

AWS lacked a single, scalable system to define and organize its products and hierarchies. This created inconsistencies across downstream systems, making it difficult to connect GAAP revenue, usage, cost, P&L, deal constructs, and sales revenue. Without a unified framework, financial reporting teams had to rely on fragmented, manual processes that slowed decision-making and introduced risk.

What do we want to achieve?

• Build a centralized product library and taxonomy system that provides AWS with a standard product definition.
• Enable downstream systems to easily integrate with PLATO for consistent financial and reporting data.
• Give reporting teams the flexibility to create custom hierarchies while maintaining alignment with AWS product definitions.

What are challenges we faced?

• Designing for a complex backend system with multiple dependencies.
• Balancing financial reporting flexibility with the need for strict standardization across AWS.

What was part of the team and what was my role?

As the Lead UX Designer, I spearheaded the design efforts, working collaboratively with a supporting designer, the lead product manager, and the lead engineer to ensure seamless integration of our design solutions. A key part of my role involved closely partnering with finance stakeholders to thoroughly understand and align on taxonomy requirements, ensuring the product met their specific needs while maintaining usability and consistency across the platform. This collaboration facilitated a user-centered design approach that balanced business objectives with technical possibilities.

How was the process I followed?

The research and discovery phase involved conducting competitive analysis and product teardowns, alongside leading user research interviews with finance and reporting teams. Insights gathered were synthesized into clear problem statements and key requirements. During the design and exploration stage, user flows were mapped for product taxonomy creation and reporting integration, with initial sketches evolving through low-, medium-, and high-fidelity prototypes. In the testing and iteration phase, a second round of user interviews was conducted to validate the designs, and iterations were made based on feedback from finance stakeholders and technical partners.

What was the final solution?

• Built the first version of PLATO, a read-only portal providing a centralized source of truth for AWS products and hierarchies.
• Currently working on Version 2, expanding the system into a write-enabled portal that allows teams to create, edit, and maintain hierarchies directly

User Research Synthesis