Product Designer
Lead Designer for Small Business Lending Platform (BLX) under Originations and Wellness Team in Commercial Banking.
Contributions
Leadership
& Agile Advocacy
Product Design
& UX Strategy
User Research
& Testing
About the Product
BLX is a desktop tool used by bankers to create and modify applications to loans, lines of credit, and other financial packages for Small Business clients.
Leadership
& Agile Advocacy
As the lead designer for BLX, I prioritized alignment with the Dev team. My goal was to establish the team as a design- and agile-driven squad, with the user experience at the core.
I created a more cohesive team through:
- Promoting agile development and user research to work together to create the most impactful outcomes.
- Including Dev team in early ideation workshops, identifying painpoints and potential solutions.
- Identifying Dev limitations, working within Salesforce Lightning Design System.
- Collaborating with Digital Change Enablement to bring a voice of design & users into BLX Office Hours
Team:
Product Designer
Product Owner and Product Manager
Scrum Master
Business Analyst
Developers
UX Writer
Tools:
Figma, Miro, UserZoom, Jira
A Note on NDAs:
Due to the nature of my work in the financial technology sector, many of the projects I have contributed to are protected under strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The banking industry is highly regulated, requiring rigorous compliance to protect proprietary information and sensitive client data. As a result, I am unable to publicly share the full extent of my design work. However, I am happy to discuss my design process, problem-solving approach, and high-level insights during an interview to demonstrate my expertise and experience.
Product Design & UX Strategy
This product addresses a unique user, in this case, the banker. Within BLX, I primarily focused on the New Application (for new loans and lines of credit,) Modifications (or increase requests to existing applications,) and the integration of a new deposits platform.
Focusing on:
- Information Architecture (keeping the experience intuitive and user friendly)
- Accessibility (anticipating the needs of all clients -- old, young, rural, urban, native English speakers, ESL, etc.)
- Unique use cases in banking world (what happens when a Non-Profit wants to add a Guarantor? Or if you have multiple guarantors 🤔)
- Aligning with product Objectives to deliver impactful design
Feature mockups for In-Person Signing.
Improving the User Experience through Design
Optimizing Existing Features
Optimized application processes by consolidating steps to reduce the number of "clicks" and screens to complete the desired action.
Identifying New Features
Enhanced the user experience through research-driven design, anticipating
Features include:
- In-Person Signing (supporting DocuSign in the New Application)
- Selecting Authorized Officer/Guarantors (Modifications flow)
Objectives and Key Results
Aligning with OKRs, delivering and streamlining direct results.
#1 Increase Adoption Rate 📈
Get BLX newly hired bankers equipped to succeed and navigate tool with ease, with end goal of increasing adoption rate over legacy product.
#2 Get Clients Money Faster💸
Create a faster application process, reducing the time it takes to get clients from point A to point B.
User Research & Testing
I implemented consistent user research, deepening the understanding of our users and identifying key areas of improvement for the product.
I established research practices through:
- Conducting over 30 interviews, including usability testing, surveys, and general feedback.
- Leading banker feedback sessions leading to prioritizing new features and simplifying the current experience.
- Implementing design changes based on feedback to help understand banker experience.
- Creating user-centered discovery and testing research plan.
Listening to the Voice of the Users
Quotes from User Interviews
"You're taking away as many clicks for us as possible, and I can definitely see that."
-- Josh W., Branch Manager
"It's so much nicer not to have a full application for an increase ... it's going to save a lot more time."
-- Fran A., Branch Manager
"I like that once (the banker) got to this point they can easily go back and change it ... it's not this whole process."
-- Nina M., Branch Manager
on Selecting an Authorized Officer page.
"I really like that ... I think it's really clear. The (legacy product) doesn't have this."
-- Marly B., Branch Manager
on Selecting an Authorized Officer page.
Achievements
Shipped 5+ new features in a 7-month period, resulting in a 4.8% increase in adoption rate over legacy product and increasing total processed applications by 49%.
Transformed the team into a design-focused unit, utilizing consistent user research through facilitating workshops, 20+ interviews, 10+ branch visits, 2+ ideation sessions, and implementing QA practices.
5+
New features shipped in a
7-month period
49%
Increase in
total processed applications
10+
Branch visits for user research
20+
User interviews
Other portfolio pieces:
