Step 1
The teller sees the override alert and sends a request
When an operation needs approval, the teller picks the supervisor and sends a remote override request.
Project overview
One of the biggest credit unions in Canada, offering everyday banking, lending and wealth services to individuals and businesses through its branch network. Branch staff served members on legacy software built around dense forms and manual workarounds, so the organization was replacing it with a new platform.
1stCanadian credit union by total assets
147branches
600,000+members
The project was delivered in two phases. Phase 1, led by another designer, set up the platform’s foundations with the basic read-only views. I took over design in Phase 2, turning those views into an operational tool and developing new features and flows. The project’s key shift was turning a rigid, form-based legacy product into a modern, flexible platform where staff complete every operation in one place, without workarounds. This case study focuses on Phase 2.
What I owned
- DiscoveryRan focused discovery sessions with tellers, managers and back-office staff for each feature.
- Flow definitionMapped current workflows and business rules, and defined the new end-to-end flows for each feature.
- Product designDesigned the Phase 2 features end to end, from flows and navigation to reusable UI patterns across the platform.
- Testing and validationTested every feature with branch staff before it moved to delivery.
- Backlog managementBuilt and managed the backlog with the product owner, writing the user stories and acceptance criteria for each feature.
- DeliveryPartnered with the development team on handoff and design QA, feature by feature.
Main project objectives
UnifyPull the many systems staff use into one interface.
OptimizeStreamline workflows around the end-user journey.
SimplifyCreate a simple, functional internal app that staff can learn quickly.
Main industry challenges
Core system integrations
Integrate with existing core banking systems without disrupting data or workflows.
Data security
Manage and protect sensitive member data across every workflow.
Training & onboarding
Get every staff member productive with the new software from day one.
Process
The broad business discovery took place in Phase 1, when the team also drafted the product roadmap. In Phase 2, discovery focused on specific topics. For each feature, I led the project team through the same loop: discovery, define, design and delivery, then on to the next one.
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1
Discovery
Understand each banking workflow and the business rules behind it.
- Feature discovery sessions
- Current-state walkthroughs with the client
- User interviews
- Market & competitor research
- Current-state mapping
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2
Define
Turn findings into a shared view of problems and priorities.
- Roles & personas involved
- Insight synthesis
- Business rules & requirements
- Prioritization workshops
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3
Design
Shape the future-state experience of each feature.
- Future-state user flows
- Information architecture
- Rapid prototypes
- Client review & iteration
- User validation tests
- Low to high-fidelity design
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4
Delivery
Bring the design to production with the build team.
- Feature refinement
- MVP scoping
- Developer handoff
- Design QA
- Dev support & release
1Discovery – Explore the features
Phase 1 had mapped the users and carried out the main business discovery. In the second phase, focused discovery sessions with the client and users for each new feature uncovered how the work really happened.
“We’ve always done it this way, and it works.”Heard often during the project
Conservative culture
Every change to an existing process faced resistance.
Regulatory complexity
Strict business rules shaped every single flow.
Speed at the branch
Experienced users feared losing time to a learning curve.
2Define – Converge the research outputs
Four roles use the platform every day. Their needs were the reference point for every feature in Phase 2, so each design decision stayed tied to real work at the branch.
Who uses the platform
TellerServes members at the counter. Needs every task to be fast.
Branch ManagerApproves operations, often away from the desk.
Back-office / OperationsProcesses member requests behind the scenes.
AdminManages users, permissions and settings.Key pain points
Staff had built workarounds for many of their tasks, and exploring them made it clear what they needed.
- 01Too many tools
Tellers jumped between 4–5 separate systems for everyday tasks.
- 02Inconsistent data
The same information lived in different places, in different formats.
- 03Poor findability
The information architecture made it hard to find items quickly.
- 04Unclear data status
It was hard to tell whether information in the system was up to date.
3Design – A better product
I redesigned most of the core banking features of the legacy system, challenging every action and every piece of information carried over from the old system to capture the real business needs and streamline the work into simple, easy-to-navigate flows.
Design goals
- 1Streamline critical internal processesReplace in-person manager approvals with a remote override flow tellers can start from any operation
- 2Ensure AML complianceFlag expiring member information automatically and guide tellers through validation in a few clicks
- 3Improve internal notes on membersGive staff one clear place to record and find notes about each member
- 4Centralize member informationEdit member data in one place, reducing duplicates and inconsistent records
Implemented features
EditEditing for all the information designed in Phase 1
MessagesInternal notes at membership and product level
AML validationFlags and tracks anti-money-laundering checks
Member CardsView, create and manage a member’s cards
Operations SummaryTrack background operations while working on other tasks
Transactions20+ banking transaction types
OverridesRemote manager approvals
Streamline critical internal processes
Implementing remote manager approvals
Some operations, like large withdrawals or exceeding limits, need a manager’s approval. The new feature lets tellers submit override requests remotely, so the member is served without waiting for the manager to come to the desk.
Key insights
- Managers are often away from their desk, busy around the branch.
- Some branches have no manager on site on certain days.
- Each teller could only be approved by their assigned manager.
The problem
Approvals had to happen in person at the teller’s desk, leaving tellers and members waiting, or unable to complete the operation at all.
The solution
A fully remote flow. The teller sends a request on the spot, the manager is notified in the app and by email, reviews the details and approves or declines with a reason. The teller is notified and completes the operation.
Key design decision: Keeping in-person approval
We kept the in-person password approval instead of replacing it. Managers trusted it, and removing it would have slowed adoption.
Trade-off: two paths to maintain, but zero change resistance.
New remote override workflow
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Teller
Manager
System
Flags that an override is required
Picks the manager & sends request
Notifies manager in app & email
Reviews the request details
Approves or declines with a reason
Notifies the teller
Completes the operation
The system flags that an override is required
Whenever a teller attempts an action that needs a manager’s approval, the system shows a warning and invites them to send an override request.
Step 2
The manager reviews the request and approves it
The manager gets the request in real time, with a countdown, and reviews and accepts it from anywhere.
Step 3
The teller is notified and completes the operation
The teller is notified as soon as the override is accepted and finishes the operation with the member.
Ensure AML compliance at all times
AML validation in just a few clicks
Sessions with the compliance team to map the rules, then design and validation loops with tellers until the flow fit naturally into their daily routine.
Key insights
- The Credit Union is accountable for any critical member information left unchecked.
- Member information expires and needs to be validated again over time.
- At a busy counter, manual checks were easy to forget.
The problem
Checks were manual, and tellers often missed some before the member left the branch.
The solution
The system tracks when each piece of member information expires. When a teller opens the profile, it warns them right away and guides them through a step-by-step validation before the requested operations. A dedicated page covers skipped warnings and exceptions.
Key design decision: More effort for more value
Confirming information straight from the AML summary page was first cut from the MVP for technical reasons. I made the case to keep it: tellers validate in front of the member, and jumping between sections cost time and context.
Trade-off: more build effort up front, but a faster validation at the counter.
AML validation workflow
- System tracks expiry dates
- Teller opens member profile
- Instant validation warning
- Step-by-step validation
- Teller serves the member
Automatic flagging
The system calculates when each piece of member information expires and flags what needs updating. The warning appears every time a teller opens the member page, so no check is missed.
Dedicated AML management page
One page lists every pending item to validate with the member. Tellers review the data together with the member and confirm or edit each field right there, streamlining the whole validation.
4Delivery – Launch feature by feature
Each feature shipped on its own release cycle, with design QA and close support for the build team. Six months in, every branch was running 95% of its daily work in the new platform, so the goal of adoption from day one was met.
7operational features delivered
95%of branch work done in the new platform
6 monthsto full adoption across all branches
Lessons learned
01
In core banking, every change is a risk
“One design bug in a transaction form can send $1M instead of $100.” I heard this often from the client’s product team. In a conservative environment the key is knowing which changes are worth it. Long-term users are biased by habit, so discovery meant challenging everything, then balancing user and business requirements into a product that serves both.