1. Deciphering Complexity for Simplicity

As a designer in the bank, my primary role has been to make complex things into something that is easy to understand by deciphering innate complexity amidst a multi-layered labyrinth, involving intricate systems and diverse tools. Especially, the processing and execution sides can be pretty daunting, like a puzzle with lots of pieces. As a designer, you take on the challenge of turning these complicated business problems into simple solutions. The financial system's intricate workflows and rigorous regulatory demands necessitate a deep dive into every facet, enabling us to create experiences that stand as a bridge between complexity and clarity. This journey begins with extensive design research, investing substantial time to gain a holistic understanding to build design artefacts like customer journey maps, service blueprints, etc., and validating that understanding with the stakeholders to address any deviation.

"In my experience, the fundamentals and skills of design can only take you so far; you have to utilize your accumulated experience and intelligence to navigate yourself through the complexity and mesh of strictly tied-up financial business outcomes."

2. The Design Duality: Navigating as Semi-Experts

Contrary to the popular belief that design is domain-agnostic, working in investment banks has led me to believe that being a semi-expert in our domain can help you navigate effectively. Having worked in both roles in business-to-employee and business-to-customer applications, I could draw parallels and realized how different it was to connect with the users in both cases. Like in the case of building products for a customer-facing organization, understanding human behaviour and psychology helped me to connect with customers quickly and empathize with them; however, in a dry investment banking domain, the struggle is about understanding the processes (like reconciliation, KYC processing, trade settlement, compliance, and credit risk analysis), business needs, user expectations, measurable outcomes, and a lot more. This depth of understanding isn't solely to enrich our designs but also becomes a communication channel with business stakeholders. It facilitates the prompt assimilation of requirements and empowers us to propose strategic process enhancements in some of the complex business processes. Thus, evolving into semi-experts within the banking domain becomes an intrinsic part of being a designer in a bank.

3. Usability as the North Star: Crafting Success Step by Step

One of the challenges I have observed while working at banks is having a variety of products for similar purposes as individual teams keep building a localised version in silos to address current needs. Over time, this pattern of behaviour results in increased expenses for the organization and a proliferation of redundant applications, primarily stemming from low adoption rates due to misalignment with user expectations.

Building products for banks requires special care due to financial and reputational risks. In a typical banking scenario, the user is trying to get some of the most difficult tasks done, which require attention and accuracy; hence, it is important to reduce cognitive load and provide a seamless user experience. Designers at the bank use usability as a major weapon to address this gap. A great usability framework is deeply rooted in a structured, comprehensive, and rigorous (sometimes over 100 sessions) testing process to refine the designs and keep user-centricity as the focal point. A robust usability framework executed with honesty can help you deliver consistent user experiences, regardless of the designer at the helm.

4. Fostering Design Influence: Structured Forums for Collaboration

Design’s journey should not be confined to just design studios but span across the entire product delivery spectrum. To inspire larger groups, it’s important to host self-organized checkpoints such as product showcases, research readouts, and demo sessions. These sessions emerge as proactive platforms for engaging with stakeholders, providing them with a glimpse into ongoing design projects. They bring design out of the shadows and into the spotlight, fostering a culture of collaboration. Exploring the potential beyond these checkpoints with non-designers and establishing regular quarterly or monthly forums for designers to collaborate, share insights, and cultivate collective design intelligence could be a transformative initiative. These efforts, united by a common purpose, amplify the impact and transform design from a solitary effort into a collective force.

5. The Power of Documentation: Cultivating Efficiency

In an ever-evolving landscape, time is of the essence. To expedite the design process, it is important to invest substantially in documentation, frameworks, libraries, and templates. This repository of knowledge can become a beacon of productivity, equipping your team to deliver designs with remarkable agility. The documentation helps to harness the collective wisdom of the team, ensuring that every project benefits from a wealth of past experiences and insights. Documentation helps in bringing more transparency and accountability to your stakeholders as it becomes a touchpoint in the project journey that they can refer to in later stages, like the creation of Jira stories, roadmaps, and the foundation for the next round of work.

It also helps expedite the new member onboarding process by reducing the time significantly.

As a caution, it is also important to strike a balance between comprehensive documentation and getting the product ready, considering the time-bound agile environment in certain organizations.

Conclusion

My journey as a designer in the financial sector has been enriching and full of challenges. Navigating through complexity, fostering collaboration, and championing usability, I have come to realize that design in the financial sector isn't just about crafting interfaces; it's about shaping experiences that empower, simplify, and bridge the gap between intricate systems and the users navigating them. With each insight gained, I'm fueled with excitement and passion to continue this journey of innovation, forging a path where design meets the complexities of finance with unwavering clarity and purpose. I hope this article helps not just designers who are working at the bank but also those who are trying to solve complex business problems in their respective domains.

Let's connect and discuss if some of these thoughts resonate with you to build these thoughts further.