Scalable Platform Redesign: Empowering Digital Banking for BMO's US Customers
My Role: Lead Product Designer
Project Duration: July 2024 - March 2025
The Challenge:
Our legacy consumer banking platform was hindering both users and business growth. Users wrestled with an outdated UI, a clunky 50/50 split layout burying crucial information, and confusing navigation that eroded trust. For the business, it meant missed opportunities, specifically the absence of cross-sell capabilities within the logged-in experience, impacting new account openings. We needed a fundamental transformation.
solution at a glance:
We delivered a comprehensive redesign that fundamentally elevated the digital banking experience.
Intuitive & Adaptive Layout:
Replaced the 50/50 split with a dynamic 70/30 layout, maximizing content priority and scannability.
Result: A unified, consistent visual language across the platform.
Modernized Content Presentation:
Implemented a scalable card-based system for organizing information.
Result: Improved discoverability, clear categorization, and significantly enhanced accessibility by surfacing content previously hidden in inaccessible collapsible elements.
Streamlined Navigation:
Replaced confusing back arrows with clear mobile header navigation.
Introduced an intuitive accordion-style account selector (dropdown) for seamless account switching, validated by user familiarity.
Strategic Cross-Sell Integration:
Designed contextual cross-sell cards within the authenticated experience (a new channel for the business).
User research confirmed these were non-intrusive, enabling business growth without compromising user experience.
Design System Integration:
Integrated new patterns and components into the central Design System.
Result: Established crucial consistency standards and a scalable foundation for future development, despite initial organizational friction with global design system alignment.
impact and results:
Our strategic redesign efforts yielded significant positive outcomes for both users and the business.
Client Satisfaction:
↑ +12 point increase in NPS (Net Promoter Score).
↑ CSAT score climbed from 3.4/5 to 4.0/5.
Qualitative Feedback: Users consistently praised "clearer navigation," "easier account switching," and a "cleaner, more modern UI" that felt "more like a bank website."
Business Growth:
New Revenue Channel Enabled: Successfully introduced the first cross-sell capabilities within the authenticated experience.
↑ Increased Traffic: Saw a significant increase in traffic to cross-sell landing pages, driving new interest and leads.
Accessibility:
Enhanced Equitable Access: Addressed critical accessibility barriers (e.g., problematic focus order, screen reader issues with old collapsible elements) by implementing directly accessible card systems and robust component patterns.
Learnings & Future Outlook:
This project was a masterclass in navigating enterprise complexities, teaching me invaluable lessons in strategic design leadership.
Key Learnings:
Empathetic Stakeholder Management: Learned the power of active listening and visually exploring all ideas (even those not adopted) to build trust and foster strong partnerships.
Strategic Scalability: Recognized early on the need for a templating strategy, reducing future workload and ensuring consistent application across diverse product types.
Advocacy with Rationale: Successfully advocated for the US experience's distinct Design System needs against global mandates, using market insights and user data to stand my ground effectively.
Adaptive Design: Embraced the non-linear nature of large projects, making strategic pivots (like the card system) based on user feedback and resource realities.
Future Outlook:
My next steps would prioritize addressing remaining accessibility shortcomings, particularly integrating the out-of-scope problematic modal within the new design system.
I'd also focus on continuous optimization based on ongoing analytics to further refine user experiences and explore personalized features.