CRM Design:
Digital Transformation
Synopsis
Know Your Customer (KYC) is how a financial institution collects and verifies client/customer information. That information determines whether that institution will do business with that particular entity or customer. Wilmington Trust was collecting KYC data via paper or email. This posed significant risks to the bank and its clients. I led the digital transformation effort that optimized KYC and placed it into Wilmington Trust's Deal Management Platform.
Role —
Sole UX Designer and UX Researcher
Partners —
Solution Architects, Business Analysts, Product Owners, Developers
Timeline —
1 year +
Challenges
Stakeholder buy-in
Onboarding newly proposed software (ex: lexisnexis) to help automate, speed-up, or securely process information was often denied.
Using Appian to develop the CRM
Appian is a low-code application platform that, at the time, was highly restrictive.
Being the sole designer on the team
I was the only designer on this initiative, which posed timeline challenges often.
Measuring Success
Digitizing the KYC process
This would allow the bank to collect KYC information faster and more securely.
Decreasing time spent on relationship management
Missing information, providing clarity or instructions, and signatures were often the pieces of information a Relationship Manager had to chase after.
Reducing client
pain points
Existing clients were excited about the chance to optimize this process and were very cooperative in suggesting things that may resolve their frustrations.
Results
How I did it
Scope of Work
For this initiative, I had to uncover pain points and gaps and identify opportunities to improve or innovate in moving this process from paper to a secure digital platform.
Interviews: Key Findings
Since the current KYC process involved a packet of paper, I scanned each sheet and used it in my interviews. I interviewed all roles typically involved in the KYC process, internal and external.
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Pain Points:
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Paper Forms (10 pages) that lacked instructional clarity
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Inconsistent and unclear terminology
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Inefficient way to follow up with clients
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Difficulty in tracking signatures and moving statuses/timelines/deadlines
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Unsecure process of sending and sharing sensitive info via email or fax
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Appian: low code dev tool with limitations
Design Thinking
Each interview led to the creation of an artifact, such as a journey map or service blueprint. The service blueprint helped me capture the end-to-end front-end and back-end experience for every role typically involved. This helped me identify opportunities to improve systems, processes or experiences.
Wireframes
Facilitating brainstorming activities with clients was extremely helpful. We talked about possible pain relievers, we ranked them, and based on what was captured, I was able to pull patterns from the exercise and begin wireframing them. The biggest pain reliever was:
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One-stop shop: A product fully capable of handling a deal end-to-end would allow clients to communicate with RM's, edit information, sign documents, upload documents, submit requests, provide status updates, and timeline extension transparency.​​
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This aligned with our desire to have the CRM be more of a self-service tool so we could decrease the amount of time RM's were spending chasing vs. strengthening relationships with our clients.
High-fidelity Comps
I used the wireframes to hold conversations with stakeholders and clients. Getting their insight and buy-in on the intended functionality and process. ​After a few rounds of testing, I created the Hi-Fi comps and used them to conduct moderated testing with internal employees (R'M's) and external clients.
CLIENT FACING
Digital Forms
The forms that were once paper were now placed into the platform a client could access at any time.
CLIENT FACING
Automation
We included logic that would show or hide specific questions based on the client's selections about their business. This allowed us to shorten the length of KYC in certain instances where entities did not need to fill out unnecessary information.
CLIENT FACING
Document Center
Clients could now see the exact documents we requested and upload them directly to the platform.
INTERNAL FACING
CRM
While the client inputs information into the platform on the front end, our RMs and internal teams can access information about each deal on the back end, letting them know when they need to take action for the client.
Design System
During this project, I leveraged our design system to style the UI. However, Appian, being a limited tool, presented challenges in being able to use fully custom components for the CRM. This sometimes required creating a set of Appian-friendly components that aligned with the WT brand.
