The product
The Enterprise Monitoring & Alert Management Program is used by treasury and compliance teams to track ACH transactions, manage files and user roles, generate reports and act on real-time alerts.
The problem
Financial institutions are accountable for their ACH programmes under Nacha rules, yet much of the monitoring still happens through raw data exports and spreadsheets: slow, inconsistent and hard to evidence at audit.
Business goal
Replace that with one platform where compliance teams monitor transaction activity, manage originators and roles, act on alerts and generate reporting in one place.
Because it runs inside regulated institutions, the design had to make risk legible at a glance, keep dense data scannable, and leave a clear trail behind every action.
My role
As the only UX/UI designer, I also took on Business Analyst responsibilities:
- Communicated directly with the client to clarify requirements
- Translated business needs into clear, actionable tasks for developers
- Checked technical limitations with the development team and fed them back to the client, so we could adjust solutions together
- Stakeholder interview
- Requirements analysis
- Field study
- Information architecture and user flows
- Design system
- Module design
- Design review and implementation support
Stakeholder interview
I interviewed stakeholders to get an initial vision of the business and the product, asking about competitors, users, and any known challenges or constraints. This helped set priorities early and shaped the direction for later design decisions.
Requirements analysis
I analysed the client's input to define what the system needed to do and which modules it should have, turning stakeholder requirements into a clear product definition.
This was the first project where I used AI as part of my process. Working in an unfamiliar regulatory domain, I used it to build my understanding of ACH compliance, summarise dense requirement documents, and pressure-test my own solutions before taking them to the client. It meant I arrived at discussions with informed questions rather than basic ones, and I verified every output against the client's requirements and domain expertise.
While analysing the requirements, I noticed several menu sections would be more intuitive if regrouped. I discussed this with the client and we agreed to go with the updated structure.
Field study
I studied leading companies' products and relevant articles to understand the industry and its competitors.
What I found
Professional over friendly
Services tend to look professional rather than user-friendly or modern, organised mostly around tables and widgets.
Complex navigation
Navigation is usually complex, and using all features takes significant training.
Cluttered screens
An excess of data and features makes systems feel crowded.
Poor accessibility
Small text, little spacing and low contrast are common across platforms.
Emerging AI
Some companies are adding machine learning and AI assistants.
Which led to these recommendations:
- Keep the interface professional, but make it more user-friendly
- Follow accessibility guidelines
- Make the main tasks quick and straightforward to complete
- Reduce the need for training through intuitive navigation
- Provide a logical workflow across integrated systems under one login
Information architecture and user flows
I structured the platform into its core modules: login, the home dashboard, reports, search, the account centre for service providers and originators, file management, and user and role management. For every screen I defined its content, table columns, search criteria, filters and available actions before any UI work began, so the full scope was agreed with the client up front.
Design system
I built the design system from the ground up, with components, patterns and states, to keep every module consistent and speed up both design and development, following best practice from systems like Material Design and making full use of Figma components and auto layout. I covered the essentials up front and added new components as the work needed them.
Module design
I designed four core modules end to end: ACH transaction monitoring, reporting dashboards, user and role management, and configurable alerts.
I translated regulatory requirements into user flows together with stakeholders, and designed permission-aware flows across four access levels: view-only, standard, manager and admin.
I ran regular walkthroughs with the client's product team, presenting options with trade-offs rather than a single solution, and iterated on their domain feedback. I also reviewed designs with engineering throughout to validate feasibility and agree component behaviour.
Design review and implementation support
Once development began, I reviewed implemented screens against the specifications, resolved inconsistencies with developers, and adjusted patterns where technical constraints required it, keeping the delivered product aligned with the design system.
Delivered
- End-to-end designs for four core modules: transaction monitoring, reporting dashboards, user and role management, and configurable alerts
- A complete design system built from scratch, with components, patterns and states
- Permission-aware flows across four access levels (view-only, standard, manager, admin), plus empty, loading, error and exception states across the product
- Implemented features reviewed against the specifications
Reflection
This project took me through almost the full product design cycle, from gathering and analysing requirements to delivering polished UI. Acting as both designer and business analyst, I became the bridge between the client and the development team.
Most importantly, I learned to balance business goals, user experience and technical feasibility, and turn that balance into clear, consistent and scalable design.
