Designing Without a Map

Turning complexity into clarity with fresh perspective, mapping every user journey and creating the foundations for a RegTech platform to scale globally.

Situation

This global RegTech SaaS platform manages and automates risk and compliance workflows for enterprises and advisors. It combines laws, standards and regulations with prebuilt controls and templates, offering a modern alternative to spreadsheets and legacy compliance systems. One of its standout features is an AI powered engine integrated into the platform to accelerate compliance mapping and provide intelligent insights.

This was a highly complex product, and my first weeks on the team were dedicated to an intensive discovery phase. That meant immersing myself in the intricacies, governance requirements and operational realities of what risk and compliance management actually entails. At times it was information overload, but that’s what discovery is for... learning the product, its workflows and its constraints in detail. Coming onboard without prior sector experience gave me a clean slate, allowing me to question assumptions, spot inefficiencies and identify steps in workflows that might be overlooked by someone deeply ingrained in the industry.

When I joined as the Lead UX Designer there was no separation of user identities or an understanding of the distinct journeys different types of users would take. Every login landed on the same dashboard with the same content, regardless of whether the user was a consultant, compliance officer, board member or executive. There was no mapping of how these users tasks, permissions and priorities differed. This created confusion, unnecessary friction and a reliance on consultant led onboarding to explain what should have been obvious through design.

Task

Working closely with the CPO, co-founders, product managers and engineering teams, I was responsible for leading the end to end redesign to:

Streamline complex, multi step workflows without losing functional depth.
Introduce role based dashboards and task flows to surface only relevant, actionable insights.
Educate the team internally on the importance of user segmentation and journey mapping before building functionality.
Conduct a heuristic evaluation and competitive analysis to benchmark against leading SaaS and RegTech platforms.
Establish the first unified design system, providing the foundational components, patterns and interaction rules needed to scale as the company grew rapidly.
Ensure the platform was responsive and usable on mobile for consultants and clients.

Action

The discovery phase was critical. I mapped the full picture of the product, its modules and how different roles interacted with them from Risk Managers and Compliance Officers to Security Officers, Board Members and external consultants. This early work not only defined the structure for role based experiences but also helped the team see how each user type’s priorities connected to business outcomes.

User role segmentation defining different identities such as Risk Manager, Compliance Officer, Consultant, Security Officer and Board Member and what each needed to achieve on the platform.
Onboarding experiences separating registration from login, clarifying team setup flows, and identifying friction points in the first time user experience.
Guided navigation and learning designing “Getting Started” panels, contextual tooltips, and task guidance to reduce training dependency.

Once the foundational user journeys were agreed, I collaborated with product, engineering, and leadership to deliver:

Heuristic Evaluation & Competitive Analysis

Identified friction points in navigation, task execution, and data interpretation, and benchmarked against other SaaS and RegTech platforms.
Information Architecture & Role Based Design

Restructured the IA to reduce clicks and eliminate unnecessary screen switching. Introduced role specific dashboards so each user type saw only relevant insights and actions.
Multi Pane Workspace & Guided Workflows

Consolidated related tasks into single screen workspaces with multiple panes, reducing context switching. Built guided flows that surfaced next steps based on user behaviour.
AI Engine Integration

Designed clear interaction patterns for the AI engine to help users map compliance frameworks, identify overlaps, and get contextual recommendations. Positioned AI assistance as part of a broader toolkit.
Design System for a Growing Platform

Created the company’s foundational design system, complete with reusable components, design patterns and behaviour rules. Delivered detailed documentation to ensure consistency, accelerate development and provide a scalable foundation for new features as the company rapidly expanded.

Result

Recognition & Funding
Platform was named one of The Australian’s Top 100 Innovators and included in the RegTech100 for 2021 to 2022. The redesign also supported a $5M capital raise for global expansion, led by high profile investors.
AI Productivity Boost
The AI engine who we called Hailey increased compliance mapping speed by 1300%, drastically reducing manual effort.
Improved Usability
Reduced onboarding time and allowed users to self serve without consultant support.
Mobile Capability
Enabled consultants and clients to execute tasks and review insights from any device.
Scalable Design System
Delivered a brand new, foundational design system that allowed the product to grow quickly without sacrificing consistency or usability.

Conclusion

This project transformed a powerful but complex RegTech platform into a globally scalable, user first solution. The initial discovery phase was as much about learning the intricacies of risk and compliance governance as it was about understanding the platform itself. Coming in without industry preconceptions allowed me to see gaps and redundancies others might miss therefor shaping a solution that balanced deep complexity with clarity, scalability and usability for every user type.

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