Role: VP UX Designer, JP Morgan
Improving global risk operations at JPMorgan
$1tn
70+
The challenge
I joined JPMorgan as the first dedicated UX designer embedded within a global Corporate & Investment Banking product team. The platform had been in active development for two years without design support and was maintained by a 70+ person Product, Business Analysis and Engineering team.
The work sat within Securities Services, a business that settles around $1 trillion of securities transactions daily across more than 100 markets.
While the platform was functionally successful, inconsistent workflows, navigation and interaction patterns had emerged across different areas of the product. Design was typically brought in after requirements had already been defined, limiting the influence of user needs on roadmap decisions.
My goal was to introduce user-centred design, improve experience quality and establish UX as a strategic partner for product decision-making.
Building foundations for UX
Before addressing product-level issues, I focused on establishing the foundations for UX within the team. The goal was to help teams make better decisions earlier, reduce rework and create clearer routes for involving design. I introduced:
UX and UI training
Design Thinking workshops
Design handover processes
QA practices
UX drop-in sessions
Design triage processes
Heuristic review & discovery
Working alongside another designer, I conducted a large-scale heuristic evaluation across eight critical journeys. The objective was to create a shared understanding of where investment would deliver the greatest return for users and the business.
The review identified approximately 60 usability issues across:
Navigation
Information architecture
Terminology
Workflow clarity
Interface consistency
Interaction patterns
Findings were grouped, prioritised and translated into opportunities that Product and Engineering teams could act on. By connecting usability issues to product priorities, the work created a practical roadmap for improvement and helped focus investment where it would have the greatest impact.
Roadmap recommendations gained traction beyond the immediate product team, informing backlog priorities, shaping roadmap discussions and creating a shared view of where investment would have the greatest impact for users and the business.
Impact
The work helped establish UX as a recognised capability within a large Corporate & Investment Banking product team. Design became involved earlier in delivery, usability issues became visible within roadmap discussions, and UX gained credibility as a partner in product decision-making rather than a delivery function.
Key outcomes included:
UX embedded within a 70+ person Product, Business Analysis and Engineering team
UX processes established across handover, QA and collaboration
60 usability issues prioritised and translated into actionable opportunities
Recommendations adopted into product backlogs and roadmap planning
Greater visibility of customer experience issues across the platform
Increased design maturity across Product, Business Analysis and Engineering
UX recognised as a strategic partner in shaping product priorities