Rebuilding trading account onboarding

I had just moved from backend application engineering into product. The first thing I was handed was the process every new client goes through before they can trade. Some sensitive and confidential details are left out of this write-up.

The problem

Account opening ran on an outdated e-form built with older HTML. The experience was fragmented, compliance checks were manual, and no department could see the whole picture. Four groups felt it in different ways:

• Credit Admin worked through manual processes and data silos.
• Regulatory teams found compliance hard to track.
• Client Support had little visibility into where an application stood.
• Sales lost prospects to a long onboarding.

So this wasn't one user with one problem. It was four groups whose needs pulled in different directions, plus a regulator.

How I approached it

1. Start with the people, not the form

   I interviewed all four groups before deciding anything. I mapped their current and ideal journeys in Figma, marked every point where regulation touched the flow, and found where the workflow wasted time.

2. Design regulation in, not on

   AML and MAS requirements became part of the product design instead of a check at the end. I worked with our product designer to keep the flow compliant without making it harder to use, and to leave room for future regulatory changes.

3. Prioritise by user impact and regulatory weight

   I set up an agile way of working across functions and ran regular stakeholder feedback sessions. Features were ranked by how much they helped users and how much they mattered to compliance, so both sides could see why something came first.

4. Ship in phases

   We delivered through regular sprint reviews, folded in stakeholder feedback as we went, and rolled out in phases so the teams relying on the old process weren't disrupted.

What we shipped

• One experience shared by every stakeholder group, replacing the old e-forms.
• Automated compliance, with AML and MAS requirements built into the workflow.
• Real-time status that every department can see.
• A modern, responsive interface aligned to the OneNova design system.

Results

• Onboarding time dropped from about 10 minutes to about 5.
• Users were less confused, and satisfaction scores improved in UX analytics and feedback forms.
• Compliance became more efficient for same-day (T+0) approvals.
• Downstream work got smoother for Credit Admin, Operations, IT Support and other teams.

When we are doing roadshows or showcasing our platform to the client, there is definitely a significant improvement in how we guide clients to open an account with us compared to the old platform.

What this shows about how I work

I listen before I build. Talking to every affected group first meant the platform solved four problems at once instead of moving the pain from one team to another.

I treat constraints as design material. In fintech, regulation isn't something to work around. Building it into the flow made the product both safer and faster.

I keep agile flexible. I think of agile as a mindset, not a method; it should shift like water. Phased delivery and constant feedback let a complex, regulated change land without breaking anyone's day.