Case Study
Unified Client Application
I designed a new, digital application that allowed small business clients to apply for multiple banking products in one guided session, rather than navigate separate applications for each product. The result was a shared application experience that reduced repetitive steps, boosted digital sales, and preserved the risk controls required across products.
The Team
VP, UXD (Me)
Digital Leadership
Product Owners
AML/KYC Risk
Sales
Engineering
The Timeline
13 months
Limited pilot release
01 – The Problem
Applying for one product at a time
Small businesses often need several financial products, from checking accounts and credit cards to payment processing. At the bank, each product had its own application. Clients interested in multiple products had to navigate separate processes, even when those applications asked for much of the same information.
The bank needed a more connected digital sales experience, but its products had different requirements and were built around separate processes.
Digital-First Banking
Fintechs like Toast and Square made getting started feel fast and straightforward, raising expectations for how quickly businesses could access financial services.
Disconnected Journeys
Each product had its own application, questions, and requirements. There was no shared process for clients applying for several products.
Sales Review
Applications depended on sales review even when some clients and products could potentially proceed digitally, adding friction to the process.
Figure 1.0
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02 – The Requirements
Create a shared experience without flattening product differences
The application needed to support several products through one process without treating every business or product the same. I worked with product, sales, risk, and compliance partners to establish three principles that guided the design.
Digital-First
Allow eligible clients to complete the application independently, with a clear path to sales support when specialist review was needed.
Flexible by Design
Collect shared business information once, then show additional questions based on the products selected and the client's answers.
Compliance Built It
Preserve each product's eligibility criteria, disclosures, and risk requirements throughout the application.
03 – Design Exploration
One intake with questions that adapt
I mapped the information required across the different products to identify what could be shared and what needed to remain specific to each one.
Applicant details, business information, business activities, and ownership formed the common foundation. From there, the application presented additional questions based on product selection. For example, deposit accounts required funding details, credit cards required credit-related information, and merchant services required payment volume, methods, and equipment preferences.
Show the product selection screen, or the progress stepper – some kind of visuals, too many tables
Figure 3.0 — Shared and product-specific application requirements
Map of the application: shared information first, followed by conditional questions for checking and savings, credit cards, and merchant services. Show the review and consent steps at the end.
Figure 3.0
TABLE
04 – The Challenge
Knowing when a form should hand the client to a person
Not every business was eligible for the same digital journey. Some required additional review, while others fell outside the bank's supported criteria. I partnered with risk and compliance partners to define and document how the application should respond to different answers.
The shared application also created a path for instant counteroffers. When a client didn't qualify for their selected product, the bank could assess whether an alternative product was appropriate and present that option within the same journey. This connected eligibility decisions to the next available sales opportunity without requiring the client to restart the application.
Show a refer to sales and stop visual (error from a question)
Figure 4.0
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Show the hard stops and instant-counter-offer
Figure 4.1
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05 – Design Process
Choosing a design pattern that could scale
I explored two ways to present the Unified Application: placing the form inside a card container or letting it sit directly on the page. Both could easily accommodate required fields, but they created different relationships between the form look and feel.
Figure 5.0
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Additional Structure – creates a clear focal area for the application.
Defined Boundaries – visually separates the form from surrounding content.
Figure 5.1
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Open Layout – relies on spacing and typography rather than a card boundary.
Integrated Content – keeps the form connected to the surrounding page.
Establishing a consistent application pattern
I chose the card because it gave the form a clear boundary, with elevation to distinguish it from the rest of the page. It affected how clients could distinguish an application from the surrounding page and how easily they could follow the sequence of questions. This made individual questions and their associated fields easier to scan. It also created a pattern we could reuse across other applications and online forms at the bank, extending the value of the design beyond a single experience.
Figure 6.3
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06 – High-Fidelity Design
Showing how every product works together
I translated the shared application structure into high-fidelity screens, applying our internal design system components for large and small breakpoint. I focused on consistent navigation and clear progress indicators, while showing additional questions only when they were relevant to the client's selections or answers.
I reviewed interactive prototypes with product, technology, risk, and compliance partners. We walked through product combinations, ownership scenarios, unsupported business types, validation errors, and other cases that changed how the application should behave. These reviews helped uncover gaps and clarify requirements before implementation.
Show two or three screens from the same journey, highlighting how the questions change based on product selection or an applicant's response.
Figure 6.0
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Figure 6.1
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Figure 6.2
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06 – The Result
One application, more banking opportunities.
Bringing multiple products into one application required more than combining screens. It was determining how the experience should respond to different products, applicant circumstances, and risk requirements. I translated those variables into conditional questions and defined paths for digital completion, sales review, and cases that couldn't proceed
For clients, the unified journey reduced friction when applying for banking products. For sales teams, it directed support where it was most needed. For the bank, it created a foundation to improve product completion and unlock cross-sell opportunities within a single digital experience.
I defined which information could be collected once, where product-specific requirements needed to branch, and when an applicant should continue digitally, receive specialist support, or be stopped by eligibility rules.
The result wasn't just a redesigned application – it was a stronger foundation for how small businesses establish and grow their relationship with the bank.
Submission in pilot testing
Small business clients supported
Integrated content — Keeps the form connected to the surrounding page.
Open layout — Relies on spacing and typography rather than a card boundary.