RBC Royal Bank
Omni Channel
Choose a Bank Journey
Real-time shared view for seamless bank account openings, enhancing collaboration and reducing errors and delays
Product Design Management UX/UI Design I User Research
Strategic Context
Banking customer onboarding was a critical growth funnel, but the legacy process was slow, taking up to five days, and prone to frequent errors and delays.
My Role — Lead Product Designer
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Directed design strategy end-to-end: discovery, ideation, and delivery
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Drove alignment across legal, product, onboarding, and compliance to balance user needs with business and regulatory goals.
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Led journey mapping, co-creation workshops, and roadmap planning to guide strategy and cross-functional execution.
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Championed design thinking to drive alignment across the organization
Our mission was to redesign onboarding into a guided, collaborative platform that accelerates account activation with greater accuracy and transparency.
Design Process
1. Empathize: Uncovering Core Frictions
I led early discovery efforts to understand pain points from both customers and internal staff through direct observation and data analysis.
Methods:
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Observed live onboarding sessions; interviewed customers and internal staff
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Analyzed form abandonment rates and application error data
Key Highlights:
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Customers frequently made mistakes due to unclear instructions
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Bank staff lacked real-time visibility into onboarding progress
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High error rates caused backlogs and costly manual corrections
Developed a research study canvas to strategically plan and align objectives, methods, and participant criteria for the account opening research.
The design and research teams reconvened after user interviews to synthesize findings into meaningful themes and clusters.
A concise report summarizing key findings, prioritizing pain points and opportunities, and providing actionable recommendations for product managers.
Developed a research study canvas to strategically plan and align objectives, methods, and participant criteria for the account opening research.
2. Define
I led a synthesis of research insights and aligned stakeholders to clarify key friction points and compliance needs.
Key Activities & Deliverables:
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Created detailed journey maps of current and future onboarding experiences
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Identified and documented core frictions: unclear steps, duplicate entry, siloed data
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Collaborated with legal to integrate compliance requirements into the design framework
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Formulated a clear problem statement to guide ideation and development
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Delivered stakeholder alignment presentations and defined success metrics
Problem Statement
How might we enable customers and staff to co-manage onboarding in real time, improving accuracy, transparency, and speed?
Mapped the end-to-end onboarding journey to surface friction points, align teams, and guide solution priorities.
Mapped the end-to-end onboarding journey to surface friction points, align teams, and guide solution priorities.
3. Ideate: Reimagining the Workflow
I facilitated workshops and design sprints to generate and prioritize solutions, balancing user needs and business goals.
Key Actions:
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Led ideation sessions with product managers and onboarding SMEs
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Explored concepts including guided form entry, live status tracking, and smart validation
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Prioritized ideas that reduce friction while ensuring regulatory compliance
Partnered with product managers and account opening SMEs to explore and prioritize solutions through hands-on ideation activities.
Partnered with product managers and account opening SMEs to explore and prioritize solutions through hands-on ideation activities.
Partnered with product managers and account opening SMEs to explore and prioritize solutions through hands-on ideation activities.
Partnered with product managers and account opening SMEs to explore and prioritize solutions through hands-on ideation activities.
4. Prototype & Test
I oversaw prototype development and usability testing, iterating based on feedback to refine clarity and collaboration.
Key Activities & Deliverables:
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Developed mid-fidelity interactive prototypes in Figma
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Conducted usability testing with internal staff and select dealers
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Iterated on role-based views, field clarity, and collaboration indicators
Results, Business Impact & Design Leadership
Streamlined Onboarding & Regulatory Confidence
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Digitized manual, error-prone onboarding workflows, improving accuracy, and reducing compliance risk.
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Lowered compliance risk by embedding validation and audit requirements directly into the workflow.
User & Business Outcomes
Application Completion
+26% increase post-launch
Cross-Sell Uptake
+18% within 30 days of onboarding
Support Inquiries
-32% related to account setup
Cross-Team Alignment at Scale
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Unified design, engineering, and product teams around shared onboarding goals and friction points.
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Introduced flexible design system components and permission logic.
Elevating Design’s Strategic Influence
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Embedded UX into cross-functional planning—helping shape risk controls, service models, and rollout strategies.
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Helped shift perception of design from UI support to a driver of measurable business impact.
With the Omni Channel 'Choose a Bank Journey', we've transformed how our clients navigate their banking experience, ensuring every touchpoint is as smooth and intuitive as the next."
Jesus Gorriti
Head of Digital Customer Experience, RBC