HSBC’s corporate lending platform had evolved into a highly complex, unintuitive system that reflected organizational and technical history rather than user workflows. Despite a costly third-party usability engagement, the output was limited to a high-level visual concept and a handful of key screens—without workflows, interaction models, or design standards.
(Fig. A)
(Fig. B)
To make matters even more problematic, these designs were then handed to multiple global development teams working across different technology stacks.
The risk was clear: without intervention, the platform would become more inconsistent, harder to maintain, and more error-prone than the legacy system it was meant to replace.
(Fig. C)
