Streamlining Trade Agreements: Design for a Multi-Stage Document & Approval Platform
Finance | UI-UX
Background
The Document Management System (DMS) is an enterprise application designed to address the complex challenges of document management and legal entity administration within financial and trading organizations. The application streamlines onboarding, manages critical static data, automates multi-party document workflows, enforces robust approval and versioning systems, and ensures security through granular access controls. The solution targets the need for efficiency, transparency, and auditability in environments where data confidentiality and regulatory compliance are vital.
Role & Responsibilities
I involved in this project as UI/UX Designer & participated in workshops and requirements gathering sessions with stakeholders. Worked closely with the business analyst to map user journeys and pain points. Took care of Prototyped key modules, iterated designs based on feedback, and ensured visual consistency.
Discovery & Research
Discovery begins with multiple meeting with stakeholders with compliance team, legal team and it admins. we went through contextual inquiry into current document management process and bottlenecks. I went through competitive analysis of financial document management tools to understanding of patterns & strategy.
Key Insight
Define
Problem Statement:
Financial organizations lack a centralized, secure, and efficient solution for managing the lifecycle of legal and trade documents. Existing processes result in delays, compliance risks, and poor user experience due to fragmented workflows, inadequate visibility, and ad-hoc data management.
Finalized Core User Needs:
Easy onboarding of organizations and users
Reliable, template-driven document creation.
Flexible, transparent approval workflows supporting both in-app and email-based participation.
Intuitive document tracking, reporting, and notifications.
Secure, granular access management per legal entity and organization type.
Ideate &
Prototype
Onboarding Dashboard: Step-by-step guidance for setting up organizations, legal entities, and users.
Static Data Management: Self-service interfaces for defining approval groups, currency/ product groups, and templates.
Document Creation Wizard: Guided flow for defining participants, workflows, legal terms, and enforcement rules.
Evaluation
Design reviews and alignment meetings with the product manager and business analyst.
Usability testing with compliance and admin users, simulating real onboarding and document cycles.
Stakeholder feedback sessions with business, legal, and IT participants.
Results
Increased Efficiency:
Drastic reduction in onboarding time for organizations and legal entities.
Improved Accuracy & Consistency:
Centralized static data and templates minimized manual entry and errors.
Stronger Compliance:
Automated audit trails and version control ensured regulatory readiness.
Enhanced User Experience:
Role-driven dashboards and clear notification systems reduced ambiguity and improved user satisfaction.
