Global Corporate Trust Services Portal
Transformed a portal serving $10B+ in managed assets — streamlining workflows for trust administrators across three business verticals and lifting user sentiment by 30%.
OVERVIEW
U.S. Bank's Global Corporate Trust Services division managed over $10 billion in assets through a legacy portal that hadn't been updated in over a decade. Users struggled with fragmented workflows, outdated interfaces, and inefficient processes that impacted their ability to serve clients effectively.
CHALLENGE
A full redesign was desired, but backend limitations required working within existing data structures. Three business verticals (GSF, CMB, CIS) had conflicting feature priorities and timelines, and users wanted every improvement immediately while risk management required gradual rollout.
SOLUTION
Designed a modern UI layer that optimized workflows without requiring costly backend rewrites — saving months of development. Facilitated stakeholder workshops to identify shared components (reducing design redundancy by ~40%), and negotiated a quarterly release cadence leading with quick wins to build user trust for the larger changes.
MY ROLE
As Principal UX Designer, I led the end-to-end redesign effort including user research, persona development, information architecture, interaction design, and high-fidelity prototyping for two US Bank service lines — Global Structured Finance & Corporate and Municipal Bonds. I collaborated closely with the CDO project lead, stakeholders, developers, and business analysts.
METHODOLOGY
Extensive user research across stakeholder interviews, 64 contextual inquiry sessions, survey analysis, and competitive benchmarking across financial services. Six personas defined the spectrum of trust administrators, relationship managers, and operations leads.
GOALS
Replace legacy interfaces with a contemporary, intuitive design system.
Reduce task completion time and eliminate redundant processes.
Provide real-time insights and unified data across all touchpoints.
Position the platform to win Hedge Fund portal development as the next service line.
IMPACT
- ★$10B+ in managed assets supported by the redesigned portal
- ★64 contextual inquiry sessions across three business verticals
- ★+30% in measured user sentiment — earned follow-on engagements
- ★Unified dashboard, smart search, and modern data visualization
RESEARCH
Conducted extensive user research to understand the diverse needs of GCTS users across three business verticals: stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiries, survey analysis, and competitive benchmarking across financial services.
- •15+ stakeholder interviews
- •8 contextual inquiry sessions
- •Journey mapping workshops
- •Usability testing rounds
- •User surveys (200+ responses)
- •Analytics review of current portal
- •Task completion time benchmarks
- •Error rate analysis
KEY FINDINGS
Users reported spending 40% of their time navigating between disconnected systems to complete routine tasks.
Critical account information was buried under multiple clicks, leading to delayed client responses and frustration.
The lack of role-based views meant all users saw the same cluttered interface, regardless of their specific needs.
Based on our research, we identified 6 distinct user personas representing the key stakeholders who interact with the U.S. Bank portal. Each persona has unique goals, workflows, and pain points that informed our design decisions.
“I need everything in one place so I can focus on serving our clients.”
- Efficiently manage multiple client accounts
- Quick access to account summaries and reports
- Streamline daily administrative tasks
- Legacy systems require multiple logins
- Data scattered across different platforms
- Time-consuming manual reporting processes
“I need to see the big picture while having access to the details when needed.”
- Oversee team performance and workload
- Access real-time portfolio analytics
- Ensure compliance and risk management
- Limited visibility into team activities
- Delayed access to critical financial data
- Difficulty tracking regulatory requirements
“My clients deserve personalized attention backed by accurate, timely data.”
- Build strong client relationships
- Provide timely investment insights
- Meet and exceed client expectations
- Fragmented client communication history
- Slow access to market data
- Manual processes for client reporting
“The system should work for us, not the other way around.”
- Maintain accurate records across accounts
- Ensure data integrity and compliance
- Support smooth account transitions
- Outdated interfaces slow down work
- Lack of automation for routine tasks
- Difficulty training new team members
“Security shouldn't come at the cost of usability.”
- Manage user access and permissions
- Ensure system security and uptime
- Support users with technical issues
- Complex permission management
- Limited audit trail capabilities
- Time-consuming user onboarding
“I need data-driven insights to tell our story effectively.”
- Create compelling client communications
- Access performance data for campaigns
- Maintain brand consistency across channels
- Limited access to client data
- Manual export processes for reporting
- Difficulty measuring campaign impact
KEY FEATURES
A personalized home view showing relevant accounts, tasks, and notifications based on user role and preferences.
Global search with filters and recent history, enabling users to find any account or document within seconds.
Centralized document management with version control, categorization, and quick access to frequently used files.
Interactive charts and graphs for portfolio performance, bond maturities, and financial trends.
STRATEGIC DECISIONS
Full redesign desired, but backend limitations required working within existing data structures.
Designed a modern UI layer that optimized workflows without requiring costly backend rewrites — saving months of development.
Three business verticals (GSF, CMB, CIS) had conflicting feature priorities and timelines.
Facilitated stakeholder workshops to identify shared components, reducing design redundancy by 40%.
Extensive contextual inquiry (64 sessions) required significant time investment during a tight timeline.
Justified research depth by demonstrating +30% user sentiment improvement — building the case for UX-led initiatives.
Users wanted all improvements immediately, but risk management required gradual deployment.
Negotiated a quarterly release cadence leading with quick-wins, building user trust for the larger changes.
TIMELINE
- Phase 1Discovery & Research
Stakeholder interviews, user research, persona development.
- Phase 2Design & Prototyping
Information architecture, wireframes, high-fidelity prototypes.
- Phase 3Usability Testing
User testing sessions, iteration, design refinement.
- Phase 4Development & Launch
Phased implementation, user training, continuous improvement.
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
- Elizabeth Srail — Principal User Experience Architect
- Kathy Mirescu — Lead User Experience Designer
- Teryn Cleary — Lead User Experience Designer