Department of Internal Affairs | UX & UI Design

Enable Organisations to Conduct Business Safely within New Zealand

Project Context

Client is responsible for ensuring all NZ businesses comply with Anti-Money Laundering legislation. Having recently replaced a paper process with a digital platform, they received hundreds of daily complaints from angry and confused customers.

Client Ask
Completed 3 consecutive phases of work to:

  • Engage customers and redesign onboarding experience to eliminate the challenges they encounter

  • Improve the overall digital platform experience and test with customers

  • Collaborate with content and development teams to bring design improvements to life

My Role
UX Designer, within a small design team and the only designer to work on all 3 phases of work with this client. My role spanned the end-to-end process including discovery, design, test, delivery and support of the handover to developers.

APPROACH

A collaborative, customer-centric approach

Across three phases of work, I focused on understanding customer frustrations and translating insights into practical design improvements to simplify the AML compliance experience.

  • Conducted interviews and usability testing throughout the project, prioritising customer insights and validating designs to improve the onboarding journey.

  • Adjusted project plans and evolving priorities to accommodate cross-team collaboration and changing delivery needs.

  • Collaborated closely with content and development teams to bring design improvements to life while maintaining the intended user experience.

DISCOVERY & RESEARCH

Uncovering customer pain points

We conducted discovery and research to understand the challenges customers faced with the digital AML compliance process, combining internal insights with direct customer feedback and expert evaluation to identify key opportunities for improvement.

  • Interviewed internal staff
    Conducted 10 interviews with staff responsible for handling customer complaints to identify recurring issues and pain points.

  • Explored the end-to-end customer journey
    Interviewed 10 customers to understand their experiences, frustrations and needs when completing the digital process.

  • Evaluated the existing experience
    Completed a comprehensive heuristic review of the platform and digital form against 10 industry-standard usability principles, identifying usability issues and opportunities to improve the overall experience.

DESIGN

An enhanced onboarding and compliance experience

Using insights from discovery, I translated customer pain points into design improvements that made the AML compliance platform more intuitive, accessible and easier to navigate.

  • Established customer mindsets
    Developed a set of user mindsets to guide design decisions and keep customer needs at the centre of the experience.

  • Redesigned onboarding
    Created a more engaging introduction to the portal and compliance process, helping customers understand what to expect and how to get started.

  • Enhanced the digital form
    Delivered a comprehensive form redesign to improve navigation, clarify requirements and reduce friction throughout the completion process.

  • Collaborated through implementation
    Worked closely with content and development teams to refine designs and bring improvements to life.

TESTING

Validating designs through feedback

We tested the redesigned experience with customers to validate design decisions, uncover usability issues and understand how effectively the new experience supported users through the AML compliance process.

  • Conducted six testing sessions with a mix of customers, including those new to the process and those with prior experience.

  • Observed customers completing key tasks to uncover points of confusion, navigation issues and opportunities for improvement.

  • Used card sorting to understand which information customers found most useful, helping inform content hierarchy and presentation throughout the journey.

DELIVERY & OUTCOME

Consistent design standards and future improvements

I translated the design improvements into practical deliverables to support implementation, establish consistency across the platform and guide future enhancements.

  • Established UI guidelines
    Created updated style guidelines, UI specifications and design assets informed by government standards, applying them across the digital platform to improve consistency and usability.

  • Documented opportunities for improvement
    Delivered a detailed heuristic review outlining usability issues and actionable recommendations to inform future platform enhancements.

Simplifying compliance and enabling digital adoption

The redesigned experience improved task completion and made the digital platform more accessible, enabling all customers to complete the process online and eliminating the need for paper-based submissions. By reducing friction and improving usability, the work also helped the client engage more effectively with the businesses they regulate.