Summary
A solo redesign project that surfaced a hidden workflow, consolidated a fragmented multi-tab experience into a single page, and eliminated hours of manual work for firm administrators at large financial advisory firms.
Platform
Black Diamond Wealth Solutions
“Large firms, with hundreds of teams or thousands of accounts, found the process unscalable — and exclusions were hidden, making it hard to understand access gaps.”
Our Users
Three distinct user types, one broken workflow
The redesign had to serve two primary users and one important secondary audience — each with different goals and tolerance for complexity.
The Problem
A fragmented system that couldn’t scale
Assigning accounts required hopping across multiple tabs and using a “shopping cart” pattern that frustrated users. Exclusions were tied too tightly to direct assignments, creating tedious rework. Large firms, with hundreds of teams or thousands of accounts, found the process unscalable.
Permissioning also posed risks: workflows often required granting full admin or all-account access, exposing firms to unnecessary security concerns. The challenge was to create a system that supported granular permissions, simplified exclusions, and scaled for large firms — all while preparing for future Core API migration.
Research & Insights
Cross-team sessions surfaced four consistent themes
Discovery involved structured meetings across product, engineering, client services, and internal service teams. Rather than a single research method, the insights emerged from triangulating feedback across stakeholders who each saw a different part of the problem.
Tools
Sketch
Design Process
The old experience: three jobs, three places
The original interface treated rep codes, teams, and account exclusions as separate concerns — each with its own tab and its own workflow. For an admin trying to set up a user's access holistically, this meant bouncing between tabs and losing context between each step.
Design Constraint
What components I used and pattern I chose had to come from our design system – Avalanche
Rather than being a creative limitation, this was a forcing function for good decisions — the solution had to be architecturally sound and familiar to our users, not just visually novel.
The horizontal tab pattern already existed in the system and was the right pattern for this problem: it maintained spatial context within the page while giving each function (accounts, teams, rep codes, exclusions) its own dedicated zone. The key design decision was surfacing exclusions as a peer to the other tabs rather than hiding it behind a secondary interaction.
The Solution
One page, four tabs, zero workarounds
The redesigned Firm Users page consolidates the entire access management workflow into a single space. Horizontal tabs give each function clear ownership while keeping the admin anchored in a single context. Account exclusions — previously hidden — now appear as a primary tab at the same level as accounts, teams, and rep codes.
Admins can now add accounts, assign teams, configure rep codes, and set exclusions without leaving the page — and without knowing about hidden features. The exclusions tab makes the capability discoverable by default.
Outcome
The redesign removes the conditions that caused the problem — not just the symptoms
A scalable, permission-aware setup experience that gives admins a better path, so over-granting access stops being the path of least resistance. Shipping July 2026.
Role
Sole Product Designer
Duration
2 Months