New Product Build

Wire Transfer Applicaation

Role

Senior Manager, UX & Engineering - Product Lead + IC

Company

First Republic Bank

Project

New Product Build

Platforms

Internal Enterprise App (B2B Workflow Tool)

Project Overview

New Project Build

Wires Lite was a streamlined, mission-critical version of the bank’s primary wire transfer platform, GPP (Global Payment Processor). The goal was to rapidly build a reliable backup application capable of handling extreme transaction volume during a financial crisis. The system needed to support over $4 trillion in annual wire transfers across a broad range of high-net-worth and institutional customers, while maintaining strict compliance, security, and operational controls.

To meet the urgency of the situation, we assembled a dedicated cross-functional team of designers and engineers and delivered the first functional release in just two weeks. Wires Lite provided bankers with a simplified, high-efficiency workflow that ensured business continuity, reduced operational risk, and preserved critical treasury operations during a period of significant instability.

The Problem

The bank’s primary wire transfer system, GPP (Global Payment Processor), was struggling to remain stable during periods of unusually high transaction volume. As wire requests surged, the system experienced severe performance degradation, resulting in processing delays, increased operational risk, and potential financial impact for high-net-worth and institutional clients.

The instability created an urgent need for a streamlined backup solution that could reliably handle large transaction loads without compromising speed, accuracy, or compliance.

The Goal

The goal was to rapidly design and deliver a simplified wire transfer application that could serve as a stable, high-performance backup to GPP. The product needed to be built within an extremely short timeline, with a focused feature set centered exclusively on:

  • Processing high-value wire transfers
  • Supporting banker-driven wire verification workflows

Additionally, the system had to be architected to reliably support up to $4 trillion in wire transfer volume, ensuring business continuity during periods of system instability or financial stress.

Responsibilites

  • Led and managed a cross-functional team of designers and engineers
  • Facilitated workshops and gathered requirements from stakeholders and SMEs
  • Defined product scope, strategy, and workflow requirements
  • Conducted discovery, mapped workflows, and led IA/interaction design
  • Produced wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity UI
  • Collaborated with engineering on feasibility, system constraints, and delivery
  • Conducted internal usability reviews and ensured compliance and risk alignment
  • Delivered production-ready UX within a two-week accelerated timeline

Research

Understanding the flow

This flow outlines how bankers initiate a new wire within Wires Lite. The process begins from the internal launch pad and leads directly to the Create Wire page, where users enter all required transaction details. After submission, the system presents a confirmation modal with a generated reference number, ensuring the wire is successfully logged and ready for the next stage of processing.

This flow chart illustrates the streamlined end-to-end process of Wires Lite, mapping how bankers create a new wire, move it through verification, and view its final state as completed or canceled. It highlights the simplified decision points, role-based actions, and core screens that support fast, compliant wire processing during high-volume scenarios.

Low-Fi Wireframes

Key Features

Final Design

Create Wire

  • Guided entry flow with structured, collapsible sections (Wire Details, Receiver Bank, Originator/Debtor) to reduce cognitive load and support error-free data entry.
  • Neutral header state indicating that the wire is in draft mode and has not entered the processing workflow.
  • Persistent form layout reused across all states, reducing training time and supporting muscle memory for bankers.
  • Primary "Submit" action anchored at the bottom-right, ensuring fast and intuitive submission for long forms.

In Process

  • Amber “In-Process” header visually communicates that the wire is awaiting verification, creating an immediate sense of status and urgency.
  • Creator audit summary provides essential context (Created by, Date, Time) to support verification accuracy and compliance.
  • Editable detail sections allow verifiers to correct or update financial information before approval.
  • Pinned reference number ensures quick lookup during review or cross-checking.

Completed

  • Green completion header reinforces success and finality, reducing ambiguity in high-volume workflows.
  • Dual audit trail displays both the creator and verifier with timestamps, promoting transparency and meeting regulatory requirements.
  • Read-only form fields lock post-processing details to prevent accidental or unauthorized changes.
  • Queue-status integration automatically updates the left nav, helping bankers track workload distribution.

Canceled Wires

  • Red cancellation header communicates a terminated transaction state instantly, preventing misinterpretation.
  • Canceled-by audit information (user, date, time) enhances traceability for exception handling.
  • Read-only details ensure canceled wires cannot be altered and remain compliant with auditing standards.

Going Forward

Impact

  • Ensured continuity for $4T+ in wire transfers during system instability
  • Delivered a fully functional backup wire app in 2 weeks
  • Reduced processing time with a streamlined, high-efficiency workflow.
  • Reduced banker errors via clean layout and contextual guidance.
  • Persistent Global Navigation and Queue States

Reflection

This project reinforced the value of simplifying complex workflows without sacrificing compliance, accuracy, or performance. Designing under a two-week deadline required making fast decisions, aligning stakeholders quickly, and focusing only on the highest-impact functionality.

The experience highlighted how critical clear communication, rapid prototyping, and tight design–engineering collaboration are when building mission-critical enterprise tools. It also reinforced that even in high-risk financial systems, simplicity is often the greatest driver of speed, stability, and user confidence.