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 Compliance Process Redesign (MACU)

At Mountain America Credit Union (MACU), the Compliance Coordinator team lacked a clear and standardized process for performing core compliance tasks. Much of the work was dependent on tribal knowledge, which created onboarding inconsistencies and made it difficult for new team members to confidently execute their responsibilities. I partnered with a colleague to design and formalize a scalable process that increased clarity, alignment, and long-term operational consistency.

1. The Problem

The existing workflow relied heavily on experience-based knowledge rather than documented guidance. This created gaps in execution, made onboarding less efficient, and led to uncertainty about ownership and prioritization. Because the effort to establish a formal process began two months late—due to competing regulatory projects—we also had to build alignment with stakeholders quickly to ensure validity and adoption.

2. Who I Designed For (Primary Users)

Primary users:

New Compliance Coordinators (needed clarity, guidance, and confidence in execution)
 

Secondary users:

Internal Risk Teams (needed consistency and traceability)
 

3. Constraints & Timeline

The project began two months behind schedule, compressing stakeholder engagement and iteration windows.

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The process needed to be flexible, not over-prescriptive, so it could evolve with policy shifts.

Documentation had to align with internal compliance standards and governance requirements.
 

4. Research & Inputs

To ensure the process reflected real work expectations and didn’t create unnecessary friction, we:

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  • Met with existing coordinators to understand how tasks were performed today

  • Gathered pain points from internal risk teams around consistency and interpretation

  • Identified where bottlenecks and ownership breakdowns occurred

  • Solicited feedback from key stakeholders before finalizing adoption
     

5. Process & Iteration

We took an iterative approach:
 

  • Mapped core responsibilities performed by the team

  • Outlined a step-by-step structure that clarified sequencing and ownership

  • Reviewed the draft with stakeholders to confirm accuracy and practicality

  • Incorporated revisions to support long-term scalability and training

  • Finalized the process and submitted for publication as the official reference

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6. Final Solution

The final deliverable was a documented process (SOP) published internally as the standard operating procedure for Compliance Coordinators.

It created:
 

  • A single source of truth

  • A repeatable structure for task execution

  • A foundation for future updates without starting from scratch

  • A smoother onboarding ramp for new team members
     

7. Outcome & Impact

  • Adopted internally as the official process

  • Reduced ambiguity and rework

  • Enabled consistent onboarding

  • Created sustainability—future changes now have a stable structure to build from
     

While qualitative in nature, this project had measurable operational value: coordinators were no longer dependent on “who you ask” to understand the work, and leadership gained confidence in consistency across executions.
 

8. Reflection

This project strengthened my UX-aligned competencies in:
 

  • Service design and process clarity

  • Turning unstructured knowledge into usable documentation

  • Stakeholder collaboration

  • Creating systems that scale
     

Although not a “visual product” like a UI redesign, this effort reflects the same UX principles:

Research → Synthesis → Structured design → Testing/Feedback → Implementation.
 

It also demonstrated how I bridge compliance expertise with user-centered thinking — a key differentiator when designing within regulated environments.
 

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