How reframing regulation and opening up the design process united business and tech teams, speeding FCA approval and boosting investor trust.
When LendInvest set out to gain FCA approval, the investor squad saw compliance as a brake on user experience. I led design for the team and worked directly with Legal and Compliance to flip that mindset: regulation as a trust-builder rather than a blocker.
I organised cross-department workshops where capital-markets, compliance and engineering teams sketched together on whiteboards instead of passing Word docs back and forth. We prototyped first and wrote later, letting everyone interact with evolving flows and resolve issues in real time. I even papered our huddle room walls with key screens so people could give feedback on their coffee runs, turning passive by-standers into contributors.
This combination of reframing, prototyping and informal touch-points broke down silos, sped up decisions and produced a user-centred product that met FCA standards—helping LendInvest secure approval, boost investor confidence and ultimately list on the London Stock Exchange in 2021.
Project snapshot
Product
LendInvest investor platform (property-finance marketplace)
Team
Investor squad with Legal, Compliance, Capital Markets
My role
Design e2e; reframed regulations as trust-builders and made Legal & Compliance design partners
Challenge
Cultural divide between business and tech; financial regulations seen as obstacles to user experience, slowing decisions and creating friction
Outcome
Used whiteboard workshops, prototypes and informal huddle-room feedback to break down silos, accelerate decision-making and deliver a user-centred product that met FCA standards
Read next →