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Working within McKinsey digital transformation squads like a "product special forces" unit:

designing 20+ zero-to-one financial products, conducting 100+ deep user interviews, and turning legacy processes into digital products.

Project Overview & Context

3 years deeply embedded in digital transformation for a top regional banking giant, alongside international fintech engagements in Singapore and Central Asia.

ROLE

UX/Product Designer (McKinsey & Company). Operating within high-performance McKinsey squads alongside Partners, Engagement Managers, consultants, and analysts.

CHALLENGE

Large financial institutions suffered from legacy software, fragmented workflows, and a complete lack of in-house product designers within business units (relying only on isolated platform teams). Products needed to be reinvented from scratch under strict regulatory and operational constraints.

Our End-to-End Product Design Process

For every domain we tackled, we followed a rigorous, data-driven consulting framework to bridge business strategy with real user needs:

Research & Benchmarking

Conducted extensive competitor analysis (mapped in Miro), performed UX/UI product audits, and identified industry best practices to present structured research reports to the client.

Discovery & Deep Interviews

Personally conducted 110 deep user interviews, identifying customer profiles, behavioral patterns, pains, and goals. Synthesized these findings into actionable insights during team ideation workshops.

Iterative Validation

Executed 35 usability testing cycles using custom discussion guides and clickable prototypes. Analyzed session insights alongside the team in brainstorming sessions to form backlogs and quick-fix task lists.

Collaborative CJMs & workshops

alongside the client's product teams, domain experts, and specialists straight from bank branches to map out long-term goals and target flows.

Prototyping & Design Systems

Built interactive prototypes and developed target solutions scaled strictly within the client’s design system, coordinating closely with central platform designers and developers.

Iterative Validation

Collaborative CJMs & workshops

Alongside the client's product teams, domain experts, and specialists straight from bank branches to map out long-term goals and target flows.

Prototyping & Design Systems

Built interactive prototypes and developed target solutions scaled strictly within the client’s design system, coordinating closely with central platform designers and developers.

Iterative Validation

Executed 35 usability testing cycles using custom discussion guides and clickable prototypes. Analyzed session insights alongside the team in brainstorming sessions to form backlogs and quick-fix task lists.

Flagship Products Delivered

Acted as a core design force inside a major banking ecosystem, taking 20+ products from 0 to 1 (spanning insurance lines, complex credit products, and white-label banking solutions).

Lending & CrediT

Credit cards, Debit cards, Debit cards for NTB (New-to-Bank), Auto Credit, Online Mortgage, Mortgage Refinancing, and Credit Card Refinancing.

Insurance & Wealth

3 distinct Insurance products, Savings products, and Invest app.

Ecosystem & Everyday Banking

Salary projects, Lifestyle services, Partnerships, and Light bank solutions.

Regional Ecosystems

SME platforms with online store integration, supply chain purchasing, logistics, and reporting (Kazakhstan Bank), plus WealthX investment onboarding concepts (Singapore).

The Bottom Line & Impact

0-to-1
Execution

Successfully brought over 20 complex financial products from initial research, testing, and concept validation to production launch.

Organizational Growth

Scaled design maturity within massive enterprise structures by establishing cross-team alignment patterns and assisting in the recruitment of internal design teams.

Consulting
Mastery

Mastered high-pressure, cross-functional delivery within McKinsey squads, proving that complex financial systems can be transformed into seamless, human-centric products.