Credit risk analyst dashboard
A centralized platform that acts as an integration hub for risk analysts, bringing together data from existing tools to streamline workflows, monitor key financial metrics, and manage credit risks effectively. By complementing dedicated systems rather than replacing them, this dashboard optimizes time and simplifies decision-making.
SaaS Fintech ・Credit risk dashboard・Integrated risk dashboard
For what:
Portfolio
Role:
Designer & Researcher
Year:
2025
Intro
Background
Credit risk is complex. Let’s make it easier.
Banks face significant challenges in assessing credit risk efficiently. Analysts often juggle multiple tools to evaluate financial health, creditworthiness, and potential risks of corporate clients. These tools can be complex and fragmented, slowing down decision-making when speed is critical.
Problem
Too many tools, not enough time.
Most risk tools are complicated, require constant switching between apps, and rely on manual data entry. This wastes time, increases errors, and makes decision-making slower when speed matters most.
Solution
One dashboard for faster, smarter decisions.
This new dashboard simplifies the process by bringing all key information into one place. It’s easy to use, connects with existing systems, and helps analysts make quick, data-driven decisions without switching between apps.
Domain insights
Key findings from initial desk research
A Day in the Life of a Risk Analyst
Imagine starting your day with a mountain of data from multiple systems: spreadsheets, alerts, reports, and scattered historical records. This is the reality for risk analysts. Their job requires precision and speed, yet their tools often slow them down. Here’s what their day typically looks like
Challenges
The challenges behind the scenes
During my research, I discovered several pain points that significantly impact risk analysts’ efficiency and focus:
Reframing the problem
These challenges revealed one clear insight: the tools used by risk analysts need to work for them, not against them. Instead of making decisions easier, existing systems create unnecessary friction.
Key requirements
From challenges → to opportunities
With a better understanding of their struggles, I identified several opportunities to improve their workflows
and… Create space for customization and creativity ✨
Empower analysts to tailor their workspace to fit their specific needs. By allowing them to prioritize the metrics, reports, and alerts most relevant to their workflows, the dashboard becomes not just a tool, but a personal control center. This flexibility fosters efficiency and encourages deeper engagement with the data.
Turning insights into action
The goal was clear — to design a dashboard that simplifies workflows, improves decision-making, and lets analysts focus on what they do best—managing risk. By addressing these pain points, this solution transforms the analyst’s experience from juggling tools to working smarter and faster.
Market research
Exploring the current landscape
To create a meaningful solution, I began by analyzing the most popular tools in risk management: SAS Risk Management, Moody’s Analytics, and IBM OpenPages. These tools are widely used by financial institutions for tasks like risk assessment, advanced data modeling, and customizable alerts. However, while robust in specific functionalities, they present notable challenges that impact user efficiency and experience.
Bridging the gap between functionality and user experience
While these tools provide robust features and are highly regarded in the financial industry, they expose opportunities for improvement. Identifying these strengths and limitations allowed me to uncover areas where innovation can enhance user workflows, optimize data analysis, and make risk management more intuitive. Below, I’ve outlined the key takeaways from my analysis to inform the direction of my proposed solution.
Integration and scalability
The Risk Analyst Dashboard was created to simplify the complex workflows of credit risk analysts by consolidating essential data in one centralized platform. Designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, the dashboard ensures that analysts can access key insights quickly and make data-driven decisions efficiently.
Although the current solution operates as a standalone tool, its modular design allows for potential integration with widely-used industry systems, such as SAS Risk Management, Moody's Analytics, IBM, Tableau, Salesforce, and even Excel. These connections could further enhance the user experience by:
Centralizing data workflows: Bringing together insights from multiple tools into one cohesive interface.
Reducing manual processes: Enabling real-time synchronization and streamlined data handling.
This adaptability ensures that the dashboard not only addresses current challenges but is also positioned to grow alongside evolving industry needs. Its user-focused design demonstrates a balance between solving immediate problems and preparing for future opportunities.
Ideation
From brainstorming to clustering
The process began with a comprehensive brainstorming session, where I documented all potential features and ideas to improve workflows for risk analysts. This expansive approach ensured that no idea was overlooked, capturing a wide range of possibilities, from notifications to data visualizations and task management.
To bring structure to this creativity, I employed an affinity diagram. By organizing these ideas into thematic clusters, I was able to identify recurring patterns and key areas of focus:
• Notifications: Centralized alerts for overdue payments and flagged accounts.
• Data Visualization: Interactive charts for trends and risk distributions.
• Task Management: A dedicated space for prioritizing daily actions.
• Customization: Tailored dashboards to meet individual user needs.
This step not only highlighted the most impactful opportunities but also allowed me to align the solution with user priorities.
Prioritization and prototype development
From the clustered ideas, I prioritized the features based on their potential impact on improving workflows and usability. Features that directly addressed the challenges identified in the research phase—such as fragmented tools, information overload, and lack of clarity—were given the highest priority (🔴 dot). This decision-making process ensured the solution would deliver immediate value while remaining scalable for future enhancements (🔵 dot).
The prototype reflects these priorities, focusing on:
1. Centralized Notifications: A single space to consolidate alerts for overdue payments, flagged accounts, and high-risk clients, reducing the need to navigate multiple tools.
2. Interactive Data Visualizations: Graphs and charts provide actionable insights, making it easier for analysts to identify trends and assess risks efficiently.
3. Task Management: A structured approach to organizing daily priorities, ensuring no critical actions are overlooked.
4. Customizable Layouts: Widgets and filters empower users to personalize their dashboard, focusing on metrics and alerts most relevant to their needs.
By focusing on these features, the prototype delivers a cohesive and practical solution that simplifies workflows, enhances decision-making, and improves user efficiency.
With these core functionalities defined, I began transforming ideas into tangible designs, starting with low-fidelity wireframes to refine the dashboard’s structure and usability.
Design process
Information Architecture
The information architecture is built to prioritize simplicity, efficiency, and user-centric workflows. It focuses on the following core areas:
Main Dashboard Overview: A central hub integrating key static elements and editable widgets. This section provides access to essential tools like a menu bar with search functionality, customizable layouts, and quick action buttons (e.g., adding widgets or generating reports).
Credit Risk Panel: A dedicated space for task management, offering features such as prioritized task lists, view-switching (board, list, or table), and advanced filtering options.
Portfolio Overview: A client database designed for quick access to critical details, with filtering options to streamline data exploration.
The architecture avoids unnecessary complexity by focusing on the features that directly address user pain points, such as fragmented tools and a lack of clarity. By organizing these functionalities into intuitive groups, the design supports clear navigation and effective decision-making, ensuring that risk analysts can focus on their priorities without distractions.
Wireframing
To kick off the design process, I created simple wireframes using a ready-made kit. My focus was on outlining a straightforward structure for the three main views. This approach allowed me to visualize how the presented data would be implemented and laid out in higher-fidelity prototypes.
I understand that initial ideas often evolve during subsequent iterations, even at the prototyping stage. This is because I pay close attention to technical feasibility and adapt my designs to align with practical implementation needs. This iterative mindset ensures that the final product is both functional and user-centered.
Setting the foundation: Style guide and visual exploration
Before diving into the prototype design, I wanted to ensure the dashboard would look consistent and professional. To speed up the process, I used a pre-made UI kit, which gave me a solid base to work with and helped maintain a cohesive design across all elements.
Looking for inspiration
While working on the visuals, I explored examples of great data visualizations to get inspired. I focused on solutions that:
• Make complex data easy to understand.
• Highlight key insights without overwhelming the user.
• Look clean and functional while still being visually appealing.
Using a library of components (@Figma Simple Design System and @Basic Chart by Dewiz Studio) allowed me to spend more time on aligning the design with the dashboard’s key features and making sure it works well for users. This step helped set the tone for the graphs, widgets, and layouts I later developed in the high-fidelity prototypes, keeping everything clear and user-friendly.
Designing visualizations and prioritizing functionalities
When designing the dashboard, I focused on creating data visualizations and features that address the most critical needs of credit risk analysts. Instead of spending time on traditional lo-fi prototypes, I prioritized developing practical and customizable solutions that align with user workflows and technical feasibility.
Crafting data visualizations
I carefully selected visual elements to ensure that complex data is presented clearly and supports quick decision-making:
These visualizations are designed to simplify data interpretation and allow analysts to focus on high-priority tasks.
Why I skipped traditional Lo-Fi prototyping?
Given the modular and customizable nature of the main dashboard, I chose to bypass the lo-fi prototyping phase. My process focused on defining functional priorities and directly translating them into high-quality prototypes that showcase the envisioned experience.
This approach allowed me to concentrate on:
🛠️ Personalized dashboard layouts: Using customizable widgets to enable users to tailor the interface to their unique needs.
🔍 Functional navigation: Including intuitive search and filter options to streamline workflows.
📊 Visual representation of key insights: Ensuring data is displayed in a format that aids quick understanding and action.
In my design process, I also acknowledge that initial ideas often evolve during later iterations. By focusing on high-fidelity prototypes, I ensure that user feedback and technical constraints are seamlessly incorporated into the design, creating a product that balances user expectations and practical implementation.
Final prototypes: the designed solution
I focused on creating a dashboard that directly addresses the biggest challenges credit risk analysts face. My goal was to deliver solutions that make their workflows smoother, decision-making faster, and data easier to interpret:
Fragmented Tools → Centralized workflow:
The dashboard consolidates all critical tools and data into a single interface. Analysts no longer need to jump between platforms to gather information, saving time and reducing the risk of missing key details.
Information Overload → Prioritized insights:
Alerts and visualizations are designed to highlight the most critical information first. By reducing noise and focusing on priority tasks—such as overdue payments and flagged clients—analysts can act quickly and confidently.
Lack of flexibility → Customizable interface:
With customizable widgets and layouts, the dashboard allows analysts to tailor their workspace to fit their unique workflows. This personalization not only boosts productivity but also ensures the interface adapts to evolving user needs.
By tackling these specific issues head-on, the final prototype transforms the analyst’s experience, providing a tool that’s both powerful and user-friendly.
