Redesigning Institutional KYC
for a Crypto Prime Brokerage
BEQUANT’s institutional onboarding was losing clients before they ever started trading. I led the end-to-end redesign of the KYC flow, replacing a disconnected third-party process with a clear, compliant, brand-integrated experience, while rebuilding the design system and delivery pipeline in parallel.
Industry
Fintech / Crypto SaaS
Platform
Web App · Live
Year
2021–2022
My role
UX/UI Designer · Led 2 designers
Challenge
BEQUANT’s institutional onboarding ran on a third-party form with no brand, no step structure, and a floating question mark as the only support. Clients hit a wall of compliance fields, FATCA, UBOs, risk declarations, all on one scrolling page with no progress, no guidance, and no way to ask for help. Most corporate applications required manual follow-up from the operations team before they could proceed.
My role
I owned the design end to end, from auditing the existing third-party flow through final engineering handoff. I led two designers, aligned compliance stakeholders on the step structure before any visual work started, and coordinated across product and engineering throughout. The regulatory requirements were fixed; my job was making them navigable without changing what compliance actually required.
Results
The redesigned KYC flow passed compliance review and shipped live:
3× faster design-to-development delivery through reusable system components and fully specified handoff
20% fewer required steps, achieved by eliminating duplicated fields and restructuring sequence, not by reducing compliance
Fewer manual escalations from the operations team per application
Positive feedback from institutional clients and all internal stakeholders
New KYC flow rebuilt using the design system components, structured, consistent, and scalable across the platform.
Introduction
What follows is the full body of work: the process used to define and deliver the redesign, the design system built to support it, and the complete set of product screens across every major surface of the BEQUANT Pro platform. The KYC flow was the primary brief, but the scope extended across authentication, portfolio management, accounts, transfers, loans, and transactions. All screens were built on a shared design system and delivered as fully navigable prototype flows, ready for engineering handoff without a designer in the loop for every implementation decision.
Discover and Define
Working in a regulated environment meant the design process had to be airtight before any visual work started. I mapped the existing flow in detail, got compliance sign-off on the full step structure at wireframe stage, then developed and iterated on the visual design, so by the time engineering received the specs every state was documented and every compliance requirement was already resolved.
Positioning map from competitor analysis, benchmarking crypto and prime brokerage platforms.
Develop
Built out each section of the flow, tested navigation patterns with the team, and developed the component set in parallel. Corporate onboarding required the most iteration before the balance between completeness and cognitive load felt right.
Early sketches from the brainstorming phase, exploring different platform directions and structural approaches to resolve key UX issues.
Deliver
Fully specified screens for every path and state, interactive prototypes for key flows, and handoff documentation structured so engineering could implement without designer involvement in each decision.
Interactive prototypes of the institutional KYC flow, covering all required paths, states, and edge cases.
Institutional KYC interface implemented with reusable design system components, ensuring consistency, clarity, and scalability across the platform.
Design System
The KYC redesign ran in parallel with a broader design system overhaul covering three BEQUANT products: the exchange, the prime brokerage platform, and the crypto wallet. Rather than building one-off screens for KYC, I used the project to establish reusable components, including form inputs, validation states, multi-tab navigation, date pickers, file uploaders, and modals, all built with Auto Layout and Smart Animate for clean engineering handoff. Anything designed for KYC could be used anywhere else in the product without a designer in the loop.
Multi-product design system architecture supporting the exchange, prime brokerage, and wallet platforms.
Preview of the design system component library, highlighting the overall structure and consistency of the system.
Product design screens
All screens were built on a single linked design system and organised as self-contained prototype flows in Figma, 500+ pages across the platform, each section navigable end to end.
Login
Full set of authentication flows: login, sign-up, 2FA via Google Authenticator, account not yet activated, and password recovery. Each state documented equally, including error handling.
KYC
Three distinct onboarding paths with requirements and limits visible upfront. Corporate onboarding structured across six tabs. Document upload rebuilt as a non-blocking drag-and-drop modal. Live chat accessible at every step.
Verification levels overview outlining onboarding options for individual and corporate accounts, with requirements and limits clearly structured for each tier.
Institutional KYC process, General section outlining company information and initial compliance requirements.
KYC document upload step featuring a drag-and-drop uploader for identity and proof of residence verification.
Portfolio
Aggregated asset positions across all connected exchanges with total balance, historical chart, asset breakdown, and latest activity. Designed for high-density scanning without hiding the depth institutional clients need.
Rebuilt portfolio section showcasing total balance, asset distribution, exchange accounts, and historical performance in a structured, high-density layout for institutional use.
Accounts
Manage exchange connections, account names, currency, type, and custom labels. Also handles IP key management. Designed to keep permission and security logic visible while keeping common actions lightweight.
Accounts management interface for handling exchange connections, account types, labels, and status with clear visibility into permissions and security controls.
Transfer
Move funds across accounts on different exchanges instantly, without a fee. Modal makes the from/to relationship and received amount immediately clear. Transfer method options surfaced without requiring technical knowledge to complete a transfer.
Transfer modal enabling instant movement of funds between exchange accounts with clear from/to selection and real-time fee and amount preview.
Loans
Borrow against crypto holdings, manage open positions, and track interest. Handles active loans, pending requests, collateral ratios, and liquidation risk across multiple assets simultaneously.
Loans dashboard for managing active and historical positions, tracking interest, collateral ratios, and liquidation risk across multiple assets.
Transactions
Full ledger view of all activity across exchanges, accounts, and asset types. Filterable by currency, account, type, and date range. Designed for both dense institutional use and quick exports for accounting.
Transactions ledger view displaying activity across exchanges and accounts, with filtering and export options for institutional reporting.
Interactive prototype exploring flow transitions, section structure, and component behavior across the KYC experience.
Summary
The BEQUANT project replaced a third-party compliance form that was losing institutional clients with a native, fully owned onboarding experience, structured, on-brand, and built for complex corporate verification. By auditing the flow, aligning early with compliance, and implementing a reusable design system, the redesign reduced required steps by 20%, sped up delivery by 3×, and resolved a critical onboarding bottleneck.