Santander UK is a major retail bank operating under strict UK regulatory and legal obligations. I worked within the Financial Crime function, leading UX design for the PKYC (Perpetual Know Your Customer) programme, a business-critical initiative designed to ensure ongoing customer data accuracy and regulatory compliance.
Project overview
The PKYC programme was designed to ensure customers periodically confirm and update their personal details, enabling Santander to meet UK legal and regulatory requirements related to financial crime prevention, risk management, and customer identity verification.
As Lead UX Designer, I owned the end-to-end experience across mobile and desktop, working in an agile, cross-functional environment from early discovery through to release. The solution initially relied on a physical letter to provide context and route customers into a digital flow. As the programme matured, the journey evolved to include direct in-app notifications, reducing friction and improving accessibility.
My role extended beyond interface design into experience strategy, stakeholder alignment, and delivery leadership, ensuring compliance requirements translated into clear, trustworthy customer experiences.
UX Process
1. Discovery & Problem Definition
Partnered with Product, Financial Crime, Legal, and Compliance teams to understand regulatory intent, constraints, and non-negotiables.
Mapped existing customer journeys and identified friction points, risks of confusion, and potential abandonment.
Defined experience principles focused on clarity, reassurance, and effort reduction.
2. Journey Mapping & Experience Strategy
Designed end-to-end PKYC journeys, accounting for:
Letter-led entry points
In-app notifications
Mobile vs desktop behaviours
Ensured consistent messaging and expectations across all touchpoints.
Balanced regulatory language with human-centred copy to reduce anxiety and build trust.
3. Design & Iteration (Agile Delivery)
Led UX design within an agile squad, collaborating closely with Engineers and Product Owners.
Produced wireframes, prototypes, and interaction designs for both platforms.
Iterated designs through regular sprint cycles, design reviews, and stakeholder feedback loops.
Worked closely with Content and Accessibility teams to ensure plain English, inclusive design, and compliance with accessibility standards.
4. Validation & Risk Mitigation
Collaborated with Legal and Compliance to validate designs against regulatory expectations.
Stress-tested flows for edge cases, incomplete data, and customer drop-off scenarios.
Ensured the experience was resilient, scalable, and suitable for repeated use over time.
5. Release & Evolution
Supported release planning and post-launch iteration.
Helped transition the journey from letter-based activation to in-app notifications, aligning with broader digital strategy.
Established patterns and learnings to inform future ongoing due diligence and compliance journeys.
Challenges
Translating complex regulatory requirements into clear, reassuring customer experiences.
Designing for scale across millions of customers with varying levels of trust and digital confidence.
Managing competing priorities between compliance, usability, and delivery timelines.
Ensuring consistency across multiple channels and platforms.
Delivering at pace while maintaining high UX and accessibility standards.
Results
Delivered a scalable PKYC experience across mobile and desktop, from conception to release.
Enabled Santander to progress toward meeting UK regulatory and legal compliance obligations at scale.
Improved clarity and usability within a traditionally high-friction compliance journey.
Supported the strategic shift from physical letters to in-app engagement, improving customer access and completion potential.
Established a UX foundation for future perpetual and ongoing customer due diligence programmes.
Santander UK is a major retail bank operating under strict UK regulatory and legal obligations. I worked within the Financial Crime function, leading UX design for the PKYC (Perpetual Know Your Customer) programme, a business-critical initiative designed to ensure ongoing customer data accuracy and regulatory compliance.
Project overview
The PKYC programme was designed to ensure customers periodically confirm and update their personal details, enabling Santander to meet UK legal and regulatory requirements related to financial crime prevention, risk management, and customer identity verification.
As Lead UX Designer, I owned the end-to-end experience across mobile and desktop, working in an agile, cross-functional environment from early discovery through to release. The solution initially relied on a physical letter to provide context and route customers into a digital flow. As the programme matured, the journey evolved to include direct in-app notifications, reducing friction and improving accessibility.
My role extended beyond interface design into experience strategy, stakeholder alignment, and delivery leadership, ensuring compliance requirements translated into clear, trustworthy customer experiences.
UX Process
1. Discovery & Problem Definition
Partnered with Product, Financial Crime, Legal, and Compliance teams to understand regulatory intent, constraints, and non-negotiables.
Mapped existing customer journeys and identified friction points, risks of confusion, and potential abandonment.
Defined experience principles focused on clarity, reassurance, and effort reduction.
2. Journey Mapping & Experience Strategy
Designed end-to-end PKYC journeys, accounting for:
Letter-led entry points
In-app notifications
Mobile vs desktop behaviours
Ensured consistent messaging and expectations across all touchpoints.
Balanced regulatory language with human-centred copy to reduce anxiety and build trust.
3. Design & Iteration (Agile Delivery)
Led UX design within an agile squad, collaborating closely with Engineers and Product Owners.
Produced wireframes, prototypes, and interaction designs for both platforms.
Iterated designs through regular sprint cycles, design reviews, and stakeholder feedback loops.
Worked closely with Content and Accessibility teams to ensure plain English, inclusive design, and compliance with accessibility standards.
4. Validation & Risk Mitigation
Collaborated with Legal and Compliance to validate designs against regulatory expectations.
Stress-tested flows for edge cases, incomplete data, and customer drop-off scenarios.
Ensured the experience was resilient, scalable, and suitable for repeated use over time.
5. Release & Evolution
Supported release planning and post-launch iteration.
Helped transition the journey from letter-based activation to in-app notifications, aligning with broader digital strategy.
Established patterns and learnings to inform future ongoing due diligence and compliance journeys.
Challenges
Translating complex regulatory requirements into clear, reassuring customer experiences.
Designing for scale across millions of customers with varying levels of trust and digital confidence.
Managing competing priorities between compliance, usability, and delivery timelines.
Ensuring consistency across multiple channels and platforms.
Delivering at pace while maintaining high UX and accessibility standards.
Results
Delivered a scalable PKYC experience across mobile and desktop, from conception to release.
Enabled Santander to progress toward meeting UK regulatory and legal compliance obligations at scale.
Improved clarity and usability within a traditionally high-friction compliance journey.
Supported the strategic shift from physical letters to in-app engagement, improving customer access and completion potential.
Established a UX foundation for future perpetual and ongoing customer due diligence programmes.