Overview

Finastra Kondor is a comprehensive, treasury and trading system that enables financial institutions to manage high-volume trading, real-time risk, and complex derivatives (Foreign exchange, interest rates, commodities).

I was the the sole designer working on the DV01 (interest rates change by one basis point- 0.01%) dashboard that enables forex (foreign exchange) professionals to measure the interest rate sensitivities and visualizations for currency positions and pairs.

Challenge

Financial institutions struggle with interest rate risk because they use different systems that give conflicting numbers for DV01 calculations, are unable to see a holistic view with rate exposures in one place or in the same currency, and lack the fast analysis tools needed to protect against losses when interest rates change quickly across their trading portfolios.

Key issues:

• Institutional users lack a holistic snapshot of their interest rate exposures in one clear view with consistent currency reporting.
• Increased operational risk and delays in hedging due to limited data.
• Disjointed UI and platform level inconsistencies.

AI representation of the forex institutional persona

"Risk sensitivities should be accessed globally by using the dashboard. It gives our users a comprehensive look at risk and its impact on forex portfolios."

-Vincent Prado (Product Manager)

Key activities

1. Discovery sessions

Research revealed that Forex traders waste 30-45 minutes daily calculating DV01 risk manually in Excel because current systems are too slow and don't integrate with their trading platforms. There was a need for real time DV01 calculations (under 1 second) that automatically aggregate hundreds of Forex positions across currency pairs and tenors, with seamless integration to existing trading systems.

Figjam capturing insights from discovery sessions

2. User flows

Cross-functional collaboration with Product, Business and Engineering to align on key user flows by use cases and personas.

• User opens DV01 dashboard through the Kondor navigation launcher.

• User views the DV01 table grid with the ability to set currency pairs and tenors.

• User can choose to drill down to a specific item through trade contribution list.

• User can view LIBOR or Federal Fund curves.

User flows and use cases

3. Wireframes

Rapid , iterative wireframes were created in Figma to showcase the layouts and demonstrate key features and flows.

Low-fidelity design for DV01 dashboard layout and interactions

4. High-fidelity design

Approved designs were crafted into high-fidelity screens using customized Finastra design system. The design system was aligned with Finastra brand guidelines and would be consistent across the Kondor 3.5 platform.

6. UI Consistency

Platform-level consistency and reusability were core priorities for Kondor 3.5 platform. To support this, monthly meetings were held with business stakeholders to align on parallel product initiatives and ensure everyone was working toward a shared product vision. I collaborated with another designer to build reusable components.

New components for the Kondor 3.5 platform

7. Presentations

Weekly meetings were held with business stakeholders to align on parallel product initiatives and ensure everyone was working toward a shared product vision to revamp the UI and launch multiple applications within an ambitious 6 month period.

Product roadmp and UI modernization presentation

Impact

• Operational risk reduction by 40% through accurate, real-time interest rate sensitivity analysis.

• 60% faster decision-making speed for hedging strategies by providing a holistic view.

• Automated interest rate delta value calculations that eliminate manual processes and errors.

• Updated UI library that ensured consistent platform experiences.