Access management interface with a two-panel view for editing which users have access to an account, including search and multi-select checkboxes
Designed with the existing design system components and patterns
Early access-management design using a Groups concept, showing access groups defined by shared account combinations alongside individually assigned users
1st round of usability tests: grouping users to manage access together — testing showed people found it confusing
Revised access-management design showing multiple accounts selected at once to reveal their shared users, replacing the earlier groups concept
2nd round of usability tests: selecting accounts directly instead — people understood it right away and finished every task
Animated demo of bulk-updating user access across multiple selected accounts.
Bulk edit: update access for many people in one action, instead of one by one
Account-level access view listing every user with access to a selected account
Account view: see everyone who has access to one account
User profile panel showing a checklist of every account a specific person has access to, editable from that single view
User view: see every account one person can access
Animated demo of adding users to an empty account by importing them from another account's existing access list
Import users from one account into another, instead of adding them again by hand
Generate Distribution List modal for creating a named, optionally auto-updating email list from an account's current users
Reused access selections to create a ready-to-use recipient list

Making complex access decisions easier to manage

I designed and tested an MVP that helped internal teams manage account-level access without relying on a complicated permissions model.

Note: To respect confidentiality, names, business details and visuals have been anonymized.

Domain
FinTech
Timeline
4 weeks
The challenge

As part of a broader move from a manual service to a digital workflow, the project needed a clear way to manage access across related accounts and contacts. A typical hierarchy of roles and permissions would have added complexity without fitting the real need: access had to be managed at the account level, person by person.

Building on my earlier research and service-blueprinting work, I designed an access-management MVP around one clear rule: a contact either has access to a specific account or does not. I created flows for viewing contacts, assigning and removing access, and checking access from both contact and account views. I also included single and bulk editing, importing contacts between accounts, and transitional tools for sharing selected contact details while the digital workflow was introduced gradually.

I kept the access model deliberately simple and iterated through regular team feedback and two rounds of usability sessions. I first explored grouping users to manage access together, but mixed feedback in the first round showed that it added complexity. I replaced it with bulk editing, giving users a more direct way to update access across several people. In the second round, participants found the revised model easier to understand and could complete the main tasks.

The prototype gave the project a practical, tested model for managing access in the new workflow. It created a clearer link between approved access and downstream work, reduced the need to rebuild information manually, and was later taken forward into implementation.

Abstract graphic pairing a blue faceted icon with outlined type spelling “Lutron Design System” and a ruler marked in 12-unit increments

Next project

Design system foundation for Lutron’s web redesign