Capital One

Transforming a fragmented accounting service into a connected ecosystem

Projected to reduce outstanding collections by 85%.

Project Overview

The Problem

The collections experience was a fragmented ecosystem of manual workflows, spreadsheets, emails, and 5 independent teams, resulting in over $7 million in outstanding collections.

Constraints

  • Two-week research and synthesis deadline to meet annual planning deadlines

  • Diverse user groups ranging from internal collectors to external dealer customers

  • Process spanned multiple independent teams

Solution

A connected accounting ecosystem that streamlined internal banking processes while giving dealers more self-service, real-time visibility, and digital payment capabilities.

Role

Lead product designer, strategist, & service designer

Team

1 UX researcher + 3 product managers + 7 developers

Tools

Gemini, Figma, Lucid

 

Outcomes

• 85% ↓ in outstanding collections

• Reduced payment processing time from 3–4 weeks to real time

• Improved partner trust through transparent processes

 

My Process

Internal interviews to understand the collections process

I partnered with a UX researcher to understand how work flowed across the organization. Together, we interviewed 12 people across 5 operational roles and documented the end-to-end collections journey.

 

Synthesis & service blueprint creation to identify and share findings

To help stakeholders understand the gaps in the system, we created a process map that visualized organizational dependencies, communication breakdowns, and operational friction. The artifact became a shared decision-making tool that aligned product, technology, and leadership around the same problems.

 

Key Insights

  • Collections were often delayed by 30+ days due to inefficient processes

  • Information distributed across spreadsheets and emails limited visibility into collection status

  • Manual payment processing created unnecessary delays and friction for dealerships

  • 80% of investigation errors required collector rework, creating additional operational burden

Market exploration to validate improved payment processing with dealers

Research uncovered an opportunity to improve the payment experience for dealerships. I combined competitive analysis with research across 8 dealerships and a survey to understand the overall market value.

Key Insights

  • Competitive analysis showed digital payments had become the industry standard.

  • Dealership interviews revealed that mailing physical checks created unnecessary friction and delayed collections.

  • 92% of dealerships said they would use digital payments.

 

Simplified competitive analysis matrix.

Strategy & vision development to gain buy-in for improvements

Instead of optimizing isolated workflows, I recommended investing in a unified collections platform that centralized information, automated routine decisions, and reduced manual coordination. I translated these recommendations into a future-state vision and partnered with Product and Engineering to iterate on the concept, gather feedback, and build support for long-term investment.

 

Simplified vision cast with mock data.

Recommendations

  • Automate information flow into a centralized system with rule-based logic to support investigations

  • Create a real-time source of truth for collections status and communication

  • Establish quality review processes to reduce investigation errors

Design & testing of a unified collections system and digital payments

With leadership support, I designed and iterated on the unified collections and digital payment experiences. I conducted 9 usability tests with internal users and dealerships to validate workflows and refine the concepts before the pilot.

 

Early exploration of the unified collections system in Gemini.

The unified collections system creates transparent processes for internal associates and decreases the number of tools to manage collections.

Dealers are able to pay collections digitally, reducing tedious payment workflows.

Outcomes

My research and strategy work influenced the 2026 product roadmap, securing leadership and cross-functional support for a unified collections experience and digital payments. Both initiatives are now in pilot.

Projected business impact:

  • 85% ↓ in outstanding collection

  • ↓ Payment processing from 3–4 weeks to real time

  • Improved partner trust through transparent processes