From Skip Paths to Seamless Compliance.
From Skip Paths to Seamless Compliance.
This case study covers my redesign of nCino’s HMDA demographic collection — a sensitive, compliance-critical step in the in-branch loan origination flow.
This case study covers my redesign of nCino’s HMDA demographic collection — a sensitive, compliance-critical step in the in-branch loan origination flow.
HMDA Redesign Project Overview
Timeline: 8 weeks (September - October 2025)
The Problem: Loan officers were consistently skipping required HMDA demographic collection during in-branch applications due to a cumbersome 15+ click workflow with no validation or enforcement. This created significant compliance risk during CFPB examinations and burdened back-office teams with hours of manual data cleanup.
Key Metrics:
Eliminate 15+ unnecessary clicks
Under 3 minute completion time
Prevent common HMDA violations through built-in validations
Target 4+ banker confidence rating (1-5 scale)
100% completion rate for HMDA-reportable loans.
Success:
Loan officers complete HMDA collection confidently without skipping steps
Real-time validation prevents compliance errors before submission
Back-office teams spend less time on data cleanup
nCino establishes scalable patterns for other regulatory flows like 1071 business demographics.
Evaluating the Legacy UX
From Compliance Burden to Design Opportunity
In our previous workflow, bankers were frequently skipping required HMDA collection during in-branch applications. The Entity Compliance form required too many clicks, lacked clear validation, and didn’t distinguish between individual and business applicants. Even when bankers wanted to do the right thing, the system made it difficult to know when and how to collect demographic data.
The result was a costly loop of missing data, manual cleanup by back-office teams, and compliance risk for banks during CFPB examinations. From a business standpoint, this also slowed loan processing and left nCino lagging behind competitor systems that offered more modern validation and enforcement.
Redesigning HMDA was both a compliance necessity and a strategic opportunity. If we could simplify the flow, prevent errors in real time, and educate bankers at the moment of decision, we could reduce compliance exposure and set a new design standard for other regulatory experiences across the platform.
Our Team
Lack of Guidance Led to Skipped HMDA Data Collection
There were no clear indicators that HMDA was required, and no error states for incompletion. Bankers were skipping demographic collection entirely to save time during applications.
Inefficient, Inconsistent, and Confusing Form Design
The legacy form was jargon-heavy, inconsistent, and inefficient. Irrelevant fields and unclear categories increased collection time and confusion, while poorly framed dropdowns and missing validations led to frequent data errors and incomplete records.
UX Chaos Reigned Supreme
The form was filled with jargon, which added to banker's desire to simply "move on".
Fields that were completely irrelevant to HMDA applications were listed, increasing collection time unnecessarily.
Bankers found the dropdown menus difficult to understand and make selections, increasing cognitive load.
Categories and sub-categories were not given clear mutual exclusivity, causing confusion during selection and creating HMDA recording issues downstream.
Dropdown selections lacked plain language and positive framing.
"Other" fields were separated from their check-box counterpart, causing bankers to skip required fields.
No validation errors in the experience.
Minimal Post-Collection Visibility for Bankers
Using Federal Guidelines to Inform UX Decisions
Understanding the Rules Behind the Work
Leveraging Existing Patterns from Small Business Workflows
Understanding the Rules Behind the Work
Choosing to Design for the Future, Not the Past
The Redesign - Contextual and Conditional Display
After collection of HMDA, the data table that was rendered reflected very little useful information for bankers post collection, specifically when reporting was completed by closers, or loans were audited during regular compliance reviews.
To ground the redesign in both user behavior and regulation, I reviewed everything available across our ecosystem. Using Dovetail, I analyzed recordings of bankers navigating the current HMDA flow and saw frequent hesitation, skipped fields, and “N/A” workarounds.
I read through the official CFPB documentation and physical branch forms to understand exactly how the questions were worded and what rules governed each step.
Reviewing the official HMDA form clarified why bankers found the existing experience confusing — it lacked the structure and contextual guidance seen in the regulation itself.
I connected with our Small Business Design Lead, who had recently designed the 1071 Business Demographic Collection flow, to compare approaches and identify shared compliance patterns. The Small Business modal flow offered a proven pattern for demographic intake, which informed our direction for HMDA.
Finally, I partnered with Armstrong Bank’s compliance team to walk through my early wireframes and confirm that our interpretations of federal rules matched their audit expectations. I used Claude AI to analyze data, not only our conversation with Armstrong, but also pulling multiple reverse demo recordings that were collected in a shared research repository.
This research made one insight unmistakable: the collection method drives everything. Face-to-face applications follow a different set of rules than remote or online applications, especially when it comes to visual observation. That single discovery reshaped our entire validation architecture.
It also surfaced two key behavioral insights: bankers needed the system to prevent errors in real time, not just tell them they made a mistake after submission; and bankers needed in-context education, not rigid system blocks. Compliance enforcement couldn’t come at the cost of user trust.
At the time, our product manager initially proposed updating HMDA within the old interface. I advocated for designing it directly in the new application experience — even if that meant a slightly longer build cycle.
Designing for the future state first allowed us to create the right data model, reduce technical debt, and establish patterns that could later be back-ported to older builds. This approach aligned with nCino’s larger platform vision and helped secure buy-in across design, compliance, and development.
To reduce visual noise and improve workflow focus, the HMDA data table is now conditionally rendered when all regulatory requirements apply, ensuring relevance without overwhelming users.
I advocated to design for the new experience first, and promised I'd design a solution that would translate to legacy too. ;)
This application is part of a complete experience redesign. HMDA can be collected once product and collateral meet criteria.
Data Table Indicators
Date Modified Field
Error State for Missing HMDA
Designing for Reuse Within Legacy Constraints
Designing Guardrails, Not Roadblocks
Bringing Clarity and Humanity to Compliance
Partnering Across Teams to Get It Right
A Clearer, More Confident HMDA Experience
Color-coded status chips clearly show whether HMDA data has been collected, helping bankers instantly recognize missing information.
If bankers attempt to continue without completing demographic data, an inline error message now communicates the requirement and provides a direct action path to resolve it.
Early prototypes focused on simplifying the layout and reducing clicks. However, compliance reviewers quickly pointed out that my first version still allowed bankers to skip some demographic fields entirely.
I dug into compliance with Jason, our senior compliance officer, to validate each rule against HMDA documentation and CFPB interpretations. I collaborated closely with development to map dependencies between form states and backend HMDA codes, ensuring that every condition matched reporting requirements. I also coordinated with the small business design team to align on shared patterns between 1071 and HMDA demographic collection.
The final design consolidates HMDA demographic collection into a single, intelligent page that automatically appears when required by the loan product or applicant type. It filters out business entities, reducing clutter and confusion for bankers.
Each section — ethnicity, race, and sex — includes clear choices, controlled sub-selections, and independent refusal options. Real-time validation disables conflicting inputs rather than hiding them, guiding users toward compliant entry. When bankers select an option that doesn’t match their collection method, contextual helper text appears right in the form.
To handle the complexity, my PM and I built a shared Claude AI project space that became our central repository for transcripts, notes, and rule documentation. I harnessed AI to translate regulatory language into plain-English requirements, validate edge-case logic, and generate usability test scripts. Claude acted as a compliance co-pilot, helping me move faster and more confidently through dense federal language.
I designed the refreshed experience to be fully compatible with the legacy system, enabling developers to reuse existing components without refactoring — a decision that saved time and made my dev partner, Monty, very happy.
As we refined the system, we landed on a principle that guided the entire design: “Disable, don’t error.” Instead of hiding options or showing errors after submission, we built real-time disabling rules that prevented invalid combinations.
For example, selecting Not Hispanic or Latino would automatically disable all Hispanic sub-categories, enforcing mutual exclusivity without interrupting the banker’s flow.
Another architectural improvement came from separating regulatory data (what’s reported to HMDA) from operational context (how the data was collected). A conditional checkbox for “Co-applicant responded on behalf of this applicant” allowed bankers to capture real-world context without affecting compliance codes.
This distinction became a reusable pattern for other complex workflows across nCino’s platform.
Adding a “Last Date Modified” column provides transparency into when demographic data was last updated, reinforcing audit readiness and accountability.
Their feedback helped me see the real challenge: designing enforcement that still felt organic and seamless to users.
This is a user flow paths HMDA gathering could take for initial intake alone.
Partnering with AI
Jason, Sophie, Monty and I getting LOST IN THE SAUCE.
Solution 1: Applicant Provided Response
When the applicant provides their own demographic information (e.g., in a remote application), they can optionally choose “I do not wish to provide this information.” The help text clarifies that this option applies only to remote submissions, not in-person ones.
Solution 2: Co-Applicant Provided Response
When a co-applicant responds on behalf of the applicant, the co-applicant can indicate “I do not wish to provide a response.” This reflects scenarios where joint applications are processed remotely, ensuring accurate compliance capture without requiring in-person observation.
Solution 3: Visual Observation
If the application is completed in person and the applicant declines to self-identify, bankers are required to select “Visual observation or surname.” In this case, the form disables sub-category selections to maintain compliance with HMDA guidance — only high-level demographic categories can be recorded.
Laying the Foundation for What Comes Next
The new architecture separates regulatory and operational data, enabling accurate reporting and flexible front-end workflows. It also lays the groundwork for future compliance-driven experiences in the in-branch banking space.
As of October 2025, the design is in final compliance validation and scheduled for usability testing with loan officers. Results will inform Q4 development and pilot testing with select bank clients.
Lessons in Clarity, Confidence, and Collaboration
This project required balancing precision with empathy — translating dense regulation into usable design patterns without losing the human element.
By separating regulatory data from operational context, we created a scalable foundation for future compliance workflows. Using AI as both a design and validation partner, we accelerated decisions and strengthened accuracy across the experience.
HMDA Redesign Project Overview
Timeline: 8 weeks (September - October 2025)
The Problem: Loan officers were consistently skipping required HMDA demographic collection during in-branch applications due to a cumbersome 15+ click workflow with no validation or enforcement. This created significant compliance exposure during CFPB examinations and burdened back-office teams with hours of manual data cleanup.
Key Metrics: Eliminate 15+ unnecessary clicks, achieve <3 minute completion time, prevent common HMDA violations through built-in validations, target 4+ banker confidence rating (1-5 scale), achieve 100% completion rate for HMDA-reportable loans.
Success: Loan officers complete HMDA collection confidently without skipping steps, real-time validation prevents compliance errors before submission, back-office teams spend less time on data cleanup, and nCino establishes scalable patterns for other regulatory flows like 1071 business demographics.
.
TLDR
Led end-to-end redesign of HMDA demographic collection to reduce skip paths and compliance risk
Advocated for designing within the new application architecture, influencing product roadmap priorities
Partnered with compliance, dev, and PMs to define validation logic and separation of regulatory vs operational data
Use Claude AI to translate dense regulatory language into plain-English requirements and generated test scenarios for edge cases like proxy collection
Created a single-page, guided experience that enforces rules in real time through disabling and contextual guidance
Established scalable patterns now used for other regulatory collection flows (like 1071 business demographics)
Our Team
Systems audit
Irrelevant buttons
Badges that no one used
Tables with broken links
Blank objects
From Compliance Burden to Design Opportunity
In our previous workflow, bankers were frequently skipping required HMDA collection during in-branch applications. The Entity Compliance form required too many clicks, lacked clear validation, and didn’t distinguish between individual and business applicants. Even when bankers wanted to do the right thing, the system made it difficult to know when and how to collect demographic data.
The result was a costly loop of missing data, manual cleanup by back-office teams, and compliance risk for banks during CFPB examinations. From a business standpoint, this also slowed loan processing and left nCino lagging behind competitor systems that offered more modern validation and enforcement.
Redesigning HMDA was both a compliance necessity and a strategic opportunity. If we could simplify the flow, prevent errors in real time, and educate bankers at the moment of decision, we could reduce compliance exposure and set a new design standard for other regulatory experiences across the platform.
Evaluating the Legacy HMDA Experience for Usability and Compliance
Lack of Guidance Led to Skipped HMDA Data Collection
There were no clear indicators that HMDA was required, and no error states for incompletion. Bankers were skipping demographic collection entirely to save time during applications.
.
Inefficient, Inconsistent, and Confusing Form Design
The legacy form was jargon-heavy, inconsistent, and inefficient. Irrelevant fields and unclear categories increased collection time and confusion, while poorly framed dropdowns and missing validations led to frequent data errors and incomplete records.
The form was filled with jargon, which added to banker's desire to simply "move on".
Fields that were completely irrelevant to HMDA applications were listed, increasing collection time unnecessarily.
Bankers found the dropdown menus difficult to understand and make selections, increasing cognitive load.
Categories and sub-categories were not given clear mutual exclusivity, causing confusion during selection and creating HMDA recording issues downstream.
Dropdown selections lacked plain language and positive framing.
"Other" fields were separated from their check-box counterpart, causing bankers to skip required fields.
On the whole :
No validation errors were enforced.
Minimal Post-Collection Visibility for Bankers
After collection of HMDA, the data table that was rendered reflected very little useful information for bankers post collection, specifically when reporting was completed by closers, or loans were audited during regular compliance reviews.
.
Understanding the Rules Behind the Work
To ground the redesign in both user behavior and regulation, I reviewed everything available across our ecosystem. Using Dovetail, I analyzed recordings of bankers navigating the current HMDA flow and saw frequent hesitation, skipped fields, and “N/A” workarounds.
Using Federal Guidelines to Inform UX Decisions
I read through the official CFPB documentation and physical branch forms to understand exactly how the questions were worded and what rules governed each step.
Reviewing the official HMDA form clarified why bankers found the existing experience confusing — it lacked the structure and contextual guidance seen in the regulation itself.
.
Leveraging Existing Patterns from Small Business Workflows
I connected with our Small Business Design Lead, who had recently designed the 1071 Business Demographic Collection flow, to compare approaches and identify shared compliance patterns. The Small Business modal flow offered a proven pattern for demographic intake, which informed our direction for HMDA.
.
Finally, I partnered with Armstrong Bank’s compliance team to walk through my early wireframes and confirm that our interpretations of federal rules matched their audit expectations. I used Claude AI to analyze data, not only our conversation with Armstrong, but also pulling multiple reverse demo recordings that were collected in a shared research repository.
Chatting with my bestie.
This research made one insight unmistakable: the collection method drives everything. Face-to-face applications follow a different set of rules than remote or online applications, especially when it comes to visual observation. That single discovery reshaped our entire validation architecture.
It also surfaced two key behavioral insights: bankers needed the system to prevent errors in real time, not just tell them they made a mistake after submission; and they needed in-context education, not rigid system blocks. Compliance enforcement couldn’t come at the cost of user trust.
Choosing to Design for the Future, Not the Past
At the time, our product manager initially proposed updating HMDA within the old interface. I advocated for designing it directly in the new application experience — even if that meant a slightly longer build cycle.
Designing for the future state first allowed us to create the right data model, reduce technical debt, and establish patterns that could later be back-ported to older builds. This approach aligned with nCino’s larger platform vision and helped secure buy-in across design, compliance, and development.
.
I advocated to build for the refreshed experience first. :)
I also promised I'd design a solution that worked in both experiences. ;)
The Redesign - Contextual and Conditional Display
HMDA Data Table – Conditional Display Rules
To reduce visual noise and improve workflow focus, the HMDA data table is now conditionally rendered. It only appears when all regulatory requirements apply, ensuring relevance without overwhelming users.
Display logic:
Product type requires HMDA collection
Collateral type requires HMDA collection
Applicants are HMDA-eligible individuals
When these conditions are met, the table automatically displays rows for the primary applicant and the first co-applicant, keeping data entry streamlined and context-aware.
Data Table Indicators
Color-coded status chips clearly show whether HMDA data has been collected, helping bankers instantly recognize missing information.
.
Date Modified Field
Adding a “Last Date Modified” column provides transparency into when demographic data was last updated, reinforcing audit readiness and accountability.
.
Error State for Missing HMDA
If bankers attempt to continue without completing demographic data, an inline error message now clearly communicates the requirement and provides a direct action path to resolve it.
.
Designing for Reuse Within Legacy Constraints
I designed the refreshed experience to be fully compatible with the legacy system, enabling developers to reuse existing components without refactoring — a decision that saved time and made my dev partner, Monty, very happy.
.
Designing Guardrails, Not Roadblocks
As we refined the system, we landed on a principle that guided the entire design: “Disable, don’t error.” Instead of hiding options or showing errors after submission, we built real-time disabling rules that prevented invalid combinations. For example, selecting Not Hispanic or Latino would automatically disable all Hispanic sub-categories, enforcing mutual exclusivity without interrupting the banker’s flow.
Another architectural improvement came from separating regulatory data (what’s reported to HMDA) from operational context (how the data was collected). A conditional checkbox for “Co-applicant responded on behalf of this applicant” allowed bankers to capture real-world context without affecting compliance codes. This distinction became a reusable pattern for other complex workflows across nCino’s platform.
.
.
Bringing Clarity and Humanity to Compliance
Early prototypes focused on simplifying the layout and reducing clicks. However, compliance reviewers quickly pointed out that my first version still allowed bankers to skip demographic fields entirely. Their feedback helped me see the real challenge: designing enforcement that still felt humane.
Through several iterations, I rebuilt the flow as a single, guided page that only appeared when HMDA was required. Each field dynamically responded to user input — disabling invalid combinations, showing contextual warnings, and blocking progression only when necessary. Scoped notifications replaced pop-over errors to prevent unnecessary friction.
.
Partnering Across Teams to Get It Right
Can you see from our faces that we were completely lost in the sauce?
I met weekly with Jason, our senior compliance officer, to validate each rule against HMDA documentation and CFPB interpretations. I worked with development to map dependencies between form states and backend HMDA codes, ensuring that every condition matched reporting requirements. I also coordinated with the small business design team to align on shared patterns between 1071 and HMDA demographic collection.
To handle the complexity, my PM and I built a shared Claude AI project space that became our central repository for transcripts, notes, and rule documentation. I used it to translate regulatory language into plain-English requirements, validate edge-case logic, and generate usability test scripts. It acted like a compliance co-pilot, helping us move faster and more confidently through dense federal language.
.
A Clearer, More Confident HMDA Experience
The final design consolidates HMDA demographic collection into a single, intelligent page that automatically appears when required by the loan product or applicant type. It filters out business entities, reducing clutter and confusion for bankers.
Each section — ethnicity, race, and sex — includes clear choices, controlled sub-selections, and independent refusal options. Real-time validation disables conflicting inputs rather than hiding them, guiding users toward compliant entry. When bankers select an option that doesn’t match their collection method, contextual helper text appears right in the form.
.
"Applicant Provided Response"
When the applicant provides their own demographic information (e.g., in a remote application), they can optionally choose “I do not wish to provide this information.” The help text clarifies that this option applies only to remote submissions, not in-person ones.
.
"Co-Applicant Provided Response"
When a co-applicant responds on behalf of the applicant, the co-applicant can indicate “I do not wish to provide a response.” This reflects scenarios where joint applications are processed remotely, ensuring accurate compliance capture without requiring in-person observation.
.
"Banker Observation (In-Person Application)"
If the application is completed in person and the applicant declines to self-identify, bankers are required to select “Visual observation or surname.” In this case, the form disables sub-category selections to maintain compliance with HMDA guidance — only high-level demographic categories can be recorded.
.
Laying the Foundation for What Comes Next
The new architecture separates regulatory and operational data, enabling accurate reporting and flexible front-end workflows. It also lays the groundwork for future compliance-driven experiences in the in-branch banking space.
As of October 2025, the design is in final compliance validation and scheduled for usability testing with loan officers. Results will inform Q4 development and pilot testing with select bank clients.
.
Lessons in Clarity, Confidence, and Collaboration
This project required balancing precision with empathy — translating dense regulation into usable design patterns without losing the human element.
By separating regulatory data from operational context, we created a scalable foundation for future compliance workflows.
Using AI as both a design and validation partner, we accelerated decisions and strengthened accuracy across the experience.
Ultimately, this work turned a bureaucratic task into a clear, confident process that empowers both bankers and customers.
.