Mizuho Americas is the U.S. division of Mizuho Financial Group, offering banking, markets, and investment services to help companies and clients across the Americas grow and succeed.

Mizuho Americas is the U.S. division of Mizuho Financial Group, offering banking, markets, and investment services to help companies and clients across the Americas grow and succeed.

Mizuho Americas is the U.S. division of Mizuho Financial Group, offering banking, markets, and investment services to help companies and clients across the Americas grow and succeed.

Year, Duration

Spring 2025 – 4 months

Role

Lead Product Designer

Team

2 Product Designers

Product Manager

Engineers

Director

Skills

UI/UX Design

Branding

Developer stewardship

About

This project was for Mizuho Americas, the U.S. division of Mizuho Financial Group and a trusted partner in banking and investment services. Our task was to design a single sign-on experience for desktop and mobile that created one secure, seamless entry point for users. The solution unified account access, transactions, and statements into a single product, eliminating the need to log in multiple times and providing a more efficient, user-friendly banking experience.

Target audience

Mizuho bank users and Mizuho admins

Project summary

As lead product designer on Mizuho's single sign-on product, I re-examined the user experience to streamline workflows and cut out unnecessary clicks, making account access more intuitive and efficient. Working closely with developers, I guided the design process from concept to delivery, ensuring a cohesive experience across desktop and mobile.

Design challenge

How can we design a single sign-on experience that unifies accounts, transactions, and statements, giving users autonomy to work more efficiently across platforms?

process

01. Creating a Site Map

Looking at core use-cases to define our site map

process

02. Wireframing User Flows

Using our site map as a guide, we quickly sketched screens for each user flow to define what components and building blocks were needed for each screen. Once we got confirmation from the client that these user journeys were accurate, we moved on to high fidelity designs.

process

03. Crafting the Design System

Designing for large-scale components

Considering how many types of data tables we had to account for, we designed atomic components to be easily adaptable so we could modify and expand them as needed. We also looked to existing libraries for reference to speed up the development process that was happening in parallel.

Considering how many types of data tables we had to account for, we designed atomic components to be easily adaptable so we could modify and expand them as needed. We also looked to existing libraries for reference to speed up the development process that was happening in parallel.

Considering how many types of data tables we had to account for, we designed atomic components to be easily adaptable so we could modify and expand them as needed. We also looked to existing libraries for reference to speed up the development process that was happening in parallel.

process

04. Stakeholder demos

We met daily with client stakeholders to review smaller changes and held formal demos bi-weekly to showcase any updates to the user flows in Figma. All changes were reflected in Figma prototypes.

Final

Handover file

Designing for clarity

At the end of the engagement, I packaged up the Figma file so that clients could easily navigate through the prototypes, user journeys, component library, and style guide without too much extra support. This was important as Mizuho's design and dev team would soon take over the project since Phase 1.0 was ending.

At the end of the engagement, I packaged up the Figma file so that clients could easily navigate through the prototypes, user journeys, component library, and style guide without too much extra support. This was important as Mizuho's design and dev team would soon take over the project since Phase 1.0 was ending.

At the end of the engagement, I packaged up the Figma file so that clients could easily navigate through the prototypes, user journeys, component library, and style guide without too much extra support. This was important as Mizuho's design and dev team would soon take over the project since Phase 1.0 was ending.

Learnings

Understanding banking language

Designing for a financial institution meant learning and applying precise banking terminology. To ensure clarity and trust, we worked closely with stakeholders to align the product language with industry standards while keeping it approachable for users.

Designing for a financial institution meant learning and applying precise banking terminology. To ensure clarity and trust, we worked closely with stakeholders to align the product language with industry standards while keeping it approachable for users.

Designing for a financial institution meant learning and applying precise banking terminology. To ensure clarity and trust, we worked closely with stakeholders to align the product language with industry standards while keeping it approachable for users.

Adapting to a quick turnaround

With an ambitious timeline, we had to move quickly from exploration to delivery. I prioritized rapid decision-making, lightweight documentation, and close collaboration with developers to keep the project on track without sacrificing quality.

With an ambitious timeline, we had to move quickly from exploration to delivery. I prioritized rapid decision-making, lightweight documentation, and close collaboration with developers to keep the project on track without sacrificing quality.

With an ambitious timeline, we had to move quickly from exploration to delivery. I prioritized rapid decision-making, lightweight documentation, and close collaboration with developers to keep the project on track without sacrificing quality.

Building for a handover

Since the design system and product would live beyond our team, we focused on creating scalable components, clear guidelines, and a unified style. This ensured the client’s internal team could continue evolving the product smoothly after handoff.

Since the design system and product would live beyond our team, we focused on creating scalable components, clear guidelines, and a unified style. This ensured the client’s internal team could continue evolving the product smoothly after handoff.

Since the design system and product would live beyond our team, we focused on creating scalable components, clear guidelines, and a unified style. This ensured the client’s internal team could continue evolving the product smoothly after handoff.