B.One Digital Office

How might we streamline critical enterprise workflows for 36,000 bank employees who were struggling with slow board-level approvals and fragmented document tracking that hindered effective decision-making?

How might we streamline critical enterprise workflows for 36,000 bank employees who were struggling with slow board-level approvals and fragmented document tracking that hindered effective decision-making?

How might we streamline critical enterprise workflows for 36,000 bank employees who were struggling with slow board-level approvals and fragmented document tracking that hindered effective decision-making?

Timeline

May - August 2024

Members

Youngest UX intern of BIDV Digital Banking Division - UIUX Team (7 designers, 1 UX Team Lead, 5 developers, 2 PMs)

What I did:


Through heuristic audits, hierarchical task analysis (HTA), and redlining techniques, I designed a board feedback feature within B.One's enterprise ecosystem that eliminated sequential workflow bottlenecks, unified omnichannel comment systems, and provided at-a-glance document status tracking

What I did:


Through heuristic audits, hierarchical task analysis (HTA), and redlining techniques, I designed a board feedback feature within B.One's enterprise ecosystem that eliminated sequential workflow bottlenecks, unified omnichannel comment systems, and provided at-a-glance document status tracking

What I did:


Through heuristic audits, hierarchical task analysis (HTA), and redlining techniques, I designed a board feedback feature within B.One's enterprise ecosystem that eliminated sequential workflow bottlenecks, unified omnichannel comment systems, and provided at-a-glance document status tracking

Introduction

The Bank of Investment & Development of Vietnam (BIDV) is the largest commercial bank in Viet Nam and an established financial institution for the Vietnamese people since 1957. It is leading a digital-office transformation through its internal platform B.One​​, used by 36 000 employees. I joined the company’s Digital Banking Division in May of 2024 as an intern and the youngest member of the UI/UX Team of 8.

"With its great advantages in customer base and fintech network, BIDV is aiming for 80% of the bank’s customers having access and using BIDV e-banking products by 2025." - The Asian Banker

Much of my process & work has been omitted in order to comply with my NDA  However, I would love to share more of my involvement behind the scenes - please reach out to hear about it!

Setting the Scene

About B.One

Within B.One, one of the main functionalities is to let employees handlework, documents entirely on digital environment, supporting users at all levels of management to monitor work anytime.

Here, to process a task, its document travels through a four‑stage policy pipeline:

  1. Drafting (Soạn thảo) 

  2. Owner approval (Xử lý phê duyệt & ban hành)

  3. Stakeholder feedback (Tham gia ý kiến)

  4. Board of Management opinion & archival (Ý kiến HĐQT)

Here, to process a task, its document travels through a four‑stage policy pipeline:

  1. Drafting (Soạn thảo) 

  2. Owner approval (Xử lý phê duyệt & ban hành)

  3. Stakeholder feedback (Tham gia ý kiến)

  4. Board of Management opinion & archival (Ý kiến HĐQT)

Here, to process a task, its document travels through a four‑stage policy pipeline:

  1. Drafting (Soạn thảo) 

  2. Owner approval (Xử lý phê duyệt & ban hành)

  3. Stakeholder feedback (Tham gia ý kiến)

  4. Board of Management opinion & archival (Ý kiến HĐQT)

Visual diagram of document's process flow

Project Scope: Within BIDV's B.One digital transformation, I was assigned to redesign the Board of Directors' document review workflow - the critical final stage where the bank’s governing body makes strategic decisions affecting its employees and millions of customers.


As the highest authority with specialized knowledge of complex banking operations, the Board's review process is mission-critical, yet any inefficiencies create bottlenecks that delay crucial organizational decisions. 

Project Scope: Within BIDV's B.One digital transformation, I was assigned to redesign the Board of Directors' document review workflow - the critical final stage where the bank’s governing body makes strategic decisions affecting its employees and millions of customers.


As the highest authority with specialized knowledge of complex banking operations, the Board's review process is mission-critical, yet any inefficiencies create bottlenecks that delay crucial organizational decisions. 

Project Scope: Within BIDV's B.One digital transformation, I was assigned to redesign the Board of Directors' document review workflow - the critical final stage where the bank’s governing body makes strategic decisions affecting its employees and millions of customers.


As the highest authority with specialized knowledge of complex banking operations, the Board's review process is mission-critical, yet any inefficiencies create bottlenecks that delay crucial organizational decisions. 

The Design Process

Understanding the Employee’s Experience

To understand the end-to-end document flow from first-principles, I created a hierarchical task-analysis diagram (HTA). I was able to get a better idea of the physical requirements for this rather complex system.

Field Observations

Building on initial research, I shadowed five power users from Finance, Admin, and Tech departments as they processed live documents in real-time, then cross-referenced these observations with historical usability data to identify patterns.

HMW give authors real-time visibility into their document's status, progression and omnichannel feedbacks into one unified audit trail, without overwhelming them with information?

Discovery of mental models

As I began exploring solutions,  I realized these HMWs focused on what information to show, but not how directors actually process that information.  I did some secondary research and learned about Marchionini's Information Seeking Theory, which identifies two primary search behaviors:

  1. Analytical (systematic, comprehensive)

  2. Browsing (exploratory, opportunistic). 


Enterprise users often switch between these modes depending on task urgency and information complexity. In my case, directors exhibited analytical behavior when conducting task-first reviews ("What’s happening to X?") but switched to browsing behavior when quickly assessing people=first dynamics ("Who said what?"). With this insight in mind, I began designing and testing approaches to support the dual-mode behaviors.

As I began exploring solutions,  I realized these HMWs focused on what information to show, but not how directors actually process that information.  I did some secondary research and learned about Marchionini's Information Seeking Theory, which identifies two primary search behaviors:

  1. Analytical (systematic, comprehensive)

  2. Browsing (exploratory, opportunistic). 


Enterprise users often switch between these modes depending on task urgency and information complexity. In my case, directors exhibited analytical behavior when conducting task-first reviews ("What’s happening to X?") but switched to browsing behavior when quickly assessing people=first dynamics ("Who said what?"). With this insight in mind, I began designing and testing approaches to support the dual-mode behaviors.

As I began exploring solutions,  I realized these HMWs focused on what information to show, but not how directors actually process that information.  I did some secondary research and learned about Marchionini's Information Seeking Theory, which identifies two primary search behaviors:

  1. Analytical (systematic, comprehensive)

  2. Browsing (exploratory, opportunistic). 


Enterprise users often switch between these modes depending on task urgency and information complexity. In my case, directors exhibited analytical behavior when conducting task-first reviews ("What’s happening to X?") but switched to browsing behavior when quickly assessing people=first dynamics ("Who said what?"). With this insight in mind, I began designing and testing approaches to support the dual-mode behaviors.

Testing screen iterations

Idea 1: I began with the people-first model since directors often reference individual colleagues in their conversations, but usability testing revealed critical issues 

Idea 2:  I pivoted to a vertical comment list with numeric pagination, introducing collapsible vote sections. While this solved the scalability issue and provided clear navigation between items, reaching a single dissenting comment required 3-4 gestures, creating unnecessary interaction cost for the most critical user task.

Idea 3: I flattened the hierarchy, giving directors a comprehensive overview with visual indicators and colored icons. Yet, once inside an accordion view, directors lost spatial orientation without breadcrumbs or progress indicators.

Unifying both mental models in one interface

After three iterations, I realized I was solving the wrong problem. Instead of optimizing for one mental model or the other, I needed to design an interface that seamlessly supported both.

Note to self: Heuristic #6

Recognition rather than recall

Every piece of task context is kept visible, so directors navigate by what they see, not what they must remember. Descriptive tab labels, a sticky amendment header, color-and-icon vote chips, and inline progress counts externalise all the key information.


As a result, testers said this “felt like turning pages”, turning every screen into its own audit artifact

The Chosen Design

Providing the right context, at the right moment

After synthesizing usability tests, heuristic walkthroughs, and field observations, the pill-tab + single-list flow design was the clear winner because it minimizes cognitive load and eliminates scrolling friction with no extra vertical real-estate consumed. Progressive disclosure shows only one amendment at a time, while directors navigate by recognition.

Note to self: Heuristic #6

Recognition rather than recall

Every piece of task context is kept visible, so directors navigate by what they see, not what they must remember. Descriptive tab labels, a sticky amendment header, color-and-icon vote chips, and inline progress counts externalise all the key information.


As a result, testers said this “felt like turning pages”, turning every screen into its own audit artifact

A Look At The Final Screens

The green-tagged column shows my board-feedback flow nestled inside the product’s master Figma file—just one streamlined lane in a multi-track system of hundreds of banking screens.

A visual design side quest

When I wasn’t knee-deep in approval flows, I moon-lighted on the “fun stuff” that ships the app’s first impression. —designing the App Store and Google Play preview graphics in three device sizes. Juggling on gradient frames and safe-zones taught me how differently each platform polices padding, aspect ratios, while letting me flex some pure visual creativity amidst the rough work of B.One, all while keeping the core BIDV brand intact.

I tested various backgrounds, from waves to radiating circles, text arrangements to phone angles to pick the best fit for the final asset.

──── ୨୧ ────

Key Takeaways

My first UX internship represented a transformative leap in my knowledge and understanding of how design thinking, user research, and cross-functional collaboration come together to solve real-world problems

🏦 Enterprise ≠ Boring

Directors skim politics-level documents on 5-inch phones while commuting. Their tiny attention windows demanded clever micro-interactions (sticky badges, haptic ticks). Constraints breed creativity; designing for “serious” users can be surprisingly playful if the feedback loop is respectful and fast.

💬 Prototype to talk, not to impress

I produced three radically different voting flows (person-centric, accordion, tabbed modal) and put them in front of the board secretary unfinished: grey boxes, lorem ipsum and all. Low-fidelity made stakeholders comfortable calling out flaws. Speed > polish early on; polish only where the concept survives.

✨ Progressive disclosure wins

Before this project I equated “feature-rich” with “good.” Now I treat surface area as a cost - every extra element demands cognitive rent from the user. Progressive disclosure isn’t just a UI trick; it’s a mindset of earned complexity. I left the internship committed to designing experiences that unfold gracefully, giving users confidence first and power second.

Check out some other projects ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و
A visual design side quest

When I wasn’t knee-deep in approval flows, I moon-lighted on the “fun stuff” that ships the app’s first impression. —designing the App Store and Google Play preview graphics in three device sizes. Juggling on gradient frames and safe-zones taught me how differently each platform polices padding, aspect ratios, while letting me flex some pure visual creativity amidst the rough work of B.One, all while keeping the core BIDV brand intact.