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It has been said that the role of a risk manager is not for the faint of heart. This is particularly true for those working in clearing houses, given the key role they play as central pillars of market stability.
The importance of central clearing counterparties (CCPs) in financial markets has increased since the 2008 financial crisis. And as the range of financial instruments being centrally cleared has grown due to regulatory mandates, CCPs have sought new ways to deliver robust risk management.
CCPs need to balance offering efficient services and manageable margin requirements, with the danger of becoming a systemic risk by undercharging or having inadequate safety measures in place. This requires both efficient day-to-day monitoring procedures, as well as long-term risk assessments.
As complexity increases, so does the need to have powerful system support and automation, an important part of which is developing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that provides the necessary transparency and is easy to interact with.
Striving for the invisible GUI
The science of how to create user-friendly GUIs has evolved since the first one was created in the late 1970s. When done right, users won’t even notice there is a GUI - this is known as an Invisible GUI.
On the contrary, when done poorly, users can’t get past it to efficiently use the software, causing design-related frustration. Naturally, this is a reaction that must be avoided in any organization dealing with risk management.
End-user involvement with personas
In user experience (UX) design, the end-user perspective is always at the core. When a new development project is initiated, the first thing the project members must get an understanding of is who the end-users are. In addition, what are their needs and challenges? What is their typical behavior? And in what context do they interact with the system? Often, a number of personas are created to symbolize the various end-users.
Once system performance and functional requirements have been specified, and the end-users and their goals identified, several methods can be used to design and develop the optimal GUI. A selection of approaches can be applied. These include:
So when developing a cross-asset class CCP risk solution, it is important to create a smooth human-computer interaction that supports the complex, high-pace environment of risk teams incorporating elements such as graphics for easy interpretation as well as transparency and traceability to avoid black box calculations. The GUI that delivers this will make daily operations easier for everyone interacting with the system.
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author.
Parminder Saini CEO at Triple Minds
19 June
Mathieu Altwegg SVP Head of Product and Solutions Europe at Visa
Ivan Aleksandrov CSO | Fintech Licensing, Core banking & BaaS at Advapay
Frank Moreno CMO at Entersekt
18 June
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