Behind the code: how we make sure we’re building the right thing

This month’s technology deep dive features Solution Architect, John Cullen, and Product Manager, Laura Ramsay, as they discuss a major project: replacing an outdated lending application system.

What began as a necessary technical task quickly evolved into a comprehensive dialogue about the true value, user experience, and underlying purpose of their work. Here is a look behind the curtain at how we ensure we’re delivering the best possible experience for our customers.

Getting the ‘exam question’ right

In the tech world, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. You may see a legacy system and think, “How do we turn this off?” But that’s the wrong question.

Focusing on outcomes, rather than outputs, is key to identifying the right solution and identifying the right question. A great example is how we developed our in-app retention journey. Initially, our goal was to determine the desirability of a full journey by simply showing customers their product switch options and getting them to request an offer. The lessons learned from this early outcome-driven approach helped us reframe the core problem. We shifted our focus from simply ‘how do we turn this off’ to the more strategic question of ‘how can we better manage this process and align to our target architecture’.

Evolutionary architecture: learning as we go

One of the biggest risks in tech is spending six months building something, only to realise at launch that the user wanted something slightly different.

To solve this, we use evolutionary architecture, a software design approach that supports guided, incremental change, allowing systems to adapt over time to new business needs, technologies, and user demands without needing complete overhauls. This essentially means that instead of building a massive, ‘perfect’ system behind closed doors, we break it into smaller pieces. This allows us to:

• Get feedback faster: We can see how users interact with the tech and course-correct early.
• Deliver value sooner: You get the benefits of our improvements in weeks, not years.

The balancing act: speed vs. the North Star

There is a natural tension in software development. If you move too fast and only focus on quick fixes you end up with a ‘Frankenstein’ system and a mess of parts that don’t quite fit.

Our Solution Architects act as the guardians of our North Star.

• The North Star (the future): Our vision of a highly automated, cloud-native bank.
• The iteration (the now): Solving a specific pain point, like making an account setup faster.

Every time we build a small update, we ensure it’s a permanent paving slab on the road to our North Star. We use consistent API standards and security protocols so that today’s fix becomes part of tomorrow’s foundation.

Our checklist

Before we commit to a new project at Atom, we run it through this filter to make sure we’re on the right course, as well as evaluating our progress against it throughout:

Priority	Goal
Understand	What is the real user problem and the business value?
Context	How does this fit into the bigger picture of the bank?
Outcomes	Can we build a smaller version first to prove it works?
Balance	Does this solve a problem today without creating technical debt for tomorrow?

What’s next?

We’re constantly refining these principles to make the Atom experience smoother, faster, and more intuitive. We won’t always get it perfect on day one, but by focusing on the right exam questions, we’re ensuring that every update we ship makes our customers’ financial lives a little bit easier.

Want to see our latest work in action? Explore the Atom App and let us know what you think of our latest updates!