Redesigning banking for ease and peace of mind
Inspired by Kaari Saarinen’s remark that “established industries can’t afford to not have great UX,” I took on a personal side project to explore how thoughtful UX refinements alone could improve my most-used banking app, Openbank.
Organization
Personal project
Timelimne
April 2024 (3 days)
Role
Interaction Designer
Scope
UI/UX
Goal
Redesign Openbank’s digital experience to feel clearer and more enjoyable, demonstrating how thoughtful UX refinements can boost clarity and trust—without adding new features or heavy engineering effort.
The power of UX
Digital banking has become commoditized. Traditional banks compete with neo-banks like N26 and Revolut, who are themselves challenged by crypto and investing platforms. With products looking increasingly similar, UX has become the deciding factor for customers.
Defining principles
Due to experience of working at digital bank N26, I was already aware of two core user needs:
Ease of use. Banking tasks often arise during travel, work or social settings. Users should complete them quickly and intuitively, without full attention.
Peace of mind. Banking leaves no room for doubt or error. Interfaces should build trust, prevent mistakes, and make customers feel secure.
From these, I defined three principles to guide my redesign.
Applying principles
After a thorough benchmark and analysis of finance apps, I mapped issues in Openbank’s existing app and explored how to resolve them through the previously defined principles of consistency, clarity, and concise communication.
