Commercial Bank

Bank App & Website

Project Overview

Due to NDA, the client will be referred to as 'Client X.' Client X is a U.S. high-tech commercial bank. We were asked to help design a retail-like future state commercial bank app for early stage startups. Our goal is to differentiate, add value, while delighting their customer base, in addition to supporting the basic banking needs that will help their businesses grow and scale.

Early stage entrepreneurs are looking for a way to seamlessly manage the finances of their business with minimal effort so they can focus on growing and establishing their business.

My Contributions

I was part of a team of 5 designers to help push the boundaries from what a traditional customer banking app would do today. Having previous UX managerial skills, I was able to offer my perspective to help move the project forward and steer the team back on track with our short turnaround time. We weren’t given any roles formally, but naturally I was able to assign roles to everyone where they most strongly align.

I was responsible for conceptualizing the key user journeys, differentiating features, wireframes and mockups. I also owned the branding and style guide process, and set up the master sketch file for collaboration. As part of a team, we were able to deliver a future state prototype that redefines commercial banking.

The Process

User Experience

Rapid Prototyping

We held a workshop to understand the client’s vision and then utilized our financial expertise and startup experience to develop the optimal user story. We sketched our initial ideas out to quickly gather feedback from the client and SMEs. We also spoke to a range of users who have engaged or created their own startups. What we learned is that they want an easy way to see their financials, upcoming spend, and where they have spent their money. Our target audience is mostly young and tech savvy. We wanted to create a design that drives engagement and provides rich interactions that will create those delightful moments.

In a short amount of time, we delivered a robust customer journey and an end-to-end prototype demonstrating the happy path of the startup founder’s financial decision lifecycle. We were encouraged to push the boundaries of what traditional commercial banking apps do today. For our primary persona, we were able to create an experience that feels seamless and simple–even when dealing with traditionally complex decision points.

Our stakeholder was ecstatic with the final prototype and said "this was so beautiful, that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and it was just what our bank has been looking for.” This prototype was presented to an executive committee, where it was well-received and adopted as a driver for the future of their commercial banking strategy.