INTERNATIONAL BANKING APP

Empowering financial wellness through integrated money transfer and wealth management

Every year, millions of migrants who have moved from their home country send money back home to their families and loved ones.

The client, a multinational financial services provider with 500M digital and retail customers, was aiming to branch out from their core business of money sending to banking services. Our goal was to design and launch a banking app MVP that enabled their existing money sender customers to continue sending money back home to loved ones and also build a financial future for their families.

Initially, the app was launched in two European markets with support for 16 currencies. Due to its resounding success, it was expanded to additional markets. Consequently, the team, including myself, was rehired to design an app for the client's US market.

Expertise

  • Offshore design team management

  • Client relations and design evangelism

  • UX design and research

  • Mobile design

Project Details

  • Client: Multinational financial services corporation

  • Role: UX Manager

  • Timeframe: 6 months

Key Collaborators

  • Chris Nuernberger

Challenge

How might we design an app that elegantly combines new offerings with existing features?

The client, a financial service provider with a long history and large customer base, was struggling to keep up with more modern and cutting-edge competitors with shinier brands and sleek apps. In addition to new features, our goal was to introduce a new brand and world-class UX that would bring the client’s brand up to par with these newer tech-oriented competitors. To kick off our research, we took a full inventory of the client’s existing app and top competitor apps to identify opportunities and trends.

Examples from the client’s existing app, which had a dated appearance, cluttered navigation, and clunky UX

Examples from a competitor app, with a sleek and clean appearance and intuitive UX

Approach

Begin with a strong UX foundation and process

To ensure a high level of rigor through the design process, the UX team and I established a core set of design documents with the client including personas, UX principles, and a competitor reference library. To efficiently manage the high volume of user stories and user flows that had to go through the various work-streams (functional → UX → UI → development) and approvals, I also established a weekly meeting cadence to go with the 2-week sprint cycle.

During crucial moments in the design phase, we conducted usability testing sessions. I opted to distribute the UX designs being tested to ensure everything was examined prior to development. Additionally, I strategically timed the tests to avoid delaying the development of higher-impact features.

Design

A brand new app with familiar features, designed for easy adoption by existing customers

By the end of an intense 6 month design phase, we had designed and handed off specs for a full-featured banking app. Each of the apps 100+ screens passed through an extensive series of testing and approvals to reach development. As the UX team lead, I was constantly recalibrating the team members workloads as designs went through the pre-development checklist and would periodically get paused while we waited for feedback. I am proud to say that we delivered everything on time.

Pre-development checklist:

  • Pass usability testing

  • Client approval

  • UI/brand compliance

  • Development team approval

  • Copywriting review

  • Legal approval

Outcome

A successful MVP leads to expansion and another engagement

After the initial launch in 2 markets, the app performed so well that availability was expanded to 2 more markets. The team, including myself, was hired again by the client to design an app and web experience for the client’s US market.

Sneak preview of the second app and web experience

Reflection

The eternal struggle between “perfect” and “done”

Designing this app involved numerous instances where I wished for more time to refine and perfect the details. It was especially challenging to resist implementing easy UX "quick-wins" that could improve usability but might burden the development team or divert time from higher-priority UX tasks. I always had to remember the bigger picture and remind myself that this was an MVP. Its success would pave the way for future iterations and refinement opportunities—and it did!