Designing a flexible and personalised financial experience for bank
Designing a flexible and personalised financial experience for bank
Designing a flexible and personalised financial experience for bank
overview
In late 2023, as part of a cooperative project, my team partnered with The Bank of East Asia (BEA) to tackle a key business challenge: their struggle to connect with and engage young, tech-savvy professionals. The goal was to conceptual an innovative digital product that would not only attract this demographic but also increase their usage of the bank's services. This case study documents the journey of creating BEA GOAL Tangible+, a conceptual feature designed to make saving accessible, engaging, and rewarding for a new generation of bank customers.
TEAM
2 Product Designer
MY ROLE
Product Designer (User Research, Ideation, User Journey, User Flow, Wireframe, User Interface, and Interactive Prototype)
TIMELINE
3 months (2023)
RESULT
Led to a new commercial engagement to redesign the bank's core e-banking UI.
The concept was highly commended by BEA leadership for providing a clear, strategic solution
what was the problem
Despite being a cornerstone of Hong Kong's banking sector, The Bank of East Asia (BEA) was facing a critical disconnect. Their traditional brand image wasn't resonating with the city's young, tech-savvy professionals; this key demographic made up less than 10% of their active user base.
So our mission was to design an innovative financial product that could bridge this gap: Not only to attract and retain young professional, but also to create a genuinely engaging experience on BEA's digital platforms that would build long-term value by aligning with their modern lifestyle and values.
our Approach: Discover, Define, Design
We adopted a mixed-method approach to ensure our solution was grounded in real user needs and a clear market opportunity.
discovery & research
Our initial research phase combined an internal look at BEA's product with an external scan of the market.
The Inward Look: Foundational Cracks in the Core Experience
A heuristic evaluation of the existing BEA app, supported by public user reviews, revealed three critical areas of user frustration that were eroding trust:
1. Authentication & Login: Users reported frequent, frustrating lockouts and unintuitive password reset flows, sometimes requiring a visit to a physical branch—a major barrier for a digital-native audience.
2. App Instability: Widespread reports of crashes and connection errors created a perception of an unreliable and unprofessional platform.
3. Unintuitive Navigation: Key features were difficult to locate, leading to a confusing and inefficient user experience.
User Review from Google Play
The Outward Look: Identifying a Market Gap
To identify a unique and valuable position in the market, we analyzed the strategies of key players targeting young professionals in Hong Kong. Our goal was to understand not just what they offered, but how they engaged their audience, in order to find a gap we could own.
Understanding the "Why"
To move beyond assumptions, we adopted a mixed-method research approach to build a deep understanding of our target audience (18-32 year olds). Our process included:
Quantitative Analysis
An online questionnaire distributed to over 60 young professionals to identify broad trends and statistical patterns.And a personality questionnaire which received 200+ responses
Qualitative Analysis
A series of 8 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to uncover the stories, motivations, and anxieties behind the numbers.
Key Research Insights
Our research converged on three actionable insights that became the foundation of our design strategy.
#Insight 1
Savings Need a Purpose, Not Just a Promise
40% embrace a "YOLO" lifestyle. Abstract goals like "retirement" feel too distant.
"If I have no specific goal, I rarely save money intentionally."
#Insight 2
A Significant Financial Literacy Gap Exists
1 out of 4 respondents had received any formal financial education.
"No one taught me that. I don't even know where to start"
#Insight 3
"Safety" is a Powerful Motivator
52% of respondants cited "saving money to prevent an emergency" as a primary financial goal, a much stronger driver than long-term wealth..
These truths painted a clear picture: young people lack financial guidance, leading them to chase short-term gratification. However, their deepest, most immediate desire is for a financial safety net. This led us to our Glaring Market Opportunity:
"While competitors offered complex investment products, no one was providing a simple, engaging tool to help young people build their very first emergency fund."
From Insights to Strategy
We found young people were anxious about money but unmotivated by traditional banking, so our challenge was clear: How do we make saving feel personal and engaging, not a chore?
Our 'Aha!' moment came from a key research insight: this demographic loves self-discovery tools like MBTI. We realized financial habits are deeply tied to personality.
This became our strategic pivot: Instead of just telling them what to do, we could first help them understand who they are financially. This insight led directly to our 'Financial Personality Test' and the core personas that followed.
Faced with three distinct user groups, our first critical decision was to define our strategic starting point.
We chose to build our foundation around solving for Alex (The Indifferent Spender).
Our strategy was not to exclude the others, but to start with the hardest challenge. We believed that by creating a product engaging and simple enough to win over Alex, we would naturally develop the core features and intuitive experience that our other personas, John and Robert, were already looking for.
This allowed us to frame our challenge with three targeted "How-Might-We" questions:
HMW make saving for a future goal feel as satisfying as an immediate reward for Alex?
HMW provide financial guidance to Alex in a way that is as simple and accessible as browsing social media?
HMW help Alex feel a sense of control and security as he builds his emergency fund?
design principle
To ensure our solution directly addressed our research insights, we established three core design principles:
Attractive
To combat the "YOLO" mindset and low motivation, the experience must be fun, rewarding, and gamified to encourage continuous saving.
Emergency-Ready
To provide the psychological safety users crave, the product must offer a fast, simple, and transparent way to access funds in a crisis.
Boundless
The solution offering customised advice and product recommendations that adapt to unique financial situations.
ideation: user flow
Armed with our research insights, our goal was to design a logical and frictionless product experience. We mapped out the three most critical user flows that define the product's value proposition from the user's perspective
New User Onboarding
The crucial first-time experience, turning a curious visitor into an active user.
Daily Engagement Loop
The habit-forming mechanic that encourages consistent saving.
Redeeming a Reward
Closing the loop from saving to tangible benefit, reinforcing the product's value.
Flow 1: New User Acquisition & Onboarding
This flow is the most critical for growth. It outlines the journey of a brand-new user, from initial discovery on social media to making their first deposit.
Flow 2: The Daily Engagement Loop
This flow is designed to build a daily habit and foster financial literacy in a light, rewarding way. It creates a low-effort, high-value reason for users to return to the app every day.
Flow 3: Redeeming the Emergency Fund
This flow is intentionally designed with "purposeful friction." The goal is to make the process clear and secure, while also encouraging users to pause and reflect before withdrawing from their safety net.
Adhering to the Existing Design System
To ensure brand consistency and a seamless user experience, this design closely adhered to the existing BEA app design guidelines, including its typography, font selection, and button styles. My contribution was expanding upon these guidelines to design new components, such as the "Financial Dashboard" and "Gamification Progress Cards," ensuring that new features seamlessly integrated into the existing product ecosystem.
Existing UI
Our Design
the solution
Our solution, Tangible+, is a conceptual feature designed to live within the BEA app. It transforms the abstract concept of "saving" into a tangible, rewarding, and gamified journey. It directly addresses our "How-Might-We" questions by focusing on three core experiences:
Start with Identity, Not Numbers
Instead of asking 'How much?', we start with 'Who are you?'. Our Financial Personality Test replaces cold numerical goals with a relatable identity. This makes saving feel personal and achievable from the first screen, tackling the core problem of user motivation head-on.
Build Daily Habits, Not Monthly Statements
Traditional saving offers feedback monthly—too slow to build a habit. Our Daily Engagement Loop delivers a micro-dose of achievement every day through gamified questions. This transforms saving from a passive chore into an active, rewarding daily habit.
Emergency Withdrawal
The true test of a safety net is its reliability in an emergency. We designed the withdrawal flow to be as frictionless to ensure straightforward access. The process is transparent and simple, building trust by delivering on the core promise of the product: your money is secure and available the moment you need it.
From Concept to Showcase
We presented our final, end-to-end solution at the Design Showcase section. Our booth consolidated the entire design process, from user personas and journey maps to the final interactive prototype, demonstrating the strategic thinking behind our solution.
Reflection & Future Outlook
This project was a valuable exercise in translating user anxiety into a tangible, positive product concept. It reinforced the importance of grounding design decisions in both qualitative and quantitative data.
What I Learned
The Power of a "Lighthouse" Project: I learned that when faced with a legacy product full of issues, sometimes the most strategic approach isn't to fix everything at once. Proposing a single, high-value, self-contained feature can be a more effective way to change brand perception and prove the ROI of investing in a new user segment.
Bridging Strategy and UI: This project was a deep dive into connecting high-level business goals (increase youth engagement) and user research insights (desire for safety, financial literacy gap) directly to the final UI, from the gamified avatar to the wording on the buttons.
Constraints & Challenges
As a conceptual university project, we operated without access to BEA's internal analytics, technical infrastructure, or compliance limitations. This gave us creative freedom but also meant we had to make informed assumptions about technical feasibility and the true cost of implementation. If I had more time, I will:
Test the "Friction" of the Emergency Withdrawal: I would run usability tests specifically on the "Break Glass" feature. My hypothesis is that this moment of "positive friction" would encourage responsible use, but I would need to validate that it doesn't cause undue stress or frustration in a real emergency scenario.
Develop the "Smart Refill" Flow: I would design the user flow for how a user replenishes their emergency fund after a withdrawal, exploring automated options and gentle nudges to get them back on track.
overview
In late 2023, as part of a cooperative project, my team partnered with The Bank of East Asia (BEA) to tackle a key business challenge: their struggle to connect with and engage young, tech-savvy professionals. The goal was to conceptual an innovative digital product that would not only attract this demographic but also increase their usage of the bank's services. This case study documents the journey of creating BEA GOAL Tangible+, a conceptual feature designed to make saving accessible, engaging, and rewarding for a new generation of bank customers.
MY ROLE
Product Designer (User Research, Ideation, User Journey, User Flow, Wireframe, User Interface, and Interactive Prototype)
RESULT
Led to a new commercial engagement to redesign the bank's core e-banking UI.
The concept was highly commended by BEA leadership for providing a clear, strategic solution
TIMELINE
3 months (2023)
TEAM
2 Product Designer
what was the problem
Despite being a cornerstone of Hong Kong's banking sector, The Bank of East Asia (BEA) was facing a critical disconnect. Their traditional brand image wasn't resonating with the city's young, tech-savvy professionals; this key demographic made up less than 10% of their active user base.
So our mission was to design an innovative financial product that could bridge this gap: Not only to attract and retain young professional, but also to create a genuinely engaging experience on BEA's digital platforms that would build long-term value by aligning with their modern lifestyle and values.
our Approach: Discover, Define, Design
We adopted a mixed-method approach to ensure our solution was grounded in real user needs and a clear market opportunity.
discovery & research
Our initial research phase combined an internal look at BEA's product with an external scan of the market.
The Inward Look: Foundational Cracks in the Core Experience
A heuristic evaluation of the existing BEA app, supported by public user reviews, revealed three critical areas of user frustration that were eroding trust:
1. Authentication & Login: Users reported frequent, frustrating lockouts and unintuitive password reset flows, sometimes requiring a visit to a physical branch—a major barrier for a digital-native audience.
2. App Instability: Widespread reports of crashes and connection errors created a perception of an unreliable and unprofessional platform.
3. Unintuitive Navigation: Key features were difficult to locate, leading to a confusing and inefficient user experience.
User Review from Google Play
The Outward Look: Identifying a Market Gap
To identify a unique and valuable position in the market, we analyzed the strategies of key players targeting young professionals in Hong Kong. Our goal was to understand not just what they offered, but how they engaged their audience, in order to find a gap we could own.
Understanding the "Why"
To move beyond assumptions, we adopted a mixed-method research approach to build a deep understanding of our target audience (18-32 year olds). Our process included:
Quantitative Analysis
An online questionnaire distributed to over 60 young professionals to identify broad trends and statistical patterns.And a personality questionnaire which received 200+ responses
Qualitative Analysis
A series of 8 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to uncover the stories, motivations, and anxieties behind the numbers.
Key Research Insights
Our research converged on three actionable insights that became the foundation of our design strategy.
#Insight 1
Savings Need a Purpose, Not Just a Promise
40% embrace a "YOLO" lifestyle. Abstract goals like "retirement" feel too distant.
"If I have no specific goal, I rarely save money intentionally."
#Insight 2
A Significant Financial Literacy Gap Exists
1 out of 4 respondents had received any formal financial education.
"No one taught me that. I don't even know where to start"
#Insight 3
"Safety" is a Powerful Motivator
52% of respondants cited "saving money to prevent an emergency" as a primary financial goal, a much stronger driver than long-term wealth..
These truths painted a clear picture: young people lack financial guidance, leading them to chase short-term gratification. However, their deepest, most immediate desire is for a financial safety net. This led us to our Glaring Market Opportunity:
"While competitors offered complex investment products, no one was providing a simple, engaging tool to help young people build their very first emergency fund."
From Insights to Strategy
We found young people were anxious about money but unmotivated by traditional banking, so our challenge was clear: How do we make saving feel personal and engaging, not a chore?
Our 'Aha!' moment came from a key research insight: this demographic loves self-discovery tools like MBTI. We realized financial habits are deeply tied to personality.
This became our strategic pivot: Instead of just telling them what to do, we could first help them understand who they are financially. This insight led directly to our 'Financial Personality Test' and the core personas that followed.
Faced with three distinct user groups, our first critical decision was to define our strategic starting point.
We chose to build our foundation around solving for Alex (The Indifferent Spender).
Our strategy was not to exclude the others, but to start with the hardest challenge. We believed that by creating a product engaging and simple enough to win over Alex, we would naturally develop the core features and intuitive experience that our other personas, John and Robert, were already looking for.
This allowed us to frame our challenge with three targeted "How-Might-We" questions:
HMW make saving for a future goal feel as satisfying as an immediate reward for Alex?
HMW provide financial guidance to Alex in a way that is as simple and accessible as browsing social media?
HMW help Alex feel a sense of control and security as he builds his emergency fund?
design principle
To ensure our solution directly addressed our research insights, we established three core design principles:
Attractive
To combat the "YOLO" mindset and low motivation, the experience must be fun, rewarding, and gamified to encourage continuous saving.
Emergency-Ready
To provide the psychological safety users crave, the product must offer a fast, simple, and transparent way to access funds in a crisis.
Boundless
The solution offering customised advice and product recommendations that adapt to unique financial situations.
ideation: user flow
Armed with our research insights, our goal was to design a logical and frictionless product experience. We mapped out the three most critical user flows that define the product's value proposition from the user's perspective
New User Onboarding
The crucial first-time experience, turning a curious visitor into an active user.
Daily Engagement Loop
The habit-forming mechanic that encourages consistent saving.
Redeeming a Reward
Closing the loop from saving to tangible benefit, reinforcing the product's value.
Flow 1: New User Acquisition & Onboarding
This flow is the most critical for growth. It outlines the journey of a brand-new user, from initial discovery on social media to making their first deposit.
Flow 2: The Daily Engagement Loop
This flow is designed to build a daily habit and foster financial literacy in a light, rewarding way. It creates a low-effort, high-value reason for users to return to the app every day.
Flow 3: Redeeming the Emergency Fund
This flow is intentionally designed with "purposeful friction." The goal is to make the process clear and secure, while also encouraging users to pause and reflect before withdrawing from their safety net.
Adhering to the Existing Design System
To ensure brand consistency and a seamless user experience, this design closely adhered to the existing BEA app design guidelines, including its typography, font selection, and button styles. My contribution was expanding upon these guidelines to design new components, such as the "Financial Dashboard" and "Gamification Progress Cards," ensuring that new features seamlessly integrated into the existing product ecosystem.
Existing UI
Our Design
the solution
Our solution, Tangible+, is a conceptual feature designed to live within the BEA app. It transforms the abstract concept of "saving" into a tangible, rewarding, and gamified journey. It directly addresses our "How-Might-We" questions by focusing on three core experiences:
Start with Identity, Not Numbers
Instead of asking 'How much?', we start with 'Who are you?'. Our Financial Personality Test replaces cold numerical goals with a relatable identity. This makes saving feel personal and achievable from the first screen, tackling the core problem of user motivation head-on.
Build Daily Habits, Not Monthly Statements
Traditional saving offers feedback monthly—too slow to build a habit. Our Daily Engagement Loop delivers a micro-dose of achievement every day through gamified questions. This transforms saving from a passive chore into an active, rewarding daily habit.
Emergency Withdrawal
The true test of a safety net is its reliability in an emergency. We designed the withdrawal flow to be as frictionless to ensure straightforward access. The process is transparent and simple, building trust by delivering on the core promise of the product: your money is secure and available the moment you need it.
From Concept to Showcase
We presented our final, end-to-end solution at the Design Showcase section. Our booth consolidated the entire design process, from user personas and journey maps to the final interactive prototype, demonstrating the strategic thinking behind our solution.
Reflection & Future Outlook
This project was a valuable exercise in translating user anxiety into a tangible, positive product concept. It reinforced the importance of grounding design decisions in both qualitative and quantitative data.
What I Learned
The Power of a "Lighthouse" Project: I learned that when faced with a legacy product full of issues, sometimes the most strategic approach isn't to fix everything at once. Proposing a single, high-value, self-contained feature can be a more effective way to change brand perception and prove the ROI of investing in a new user segment.
Bridging Strategy and UI: This project was a deep dive into connecting high-level business goals (increase youth engagement) and user research insights (desire for safety, financial literacy gap) directly to the final UI, from the gamified avatar to the wording on the buttons.
Constraints & Challenges
As a conceptual university project, we operated without access to BEA's internal analytics, technical infrastructure, or compliance limitations. This gave us creative freedom but also meant we had to make informed assumptions about technical feasibility and the true cost of implementation. If I had more time, I will:
Test the "Friction" of the Emergency Withdrawal: I would run usability tests specifically on the "Break Glass" feature. My hypothesis is that this moment of "positive friction" would encourage responsible use, but I would need to validate that it doesn't cause undue stress or frustration in a real emergency scenario.
Develop the "Smart Refill" Flow: I would design the user flow for how a user replenishes their emergency fund after a withdrawal, exploring automated options and gentle nudges to get them back on track.
overview
In late 2023, as part of a cooperative project, my team partnered with The Bank of East Asia (BEA) to tackle a key business challenge: their struggle to connect with and engage young, tech-savvy professionals. The goal was to conceptual an innovative digital product that would not only attract this demographic but also increase their usage of the bank's services. This case study documents the journey of creating BEA GOAL Tangible+, a conceptual feature designed to make saving accessible, engaging, and rewarding for a new generation of bank customers.
TEAM
2 Product Designer
MY ROLE
Product Designer (User Research, Ideation, User Journey, User Flow, Wireframe, User Interface, and Interactive Prototype)
TIMELINE
3 months (2023)
RESULT
Led to a new commercial engagement to redesign the bank's core e-banking UI.
The concept was highly commended by BEA leadership for providing a clear, strategic solution
what was the problem
Despite being a cornerstone of Hong Kong's banking sector, The Bank of East Asia (BEA) was facing a critical disconnect. Their traditional brand image wasn't resonating with the city's young, tech-savvy professionals; this key demographic made up less than 10% of their active user base.
So our mission was to design an innovative financial product that could bridge this gap: Not only to attract and retain young professional, but also to create a genuinely engaging experience on BEA's digital platforms that would build long-term value by aligning with their modern lifestyle and values.
our Approach: Discover, Define, Design
We adopted a mixed-method approach to ensure our solution was grounded in real user needs and a clear market opportunity.
discovery & research
Our initial research phase combined an internal look at BEA's product with an external scan of the market.
The Inward Look: Foundational Cracks in the Core Experience
A heuristic evaluation of the existing BEA app, supported by public user reviews, revealed three critical areas of user frustration that were eroding trust:
1. Authentication & Login: Users reported frequent, frustrating lockouts and unintuitive password reset flows, sometimes requiring a visit to a physical branch—a major barrier for a digital-native audience.
2. App Instability: Widespread reports of crashes and connection errors created a perception of an unreliable and unprofessional platform.
3. Unintuitive Navigation: Key features were difficult to locate, leading to a confusing and inefficient user experience.
User Review from Google Play
The Outward Look: Identifying a Market Gap
To identify a unique and valuable position in the market, we analyzed the strategies of key players targeting young professionals in Hong Kong. Our goal was to understand not just what they offered, but how they engaged their audience, in order to find a gap we could own.
Understanding the "Why"
To move beyond assumptions, we adopted a mixed-method research approach to build a deep understanding of our target audience (18-32 year olds). Our process included:
Quantitative Analysis
An online questionnaire distributed to over 60 young professionals to identify broad trends and statistical patterns.And a personality questionnaire which received 200+ responses
Qualitative Analysis
A series of 8 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to uncover the stories, motivations, and anxieties behind the numbers.
Key Research Insights
Our research converged on three actionable insights that became the foundation of our design strategy.
#Insight 1
Savings Need a Purpose, Not Just a Promise
40% embrace a "YOLO" lifestyle. Abstract goals like "retirement" feel too distant.
"If I have no specific goal, I rarely save money intentionally."
#Insight 2
A Significant Financial Literacy Gap Exists
1 out of 4 respondents had received any formal financial education.
"No one taught me that. I don't even know where to start"
#Insight 3
"Safety" is a Powerful Motivator
52% of respondants cited "saving money to prevent an emergency" as a primary financial goal, a much stronger driver than long-term wealth..
These truths painted a clear picture: young people lack financial guidance, leading them to chase short-term gratification. However, their deepest, most immediate desire is for a financial safety net. This led us to our Glaring Market Opportunity:
"While competitors offered complex investment products, no one was providing a simple, engaging tool to help young people build their very first emergency fund."
From Insights to Strategy
We found young people were anxious about money but unmotivated by traditional banking, so our challenge was clear: How do we make saving feel personal and engaging, not a chore?
Our 'Aha!' moment came from a key research insight: this demographic loves self-discovery tools like MBTI. We realized financial habits are deeply tied to personality.
This became our strategic pivot: Instead of just telling them what to do, we could first help them understand who they are financially. This insight led directly to our 'Financial Personality Test' and the core personas that followed.
Faced with three distinct user groups, our first critical decision was to define our strategic starting point.
We chose to build our foundation around solving for Alex (The Indifferent Spender).
Our strategy was not to exclude the others, but to start with the hardest challenge. We believed that by creating a product engaging and simple enough to win over Alex, we would naturally develop the core features and intuitive experience that our other personas, John and Robert, were already looking for.
This allowed us to frame our challenge with three targeted "How-Might-We" questions:
HMW make saving for a future goal feel as satisfying as an immediate reward for Alex?
HMW provide financial guidance to Alex in a way that is as simple and accessible as browsing social media?
HMW help Alex feel a sense of control and security as he builds his emergency fund?
design principle
To ensure our solution directly addressed our research insights, we established three core design principles:
Attractive
To combat the "YOLO" mindset and low motivation, the experience must be fun, rewarding, and gamified to encourage continuous saving.
Emergency-Ready
To provide the psychological safety users crave, the product must offer a fast, simple, and transparent way to access funds in a crisis.
Boundless
The solution offering customised advice and product recommendations that adapt to unique financial situations.
ideation: user flow
Armed with our research insights, our goal was to design a logical and frictionless product experience. We mapped out the three most critical user flows that define the product's value proposition from the user's perspective
New User Onboarding
The crucial first-time experience, turning a curious visitor into an active user.
Daily Engagement Loop
The habit-forming mechanic that encourages consistent saving.
Redeeming a Reward
Closing the loop from saving to tangible benefit, reinforcing the product's value.
Flow 1: New User Acquisition & Onboarding
This flow is the most critical for growth. It outlines the journey of a brand-new user, from initial discovery on social media to making their first deposit.
Flow 2: The Daily Engagement Loop
This flow is designed to build a daily habit and foster financial literacy in a light, rewarding way. It creates a low-effort, high-value reason for users to return to the app every day.
Flow 3: Redeeming the Emergency Fund
This flow is intentionally designed with "purposeful friction." The goal is to make the process clear and secure, while also encouraging users to pause and reflect before withdrawing from their safety net.
Adhering to the Existing Design System
To ensure brand consistency and a seamless user experience, this design closely adhered to the existing BEA app design guidelines, including its typography, font selection, and button styles. My contribution was expanding upon these guidelines to design new components, such as the "Financial Dashboard" and "Gamification Progress Cards," ensuring that new features seamlessly integrated into the existing product ecosystem.
Existing UI
Our Design
the solution
Our solution, Tangible+, is a conceptual feature designed to live within the BEA app. It transforms the abstract concept of "saving" into a tangible, rewarding, and gamified journey. It directly addresses our "How-Might-We" questions by focusing on three core experiences:
Start with Identity, Not Numbers
Instead of asking 'How much?', we start with 'Who are you?'. Our Financial Personality Test replaces cold numerical goals with a relatable identity. This makes saving feel personal and achievable from the first screen, tackling the core problem of user motivation head-on.
Build Daily Habits, Not Monthly Statements
Traditional saving offers feedback monthly—too slow to build a habit. Our Daily Engagement Loop delivers a micro-dose of achievement every day through gamified questions. This transforms saving from a passive chore into an active, rewarding daily habit.
Emergency Withdrawal
The true test of a safety net is its reliability in an emergency. We designed the withdrawal flow to be as frictionless to ensure straightforward access. The process is transparent and simple, building trust by delivering on the core promise of the product: your money is secure and available the moment you need it.
From Concept to Showcase
We presented our final, end-to-end solution at the Design Showcase section. Our booth consolidated the entire design process, from user personas and journey maps to the final interactive prototype, demonstrating the strategic thinking behind our solution.
Reflection & Future Outlook
This project was a valuable exercise in translating user anxiety into a tangible, positive product concept. It reinforced the importance of grounding design decisions in both qualitative and quantitative data.
What I Learned
The Power of a "Lighthouse" Project: I learned that when faced with a legacy product full of issues, sometimes the most strategic approach isn't to fix everything at once. Proposing a single, high-value, self-contained feature can be a more effective way to change brand perception and prove the ROI of investing in a new user segment.
Bridging Strategy and UI: This project was a deep dive into connecting high-level business goals (increase youth engagement) and user research insights (desire for safety, financial literacy gap) directly to the final UI, from the gamified avatar to the wording on the buttons.
Constraints & Challenges
As a conceptual university project, we operated without access to BEA's internal analytics, technical infrastructure, or compliance limitations. This gave us creative freedom but also meant we had to make informed assumptions about technical feasibility and the true cost of implementation. If I had more time, I will:
Test the "Friction" of the Emergency Withdrawal: I would run usability tests specifically on the "Break Glass" feature. My hypothesis is that this moment of "positive friction" would encourage responsible use, but I would need to validate that it doesn't cause undue stress or frustration in a real emergency scenario.
Develop the "Smart Refill" Flow: I would design the user flow for how a user replenishes their emergency fund after a withdrawal, exploring automated options and gentle nudges to get them back on track.