Who’s reading?
Pick one and the page folds to what matters to you. Skip it to read everything.
Context
The app worked, but it was hard to use.
Navigation was confusing. Key details were missing when people needed them. And the flows didn’t match Google Pay or Paytm, the apps customers used every day.
The bank had no brief, just a feeling that the app wasn’t good enough.
- What I did
- Payments, login and the design system, as one of five designers working with BCG.
- How long
- Twelve months, from one test flow to fourteen journeys.
The problem
Before giving us the app, the bank tested us on one flow.
The flow was adding money. People use it every day, so it was a fair test. If we got it wrong, there wouldn’t be a second flow.
The goal
Make moving money feel familiar and safe, and earn the rest of the app.
Approach
When money moves, familiar feels safe.
I didn’t invent new patterns. I used the ones customers already trusted from Google Pay and Paytm, in the order they expected.
Part 1 · The test flow
Win one flow, and earn the rest.
01
Steps in the order people expect
People already knew how to pay in other apps. Our flow made them learn a new order.
Pick an account, enter an amount, confirm, enter your UPI PIN. Done.
02
Keep the promo out of the way
The bank wanted to advertise its savings rate inside the payment. That’s exactly when people need to focus.
Removing it wasn’t an option, so I argued to make it small. It shipped quiet, the first time the client went with my reasoning over theirs.
Part 2 · The rest of the app
Thirteen more journeys, and a system to hold them.
03
More than one way back in
A forgotten username, a new phone or a new SIM locked people out of their own account.
Four ways to verify: Customer ID, PAN, account number or debit card. The SIM check runs in the background. Set a PIN once, then use your fingerprint.
04
One set of parts for five designers
Five designers made ten versions of the same button.
We locked the shared components and wrote down the patterns. Builds and reviews got faster.
It helped with the client too. When they asked for “something different”, the system gave us a clear reason to say no, and a quick way to say yes when a change made sense.
Results
No launch numbers came back, but the work kept growing.
We handed over to the bank and BCG before launch data was in. Here’s what I can say.
1test flow
14journeys
- ScopeOnboarding, payments, savings, credit cards, mutual funds and spend tracking. Then NRI onboarding, and concept work BCG used to pitch the bank’s leadership.
- TrustEarly on, every screen got pushback. By the end, the client listened even when we disagreed.
- FeedbackInformal, but consistent: the new flows were working.
What I learned
What I’d keep doing.
- Trust comes from delivering.Good work on the test flow earned me the right to push back later.
- Pick the fights that matter.I couldn’t remove the promo, so I made it small.
- Build the system early.It sped up five designers and settled arguments with the client.