Please note:
Due to the sensitive nature of information and NDA clauses, client identities have been anonymised in my case studies.
Case Study shortened on mobile
Designing a Sub-Brand for a Savings-Led Bank
About the project
A financial services provider sought to launch a savings-led banking sub-brand with a strong focus on financial wellness. The goal was to establish a digital-first platform distinct from the parent company, offering seamless transactional banking rooted in a money market fund.
A financial services group aimed to launch a savings-focused banking platform as a standalone sub-brand. This digital product would offer money market savings tools and transactional banking features. The goal was to build a post-login experience from scratch and support a distinct brand identity — one that aligned with financial wellness and simplicity.
My role
Product Designer — UX Research, UI Design
As the only Product Designer on the team, I led the post-login journey design. My responsibilities included UX research, IA planning, stakeholder collaboration, wireframing, and working closely with marketing and agency partners to ensure the brand experience could scale to digital.
Process Overview
This project was fast-paced, with a short 3-month timeline and a rapidly evolving brand. My process focused on delivering usable, tested outcomes in a tight timeframe.
Discovery & Competitive Benchmarking:
Discovery & Planning
I kicked off with a light discovery sprint focused on understanding user needs, business goals, and competitor positioning. The objective was to define what made this sub-brand unique, and how we could design an experience that felt both familiar and new.
Conducted a short discovery sprint, including competitor analysis and definition of business goals.
Current-State Mapping
Current-State Audit
I analysed the existing experience to identify what worked and what didn’t. The challenge was to extract core functionality while letting go of legacy structures that didn’t support the sub-brand’s goals.
Mapped the existing post-login experience to understand friction points and areas for improvement.
Proposed IA for a New Product Line
IA Development
I developed a new Information Architecture (IA 2.0) based on the features, account structures, and savings tools we wanted to support. The IA focused on clarity and discoverability, reducing friction and aligning with the brand’s “simple, helpful, empowering” ethos.
Created a 2.0 Information Architecture aligned with a standalone sub-brand identity.
Wireframes & Stakeholder Walkthroughs
Wireframing & Prototyping
Once the IA was approved, I built wireframes to communicate layout, hierarchy, and navigation. Multiple homepage options were explored to illustrate how product entry points and promotions could vary depending on the user’s financial goals.
Designed key journeys including dashboards and homepage options to bring the new IA to life.
Working with a Marketing CI Team
Brand Integration
One of the biggest friction points came from integrating the new corporate identity (CI) into a functional product design. The ad agency had created a CI geared toward print and marketing, which didn’t scale well for responsive digital. I had to educate stakeholders on the difference between brand expression and usable interface design.
Worked closely with an ad agency to reconcile brand visuals with usability best practices.
Pre Login
Post Login
Desktop-First Hurdles
Unfortunately, the client insisted on a desktop-first approach, which created difficulties when adapting screens to mobile. This went against user behaviour trends and created long-term responsiveness issues.
Outcome
Challenges
Despite some friction and a tight timeline, the project resulted in a foundational user journey and IA for the sub-brand’s transactional platform. It also highlighted critical gaps in the brand’s design readiness, which led to deeper conversations about digital brand systems.
CI developed by the agency was campaign-oriented and not optimized for digital products, causing friction in responsive design.
Stakeholders prioritized desktop-first design, creating downstream issues for responsiveness.
Key Takeaways
- Branding for digital is a different discipline. Educating stakeholders on why UX and brand need to co-exist — but not clash — was a vital part of my role.
- Short projects still need structure. Even in a 3-month sprint, starting with solid discovery and IA pays dividends downstream.
- Don’t underestimate responsiveness. Desktop-first thinking in a mobile-first world can unravel your UI strategy fast.
Bridging the gap between marketing and product design requires clear education and collaborative alignment.
Even under tight timelines, a structured UX approach builds a foundation for scalable growth.