Provider UX Strengths UX Weaknesses High Street Banks Trust, comprehensive offerings Complex applications, slow decisioning Neobanks Mobile-first, simple interfaces Limited lending products, eligibility concerns Alternative Lenders Speed, simple criteria Higher rates, limited integration with banking Specialist Fintech Integration with accounting software Fragmented experience, separate from banking

This analysis revealed an opportunity to position our product between traditional banks (which offer security but lack speed) and alternative lenders (which offer convenience but at higher costs).

💡 POC Strategy: Learning Before Building

For the POC, I focused on creating a low-friction way to "register interest"—giving businesses a chance to explore overdrafts without the immediate pressure of applying.

🛠️ The Approach

I designed the POC as a strategic learning exercise with two key customer touchpoints:

1. 🖥️ Digital Touchpoints:

• A product page widget inside the BRA account

• A standalone landing page built in HubSpot (for speed and flexibility)

2. 📣 "Express Interest" CTAs designed to:

• Build a waitlist of interested customers

• Provide preliminary eligibility screening

• A/B test different messaging approaches

3. 📈 Key Features:

• ✔️ Eligibility → Clear pre-qualification criteria upfront

• 💰 Pricing & Fees → Interactive fee calculator to eliminate ambiguity

• 🔄 Ease of Use → Simple "Register Interest" CTA, reducing first-step friction
  

📊 Measuring Success

We established analytics tracking for:

• Click-through rates (over (N)% on the dashboard widget)

• Drop-off points on eligibility questions

• Conversion rates to sign-up

• Language effectiveness (e.g., "Get flexible credit" outperformed "Apply for an overdraft" by (N)%)

The POC ran for (N) weeks with visibility to (N) randomly selected BRA customers. Results were compelling:

• 🚀 (N)% of visitors to the landing page registered interest—a strong signal of demand

• 🚀 (N)% of sign-ups came directly from the newsletter—validating education-first messaging

• 🚀 Users who engaged with the overdraft calculator were (N)x more likely to register interest—proving transparency drove confidence
  

🎯 The Central Design Challenge: Diverse Customer Capabilities

As we moved into Phase 1, we faced a critical challenge: SMEs needed to provide high-quality financial data, but our target customers had vastly different technical capabilities and comfort levels.

Some used accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks. Others relied on spreadsheets. Many were hesitant to connect their bank accounts digitally. Yet the Credit team needed structured data, Risk required consistency, and Product wanted a digital-first experience.

We stood at a crossroads: force one path and risk drop-off, or offer flexibility and accept implementation complexity?

🧭 My Decision Framework

To resolve this ambiguity, I followed a three-pronged decision model:

1. 👥 User Evidence – What were users telling us, directly and indirectly?

2. 📊 Business Risk & Value – What were the implications of missed opportunities vs. bad debt?

3. 🔄 Future Scalability – What decision would allow evolution without creating UX debt?
   

🛠️ The Solution: Progressive Integration

I designed for progressive integration—giving users control through multiple data submission paths:

1. ✅ Primary Path: Connect Open Banking or accounting software

2. ✅ Secondary Path: Upload financial documents manually

3. ✅ Tertiary Path: "Remind Me Later" with notification follow-up

This approach:

• Reduced immediate drop-off by not overwhelming users with mandatory tech steps

• Served digitally hesitant users while still validating demand

• Captured enough structured data to build our internal model incrementally

• Set a precedent for intelligent defaults and fallback UX patterns
  

🚩 Identifying & Resolving Friction Points

Spotting Critical Friction: The Accounting Connection

During Phase 2 testing, I noticed a significant friction point through behavioral analytics:

• Users were stalling for (N) minutes on the accounting software connection step

• Session recordings showed hesitation, repeated cursor movements, and exits

Through interviews with RMs and users, I discovered the issue wasn't technical—it was emotional and trust-based. Users weren't sure:

• Why we needed access to their accounting software

• What specific data would be pulled

• Whether access was temporary or permanent

• What benefit they would get from connecting
  

🛠️ Resolving the Friction

I redesigned the integration moment around clarity, reassurance, and control:

1. 💬 "Why We Ask" Context Card A collapsible explainer panel using plain language: "We'll use this to review your cash flow and approve your overdraft faster—no manual uploads needed."

2. 👁️ Visual Data Preview An infographic-style snapshot showing examples of data fields we'd access—like turnover, expenses, and net income

3. 🔒 Security & Privacy Label A trust signal below the CTA: "We only use read-only access. You can revoke permissions at any time."

4. 📤 Fallback Path with Manual Upload For those still uncomfortable, a gentle fallback to upload financial statements manually
   

📈 The Impact

These changes delivered measurable improvements:

• Integration success rates improved by (N)% in the second pilot wave

• We saw a (N)% reduction in drop-off at the accounting connection step

• RMs reported fewer handover questions and support escalations

• User feedback validated the approach: "I appreciated that it didn't feel like a black box. It told me why, and that made me feel in control."

🧪 Testing & Iterating Through The Pilot

🚀 Phase 1: Closed Pilot Structure

Phase 1 was structured as a closed pilot with (N) customers, split into two iterations:

• V1: (N) customers in the first iteration (manual onboarding, no open banking)

• V2: (N) customers in the second iteration (with open banking integrations)

I established clear instrumentation for every design element:

• CTA clicks and engagement

• Form completion and drop-off points

• Integration success rates

• Time spent on each step
  

📊 Data-Driven Improvements

The data directly shaped our design iterations:

🔄 Example 1: Application Abandonment Patterns

• Observation: Applications taking >(N) minutes had higher abandonment for integrating accounts

• Solution: Broke journey into smaller steps with progress indicators and save functionality

• Result: Completion rates improved by approximately (N)% between V1 and V2

🔄 Example 2: Document Upload Confusion (Phase 3)

• Observation: High drop-off during manual document uploads

• Research: Users were uncertain which documents were acceptable

• Solution: Added document type examples, file size guidelines, and upload status indicators, Leveraging AI to guide users for document uploads
  

🧩 Key Design Components

1. 📱 Progressive Disclosure of Requirements

Rather than overwhelming users with all requirements upfront, I implemented progressive disclosure:

• Step-by-step guidance through the application process

• Clear progress indicators showing completion status

• Just-in-time information about upcoming steps

UX Trade-offs:

• Multi-step approach vs. single comprehensive form

• Information density vs. clarity

• Guidance level based on user progress and behavior
  

2. 🔍 Transparent Eligibility Framework

I created an eligibility framework that:

• Set clear expectations about qualification criteria

• Provided real-time feedback on application strength

• Explained the reasoning behind declined applications

Design Challenges:

• Translating complex credit policies into understandable UI

• Balancing transparency with commercial sensitivity

• Creating patterns that worked for both approvals and rejections

3. 🧠 Adaptive Form Intelligence (scoped for later)

The application adapted to user input and behavior:

• Prefilled known information from existing accounts

• Simplified questions based on previous answers

• Adjusted validation rules based on business type

Implementation Considerations:

• Technical limitations of form state management

• Graceful handling of edge cases

• Appropriate use of defaults vs. explicit selections
  

🎨 Design System & Pattern Library

🧩 Extending the company's Design Language

I extended the company’s existing design system to accommodate new patterns needed for lending:

1. 🧱 New Component Development

• Multi-step form containers

• Financial connection interfaces

• Document upload components with verification states

• Eligibility visualization elements

2. 🔄 System Integration

• Maintained consistency with core banking experience

• Created contextual entry points from existing interfaces

• Established transition patterns between banking and lending

3. 📚 Documentation & Scalability

• Created component specifications for development

• Documented usage guidelines for future products

• Established reusable patterns for subsequent lending products
  

📈 Results & Impact

📊 Measurable Outcomes

The data-driven approach delivered clear results:

• (N)% of users in V2 successfully completed onboarding

• (N)% faster application completion compared to V1

• Over (N)% utilization of overdraft limits—proving product-market fit

• Significant reduction in support tickets and RM escalations

💼 Business Impact

Beyond metrics, the design work:

• Established a foundation for the company’s lending strategy

• Created reusable patterns for future credit products

• Built customer trust through transparent, user-centered experiences

• Positioned compamncompetitively in the SME lending space
  

💭 Reflections & Learnings

🌟 Key Design Principles

This project reinforced several core principles that continue to guide my work:

1. 📊 Data should drive design from day one Starting with user and business data—before wireframing—ensures solutions are grounded in reality.

2. 🔄 Design for adaptability, not just current state Creating flexible systems that can evolve is more valuable than optimizing for a single use case.

3. ⚖️ Balance is better than perfection Finding the optimal balance between competing needs often delivers better outcomes than pursuing perfection in any single dimension.

4. 🔍 Progressive disclosure builds confidence Breaking complex processes into digestible steps with clear guidance helps users navigate complexity.

5. 🛣️ Always provide a path forward No matter what situation a user encounters, they should always have a clear next step.

🎭 Personal reflection

As a senior designer, my responsibility extended beyond creating screens to:

• Translating between business, technical, and user needs

• Making strategic decisions based on incomplete information

• Designing for both immediate implementation and future evolution

• Creating systems and patterns, not just isolated interfaces
  

🏁 Conclusion

The Business Overdraft project wasn't just about introducing a product—it was about changing the perception of SME lending. By starting with data, designing for flexibility, and iterating based on real-world usage, we created a product that delivered value to both users and the business.

By running a data-driven, user-first POC, we were able to:

• ✅ Validate real demand before committing to a full-scale launch

• ✅ Refine the experience based on actual user behavior

• ✅ Prove that trust and transparency are the real differentiators in SME lending

The true success wasn't just in the metrics achieved, but in establishing design patterns and principles that continue to shape the company’s product ecosystem. This project showcases the strategic impact of user-centered design when applied to complex business challenges—creating experiences that balance user needs, business objectives, and technical realities.