Making Banking Feel Effortless
When Banking Feels Overwhelming
Jen, a young professional always had intentions to better manage her finances and pay more attention to her spending but she was time poor so it never happened.
Jen used to dread opening her banking app. Cluttered dashboards, confusing charts, and buried menus made checking balances stressful. She rarely opened the app and as a result didn't feel on top of her finances.
That changed when she discovered Fleet. Key balances, recent transactions and insights were clear. No digging, no noise - just clarity. Plus, it offered suggestions of cutting expenses and finally she felt back in control.
Users like Jen need more than data and so the challenge was to simplify complex information, reduce cognitive load, maintain trust and offer proactive insights that guide smarter decisions.
Designing for Confidence
Traditional banks offered strong signals of trust but often suffered from overly complex interfaces. Challenger banks tended to feel more modern and engaging, but occasionally sacrificed clarity or credibility. This revealed an opportunity to combine the trust of traditional banks with the simplicity and personality of challenger platforms.
Learning from the Industry
The goal was to create a responsive banking experience that didn’t just display financial data in a clear way but actively helped users understand and improve their financial habits.
Changing Financial Habits
Green is often associated with wealth and blue with trust so a blend was created for the primary colour with similar hues acting as the accent and tertiary colours. The colours also give it a slick, modern look to appear less corporate.
Designing the Fleet Experience
Fleet means fast and nimble in movement, which implies the user experience will be efficient. This is also reflected in the brand logo which features chevrons to represent fast paced movement. The overall style offers a calm confidence and forward motion with playful elements seen through colour and curved shapes.
Fleet doesn’t just show transactions. It highlights spending patterns through an AI spend analyser, offering practical tips to help Jen save and guide her towards better habits. Animation has been used to highlight savings in a positive way, turning small financial wins into moments of encouragement and excitement, reinforcing Jen’s progress and making the experience of managing money feel rewarding rather than restrictive.
Smart Insights
The interface is designed to be responsive across all screens whilst maintaining a clean interface with spaced out content and lots of white space.
Responsive, Clean Design
Key information is prominent and data is clearly laid out and easy to follow.
Clear & Easy to Digest Data
Having quick access to recent payees makes transactions more efficient and seeing all direct debits means keeping on top of finances and ensuring you're constantly aware of outgoings.
Easy to Access Key Features
A few participants initially found some chart data slightly unclear. These insights informed refinements in the final iteration to improve readability and data interpretation. Also it was noted the three chevrons used for navigation didn't look like drop down arrows and that it was better to revert to a familiar arrow design instead.
Challenges & Iterations
On seeing the final screens, the participants from the survey described the designs as noticeably calmer and easier to navigate than the banking apps they use. The AI spend tracker received particularly positive feedback. Participants noted that it increased their sense of trust in the product, as it felt like the app was genuinely helping them improve their financial wellbeing rather than simply displaying information.
The Outcome
Overall Jen and all participants finally felt empowered and on top of their finances.