Protected Page
INCORRECT PASSWORD. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.
AIB
Redesign Banking App
Allied Irish Bank (AIB), was under pressure from mobile-first challengers like Revolut and Monzo. The goal was to modernize an outdated mobile experience and define a 'Mobile 4.0' vision to attract younger users and secure Board buy-in. As a Product Designer, I collaborated with Globant's design team and 3D motion specialists, facilitating user research to define feature sets, and executed scenario-based prototyping and high-fidelity UI design for board presentation.
As a result, We translated complex banking logic into a 2-minute narrative vision reel showcasing a personalized, digital-first experience. The project successfully secured Board buy-in, established the bank's "North Star" design principles, and provided the foundational UI library for AIB's internal development roadmap.
Legacy banking app losing ground to mobile-first challengers
Allied Irish Bank (AIB) is one of Ireland's largest financial institutions, serving millions of customers. Its mobile app is a critical tool for daily life, with over 1 million downloads on Google Play.
Despite its large user base, AIB faced a major threat from mobile-first challengers like Starling Bank, Revolut and Monzo. While these new players offered seamless digital experiences, AIB's app was stuck in a "Mobile 2.0" state feeling traditional, complex, and outdated for a new generation of users.
To bridge the gap, AIB launched the Mobile 4.0 project to redefine its digital future in 2024. The goal was to deliver a next-gen user experience that not only met but exceeded customer expectations.
To tackle this transformation, AIB partnered with Globant and Bejo (our team). We were engaged to build and iterate scenario-based prototypes to define and visualise the desired Mobile 4.0 MVE, and to create a motion-led vision asset that secured senior stakeholder buy-in.
A research-informed, scenario-led design process
I joined the project after the initial research phase and focused on translating existing insights into scenario-based concepts and prototypes. The process used progressive prototyping to explore, validate, and articulate the Mobile 4.0 experience vision.
Review & Align
I joined the project after the initial strategic research was completed. While I was not part of the initial discovery team, my role was to ensure the design phase was built on a rock-solid foundation of evidence rather than assumptions.
My first weeks were dedicated to a deep-dive 'absorption'. I reviewed and synthesized the Customer Research, Competitor Audit, As-Is' Tech Landscape, Universal Journey Framework.
Customer Insights
Based on studies from branches, call centres, and online surveys, many users surfaced recurring frustrations around functional limitations and poor experience quality across the app.
Mapping AIB's Current Experience
By reviewing the current app flows alongside customer insights, I gained better undestanding on key pain points and uncovered opportunities to improve task efficiency, and trust across core payment journeys.
Annotated audit of AIB's current app flows
Competitors Analysis
A focused comparison of top challenger banks, examining features, flows, and visual systems that shape today's best-in-class user experiences.
Benchmarking of top challenger banks
Universal Journey Framework & Key CX Opportunity Areas
Based on discovery insights, the team identified key customer pain points and critical experience gaps: lack of real-time visibility into spending, difficulty understanding where money goes, and limited tools to proactively manage daily finances.
Grounded in AIB's Universal Journey Framework, the team strategically narrowed the CX Opportunity to 2 core experience stages: Everyday Money and Life Finances. This focus enabled the team to directly address the most immediate financial stressors while laying a scalable foundation for future financial wellbeing.
Prioritized opportunity areas within AIB's customer journey, focusing on Everyday Money and Life Finances
Conceptualise
Based on discovery outputs and strategic CX opportunities, the team went through ideation workshops and defined five persona-led scenarios to anchor the "To-Be" vision in real-world user needs. These scenarios were later mapped into detailed user journeys and translated into wireframe prototypes to explore key interactions.
Scenario Design
5 scenarios were crafted to represent key experience stages aligned with the Universal Journey Framework. Each scenario was anchored in a specific persona and real-life context, designed to cover multiple experience objectives through a focused narrative.
I was responsible for one scenario focused on budgeting and saving. This scenario follows Sarah, as she manages an unexpected €250 bill by using categorization tools to regain control and automate a new "Rainy Day" savings pot. It aims to validate the synergy between Spend, Control, and Save objectives, demonstrating how proactive insights can transform daily spending habits into long-term financial security.
Translating Narrative into Functional Flows and Wireframes
We held a collaborative mapping session to break down the narrative into specific behavioral steps and functional UI touchpoints.
Behavioral Breakdown: First, Sarah's "Unexpected Cost" story was deconstructed into granular Behavioral Blocks, identifying exactly what she thinks and does at each stage of the crisis.
Touchpoint Mapping: These behaviors were then mapped to specific UI Touchpoints to ensure the app's logic directly responded to her evolving financial intent.
Example of scenario flow mapping: Scenario 1 – Unexpected Cost
Wireframe Prototyping: I translated the functional breakdown into low-fidelity mobile wireframes. These screens visualize Sarah's full journey from resolving an unexpected expense to setting up smart spending limits and savings pots. The prototypes were designed to validate the behavioral flow and serve as research stimuli for testing user reactions and uncovering usability gaps.
Example of wireframe prototyping: Scenario 1 – Unexpected Cost
Example of mapping wireframe prototyping and flow: Scenario 1 – Unexpected Cost
Validation
To evaluate early concepts, assumptions and surface behavioral insights, we conducted in-depth scenario-based user interviews with over 40 participants across diverse financial situations.
Scenario-based user interviews
To support the interviews, I designed and built the scenario flow using custom wireframes that I created with another UX designer — mapping each step closely with the researchers to ensure alignment with key testing objectives.
Example of scenario building: Scenario 1 – Unexpected Cost
Each scenario was structured as a narrative journey composed of multiple slides. During interviews, the facilitator guided participants through the flow step by step, sharing screens and asking targeted probing questions along the way.
Example of scenario walkthrough used in interviews: Scenario 1 – Unexpected Cost
Iteration
Based on the qualitative insights from the interviews, including feedback on feature value, emotional and behavioral responses, and overall logic, we made a new round of iterations across all five scenarios.
All scenarios were updated into mid-fidelity wireframes to serve as clear visualization and communication tools for cross-functional teams.
Mid-fidelity wireframes of all five scenarios
MVE Definition
The target experience scenarios and prototypes helped the product team uncover the true value of key concepts like PFM tools, P2P payments, saving spaces, and youth account. This also informed the MVE backlog, allowing the team to prioritize, scope, and roadmap the most critical functionalities for the first phase.
Articulate
To bring the vision to life, we also translated the five validated user scenarios into a cohesive 2-minute motion sequence, designed to communicate the next generation of AIB's mobile banking experience as envisioned by the Globant team.
Hi-fi Design
Alongside Globant's design team, we helped elevate the existing UI by integrating the latest insights gathered from the scenario-based interviews and validation sessions.
High-fidelity UI screens showcasing the redesigned AIB mobile banking experience across key journeys
Design & Animation Collaboration
To bring screens to life, we collaborated closely with the motion team and producer.
Motion design directions illustrating launch animation and scroll interactions across the AIB app?s key UI states
Results
We successfully delivered a 2-minute storytelling motion featurette that brought the future vision of AIB?s mobile banking experience to life.
The outcome:
- Gained alignment and buy-in from senior leadership and the board
- Provided a shared north star for internal teams across product, design, and tech
- Accelerated implementation by handing over interaction references and motion principles directly into development stream
Around Systems
Open to next role Have a nice project?
Hi, my name is . You can answer me on this email . I am looking for help with a .
Scan on another device
