Transforming digital banking touchpoints through homepage redesign and inclusive AI-powered chatbot for 1M+ customers
Role
AI Product Lifecycle, User Experience Design, Design System, Accessibility, iOS/Android App, Prototyping, Workshop Facilitation
Client & Sector
Hello Bank
Banking
Team
1 Product Designer, 3 UX/UI Designers, 1 UI Designer, 1 Design System Master, 5 Product Managers
Duration
8 Months
Overview
The Context
As the fully digital bank of BNP Paribas, Hello Bank's interface is its primary customer touchpoint. My role was to lead two strategic initiatives that would reshape how customers interact with the platform. Working at the intersection of emerging AI capabilities and traditional banking services presented unique opportunities to rethink customer support and navigation while maintaining the reliability and clarity users expect from their financial institution.
20
Seconds was required for the chatbot to generate an answer
250K+
Clients' base for the POV of the AI-generated chatbot
1M+
Customers across all platforms
The Challenges
The dual focus on homepage redesign and AI chatbot implementation presented interconnected challenges that required thoughtful, research-based solutions: redesigning the homepage experience and implementing an AI-automated chatbot across both mobile app and web.
First Challenge:
Implementing A Reliable AI-Automated Chatbot
Introducing artificial intelligence in a trust-dependent context required care since financial services demand accuracy, security and reliability. As AI was evolving fast, the team previously in charge of the chatbot encountered numerous obstacles, mostly technical. The generative AI wasn't efficient enough to bring an experience that felt helpful without sacrificing the dependability users expect when asking a question to the customer service.
The Problem
How might we reduce the chatbot reply time by 67% while ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the assistance service?
Approach & Solutions:
UX Writing Solutions That Bring Confidence
Rather than overselling AI capabilities, I set realistic expectations about what the chatbot could help with versus what required human assistance. Formerly, the technology behind the AI-generated chatbot wasn't on par with the stakeholder vision, due to the weight of legacy systems, the absence of tone of voice in the brand identity, and legal and compliance obligations. To offer an alternative design that'll ultimately lead towards an optimised experience, I crafted language that would build trust. In this restricted context, I chose to build the chatbot character's identity through tone of voice and micro-animations.
Approach & Solutions:
Accessibility-First Design Culture
I led a shift toward accessibility and inclusivity as core design values rather than afterthoughts. I ensured the deliverables were WCAG 2.1 compliant and building empathy through the entire design process. For both projects, this involved designing for users who might interact via screen readers, keyboard navigation, or voice commands.
Second Challenge:
Redesigning The App Homepage
The existing homepage was originally built for quick account checks. A modernisation was needed to serve diverse user needs such as complex financial transactions and bring customers' engagement. While Hello Bank's clients are mainly tech-savvy, the homepage had to remain intuitive to users less comfortable with digital banking.
Approach & Solutions:
User-centric Methodology
The design team was mainly focused on UI craft and design system. As my aim was to bring a methodology oriented towards users' insights, I led extensive research initiatives from competitors analysis to collaborative workshops, including data analysis from app store reviews. By including stakeholders, designers, product managers in the process, I could show the benefits of data-backed design.
The Problems
How might we design a homepage that serves both day-to-day tasks and occasional complex transaction?
How might we maintain cross-platform consistency in the homepage experience while leveraging each platform's unique strength?
How might we provide the right information at the right time while keeping everything else easily discoverable?
Approach & Solutions:
Collaborative Workshops
During the workshops, How Might We sessions helped reframe challenges as opportunities and Round Robin brought perspectives to solution generation, among designers and product managers. The goal was to align the stakeholders through collaborative workshops: through card-sorting sessions, we brainstormed on the information architecture, the skeleton used for the co-sketching of the homepage.
Approach & Solutions:
Design Language System Evolution
I enriched Hello Bank's Design Language System through systematic components improvements and comprehensive documentation. As I designed wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes for desktop, responsive web, and mobile applications, I ensured the new homepage elements and chatbot interfaces could be implemented consistently and efficiently across platforms.
Conclusion
By starting with deep user research rather than stakeholders assumptions, we aimed to create a homepage that balanced quick access for frequent tasks with discoverability for occasional needs. The AI-generated chatbot presented the most complex challenge: Designing for a technology that's still evolving. The key was treating AI as a capability, not a feature, and to use it to enhance support rather than replace human agents. Most significantly, championing accessibility and WCAG 2.1 compliance from the start rather than as a late-stage requirement transformed how the company thought about inclusive design. Leading these strategic initiatives at Hello Bank demonstrated that the most impactful design work happens at the intersection of deep user empathy, business acumen, and technical collaboration.