Bantu Payment Mobile App

Bantu is a British fintech startup. We helped them design a product that assists young adults with expense management. Throughout the design process, the team devised solutions based on user surveys, competitor analysis, and user tests to put social features first and differentiate the app in a crowded market segment.

The Case

Bantu is a financial app focusing on social interactions for young adults who want to handle expenses more easily at outings and group planning.

The challenge was to design a minimum viable product (MVP) that questioned the standard fintech app information architecture which focuses primarily on personal finance management features. The client wanted something that put social interactions, group chats, and being connected at the center of the experience. The product also needed to stand apart visually in a crowded competitor space.

The Bantu financial service promises to streamline group expenses and bill splitting with versatile, top-notch joint account features, instant money transfers, in-depth analysis, and suggestions for who owes whom features to facilitate users to pay each other on time. It also includes promotions and events for going out with friends.

We looked at user surveys, competitor analysis, and user tests, selected essential product features, and started ideating through user flows and wireframes to get the best from financial and messaging apps. Based on our competitor analysis and the brand’s core idea, we designed an app identity that makes it memorable and unique compared to direct and indirect competitors.

Discovery and Empathy Phase

First, we collected and processed existing research data about our target audience and the digital banking app.

Research showed us that there are many financial services for expense sharing and bill splitting, but it is still a common issue for young adults. Their biggest problem is getting their requested money on time and seeing who owes whom within a small group.

Existing research showed us that our target audience struggles with group costs and bill splitting even though there are many existing digital solutions available.

The most common pain points for payments were splitting between members fairly, keeping track of who owes whom, and getting paid back promptly.

We audited the early proof-of-concept prototype and its test results. We found out that there were many features we could exclude from an MVP, and these made the information architecture more complex than necessary. We also found that some key features had affordance issues and were named inconsistently, which led to more confusion.

Defining Features

We collected and prioritized every feature using an impact–effort and a MoSCoW matrix (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have) with other business factors. We cut non-essential and nice-to-have features to speed up the design process. This shorter feature list helped the client release sooner and focused on the most urgent user needs.

We collected and sorted app features based on multiple factors to have a much better scope for the MVP that solved the most common issues and had the highest impact on the business.

The client envisioned a chat and messaging app with top-priority peer-to-peer transactions and financial features. When we looked at other online financial services, we found that messaging and social features were missing or were not at the heart of the experience.

Ideation, Wireframing & Prototyping

To solve this and to have a strong USP, we started rapidly iterating on the home screen with low-fidelity wireframes. This screen served as an overview of the most important flows, functionalities, and features and their priority.

Compared to other digital banking apps, we put the message list at the top of the home screen and the balance overview below. We also made creating group chats and group accounts as easy as possible, as these would be the driving force of all interactions.

Based on our research and the list of the most valuable features, we quickly designed rough layouts of the new homepage to see which version would suit user and business needs.

We iterated on the app’s user flows with low-fidelity wireframes and prototypes so that financial features, like bill splitting and managing shared expenses, integrated seamlessly into group chats and social interactions. Many extra flows had to be designed to cover every user state and scenario, like deleting group accounts and managing user privileges.

We redesigned the user flows so that financial features integrated seamlessly into social interactions.

It was a high priority to name the main features consistently to make navigation easy and to write copy in plain language for longer and more complex tasks.

We predict that by putting social features first for P2P transactions, the app could decrease the chances of financial hassles between friends. The MVP will serve as a test for this.

Sketch-like, low-fidelity wireframes helped us to iterate on screens, flows, and navigation patterns. We love the old Balsamiq aesthetics and used a similar wireframing library in Figma. These are some of the most frequent screens the user will see.

Possible Usability Issues of Minimalism

Tests in the early proof-of-concept prototype showed that the visuals were so simple that people perceived it as a lack of branding. Simple, mainly black interactive elements also caused usability issues.

The original proof-of-concept prototype was so simple that people perceived it as a lack of branding. The black color used for many interactive elements caused usability and affordance issues.

We ran a competitor analysis and found that almost every digital bank utilizes bright, minimalist designs with geometric sans serif typefaces.

Dark Mode Is Here to Stay

Research showed that dark mode is increasingly becoming one of the most requested features. Our target audience is also very environmentally conscious. Dark mode can be an attractive feature for our audience as it can save battery life.

We created multiple UI directions ranging from simple and minimal to more stylized variations. We advised the client to choose dark mode as the default to stand apart and appeal to users at launch.

We designed a range of UI directions from fintech minimalism to more stylized versions. Despite the differences, each direction built on the brand’s core idea. The final version is a mixture of the second and the third direction.

UI Design and Branding with a Little Help of Generative AI

We redesigned the user interface with a humanist sans serif workhorse typeface that looks more stylized than what other apps were using. We made dark mode the default theme with earth-like colors and used Midjourney, one of the leading AI image generators, to design custom tribal cave painting illustrations on the virtual cards. Generating illustrations this way allowed us to create many stylistically coherent card variations much faster, all unique to the brand’s core idea.

The color palette now properly uses accent colors for interactive elements. We made sure that the Material 3 Design Kit was modified to such an extent that it felt unique. Using a rethemed Material 3 Design Kit helped us to deliver the MVP on time and to allocate the client’s budget for more user testing later.

The dark mode is becoming the norm, according to recent studies. It also makes the brand stand apart from competitors.

We designed multiple unique virtual card visuals for the Shared House joint account using generative AI to make the brand stand apart with an illustration style that resonates with the audience and communicates the brand’s purpose.

The app’s visual direction now resonates with its brand idea and main product features: it’s a cozy, environmentally conscious product where users feel like they are part of a close-knit tribe that does not fuss about expenses.

Conclusion

During the project, we discussed decisions and brainstormed design direction with Bantu’s stakeholders. Constant communication led to a much smoother process overall and better outcomes. Thanks to our proactive mentality, we spared valuable resources for the client using a rethemed, heavily modified design kit.

Bantu now has a unique brand identity and a well-structured, user-friendly app in a crowded market space that hopefully will set it up for success to go to market.

The final app design uses dark mode by default with Fira Sans, a workhorse, humanist sans serif typeface.