BÓ,
NatWest
Bó is the banking app that helps users spend less and save more. Utilising the latest technology, Bó has been specifically designed to help people manage their everyday spending by allowing them to budget, set goals and track their progress.
As part of NatWest’s continued focus on innovation – and in order to play the challenger banks at their own game – Bó was built from scratch on new technology as a digital, cloud-based, faster bank without the bureaucracy of the traditional banks.
Agency
Draw/RBS
Client
Bó, NatWest, RBS
Tasks
UX, UI, Prototyping, Creative, Illustration, Design System
98%
of people believe they should manage their money better
“I know I should be the one to manage my finances, but I don’t do it, I don’t like it and I’m not good at it”
PERFORMING extensive USER testing of the main feature to enable a simple and habit-forming banking experience for all users
Initial testing was arduous — it turns out that every user seemingly treats and manages their money differently. It took 4 months and testing probably well over a hundred users to arrive at the final solution which made it easy for users to add money each month, safeguard an amount to save by configuring a goal amount (a holiday and a ‘rainy day’ fund), then offering regular spending insights to help users stick to their goal i.e. “you spend an average of 20% more on coffee than customers with similar finances. Have you considered a reusable coffee cup or coffee store membership?”.
This encouraged habit-forming — an essential part of fiscal responsibility — creating users that ‘Do money better’ and make informed decisions about their spending habits.
47%
of the UK spend what they earn and have less than two weeks of savings
DESIGNing — and redesigning — HUNDREDS OF accessible and usable SCREENS suitable for users from all walks of life
These screens were simple so that the app was suitable for all demographics: old and young; vulnerable or disabled; savvy or ‘what the hell is a digital bank?!’.
No nonsense. No over-the-top imagery. Just an intuitive layout, layman copy, and enjoyable, easily understood sketched illustrations.
Adding a little personality to the brand and providing context to users via micro-interactions, transitions, hand-holding and celebratory moments
During testing, the users appreciated the brands’ simplicity but also thought it was a little lacklustre next to rival digital banks. I began to add some personality to the brand through many prototyped animations. Not only would these make the app feel a little more dynamic, but also employed hand-holding techniques so that users understood when something was happening and what it meant, kinda like when an item jumps into a basket on an e-commerce site. In the example opposite, you can see the saved money (yellow curved line) pouring into the savings goal pot.
whilst devising the Live support and offline chatbot journey, I conceptualised the BóBot, a friendly assistant to put a smile on users’ faces
The BóBot, revealed from behind the Bó logo when human support is unavailable, interacts with emoji-style facial expressions in response to user messages. This was never tested with users but was considered a next-phase feature.
I devised clever packaging designs that, when opened, revealed Bó’s ‘Do Money Better’ slogan.
I BUILT and maintained the Bó atomic component library, plus performed accessibility audits of the components and screens, to ensure consistency across the design team
tongue-in-cheek illustrations I created were unanimously liked by users who said they were “simple but fun”
Very few illustrations were provided to Bó by Fjord — the branding agency — so I would regularly create illustrations based on the same style when they were needed during our design sprints. I would try to make them enjoyable, where possible, like the paper plane crashing if a message failed to submit, or the circular logo of Bó (which looked like the Sun) becoming a crescent-shaped moon when support was closed for the night.
These are just a few examples of many more illustrations I created…
