Citi Mobile AppCiti Mobile App
FintechMobile bankingUX scalabilitySystem constraints
Improving usability and scalability of Citi’s mobile banking experience across regions.
- My Role
- Lead Designer
- Skills
User journey
HiFi Wireframes
Prototyping
- Project length
- 3 months
- Launch in
- 2020
Problem
Design a scalable and intuitive mobile banking experience while:
- Supporting multiple regions with varying product requirements
- Navigating legacy systems and existing UX patterns
- Improving usability without disrupting existing user behaviour
- Aligning across multiple stakeholders (product, tech, brand)
Role & Ownership
- Led UX design for key flows within Citi’s mobile banking app
- Identified usability gaps and proposed improvements across core journeys
- Designed new interaction patterns within constraints of an existing design system
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams across regions to align on solutions
Constraints & Challenges
- Existing design system limited flexibility for new interaction patterns
- Multiple stakeholder approvals slowed iteration cycles
- Regional variations introduced inconsistencies in product behaviour
- Legacy architecture restricted certain UX improvements
Approach
I started by auditing existing user journeys to identify friction points and inconsistencies across flows.
Focused on improving:
- Account overview clarity
- Transaction and payment flows
- Card management and controls
Instead of redesigning from scratch, I introduced incremental UX improvements that aligned with existing patterns while enhancing usability.
Where required, I proposed new layout structures that extended the current design system without breaking consistency.
Key Decisions
- Balanced innovation with familiarity to avoid disrupting existing users
- Introduced modular layouts to improve scalability across regions
- Simplified complex financial data through structured information hierarchy
- Designed within system constraints while pushing for incremental improvements
Impact
- Improved usability across key banking flows without requiring full redesign
- Enabled scalable UX patterns adaptable across multiple regions
- Reduced friction in high-frequency user journeys
- Facilitated smoother collaboration across distributed stakeholder teams