Chains to Constellations
Collaborating with the NatWest design team in Gogarburn, Scotland, I developed an innovative solution for the future of online banking. My project focused on enhancing user experience through intuitive interface design, helping customers visualise their budgeting more effectively. I designed a a dynamic feature that integrates with smartphone wallets, where a card's colour shifts from green to red upon exceeding a pre-set spending limit in the NatWest banking app.
Problem Statement
Bank users cannot visualise their day-to-day budgets without checking their statements.
The idea is that a digital display lets the card user loosely track their spending without having to open a statement. The user can set a target spend cap on their mobile banking app. For example '£15 per day' or '£1000 per month'. When this figure is hit, the digital display will react when used.
The developed display, powered by a solar chip, will display a simple message:
"Watch out!" in red if the set budget has been surpassed. Or "Keep it up!" if the budget had not yet been hit.
This simple value constellation highlights that the design benefits card users who struggle to budget. However, it also points out that the intervention provides no value to cardless bank users. Mobile payment methods have invalidated the need for many people to carry cards; smartphone wallets being the most influential driver.
The brief display when opening a smartphone wallet shows a selection of cards which can be selected, with a primary account displayed at the top of the screen, ready to transfer code when the phone is unlocked. The graphics of these cards seem rigid - a clear, simple and accessible interface that is desperate for visual enhancement.
I began to explore simple graphic solutions based of intuitive colour theory: green = good, red = bad. Green typically suggests an aspect of safety or positivity, whereas red suggests the opposite.
The simplicity of the colour psychology used meant that no explanation is required for the user to understand the reaction. NatWest's primary brand colour is purple, meaning that most cards and smartphone displays show a purple card. These colours can be altered easily through basic technological adaptation.
The final solution is simple: when a pre-set budget is reached, the card display turns from green to red, reminding users to be more cautions with their spending.
