Defining a leading digital cash loan application experience for a state-owned SEA bank

Personal loans in the mass retail market presented a large revenue potential and were identified as the next quick-win opportunity for digitalisation in a state-owned Southeast Asian bank.

A superior app-initiated cash loan MVP journey was designed and launched for existing retail customers, re-using existing components and journeys as much as possible to shorten time to launch without compromising the quality of the experience. Along the way, the team helped drive design thinking and agile methodologies among the client's business teams.

indicative TOI uplift in the first year of launch

10.6%

indicative TOI uplift in the first year of launch

key cash loan opportunities identified in the kick-start workshop

50+

key cash loan opportunities identified in the kick-start workshop

excellence in optimising the client's ways of working

Sustained

excellence in optimising the client's ways of working

Traditional leading banks in the country still operated largely offline. The client wanted to leverage its momentum in digitalising the customer journey to lead the digital space, competing with incumbent and digital banks while providing a customer-centric experience.

Cash loans were identified as a product with large revenue potential in need of a digital uplift. There was barely any information on the website and app to generate product awareness, and applying meant paper forms — an offline process facilitated by relationship managers. The task: digitalise the cash loan application journey end to end.

With the client's tight timeline, a compressed and highly collaborative approach was taken to gain insights quickly and move forward effectively. Each step below opens into the full story — what happened, and what changed because of it.

01Ideation workshopA workshop with 30+ client participants from various business functions to efficiently iron out requirements.Read the full step →

01. Ideation workshop

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To kick off the design journey, we orchestrated a dynamic workshop with over 30 participants from various client business functions. This collaborative session was designed to ignite creativity and cultivate the design thinking skillset, whilst allowing us to gather key requirements to drive the project forward.

Design thinking introduction

We began by immersing participants in the principles of design thinking, setting the stage for innovative problem-solving. This foundational overview aligned everyone with a user-centred approach and prepared us for the collaborative work ahead.

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Global competitor showcase

To inspire and inform the design process, we presented a range of global competitor cash loan journeys. These examples provided valuable insights into industry trends and best practices, sparking discussions on what could be adapted and improved upon.

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Collaborative discovery

We explored the end-to-end cash loan journey, identifying customer pain points, opportunities and key challenges. After generating a list of key opportunities, participants voted on the most impactful areas to prioritise which opportunities to address first.

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Co-creation and prioritisation

With the top opportunities identified, participants engaged in a co-creation session to brainstorm and develop potential solutions. Following the exercise, we collectively prioritised these solutions, focusing on the most impactful features for the MVP and developing a feature backlog.

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OUTCOME

The workshop set a collaborative and enthusiastic tone for the project, aligning diverse perspectives and establishing a shared vision for a customer-centric cash loan journey.

02Initial design and internal testingFirst designs in 2 days, validated with internal bank users, with subsequent iteration and design clean-up.Read the full step →

02. Initial design and internal testing

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In just 2 days, we designed the first full version of the digital loan journey. By collaborating closely with client designers and utilising existing assets, we created a streamlined and effective initial version.

This was promptly tested with internal bank users — for example branch managers, who had a good view of what their customers were looking for. Rapid prototyping and testing let us gather crucial insights and refine the design.

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Streamlining the overview

We simplified the presentation of key loan highlights to give users an immediate, clear understanding of the loan, and made the language more concise to deliver information more efficiently.

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Enhancing calculator accessibility

The loan calculator moved onto the main page, eliminating the need to navigate away for calculations. We also redesigned the loan summary to emphasise critical aspects such as loan insurance and potential savings, shifting detailed repayment information to a secondary page.

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Greater transparency in repayment schedules

We expanded the loan repayment information, offering greater transparency on repayment schedules and helping users easily understand their financial commitments.

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03External testing and finalising designAdditional testing with retail customers, with subsequent iteration before handoff.Read the full step →

03. External testing and finalising design

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With the initial design refined, we turned to external testing with real loan customers. This phase was crucial for validating earlier edits and gathering fresh insights. While proxy users provided valuable feedback, testing with actual end users proved essential for achieving the most optimal, frictionless experience.

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Enhanced visual distinction

We introduced clear visual cues to differentiate between loan and insurance segments, making each section more distinct.

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Enhanced communication of promotion benefits

Displaying promotional features more prominently captured users' attention better, and highlighting the savings and gains more effectively made the promotional offer more enticing.

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Improved input field differentiation

To reduce confusion between editable and non-editable fields — especially amongst older users — a simple tweak of components provided clearer visual distinctions, so users knew exactly where they needed to input information.

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Greater transparency in repayment processes

During the application process, we improved clarity on automatic monthly fund deductions and repayment dates, ensuring users have a clear understanding of their payment obligations.

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Handing off

For efficient handoff to the client's design and development teams, I detailed the various user flows with clear annotations, and documented new components for easy reference and future enhancements to the design library.

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1. 01

   Improving client collaboration for agile decision-making

   Limited client agility hindered rapid decision-making, especially against the tight timeline. Addressing this took diplomacy, persuasion and deliberate collaboration: aligning expectations, streamlining communication channels and cultivating a shared vision for success.

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   Expanding usability testing impact

   Time and resource constraints necessitated delegating testing tasks to bank staff. Ensuring accuracy and consistency of responses was initially challenging; targeted training mitigated some issues and still allowed valuable insights. Language barriers added complexity, and while a translator was critical, non-verbal cues proved just as important to understanding user behaviour.

3. 03

   Empowering proactive technical involvement in UX

   The client's technical teams were typically not involved until development, and technical limitations surfaced only after questioning, or as blockers. We dedicated time to pulling technical teams into user testing stages, getting them comfortable with being involved earlier in the journey.