Pocket Choice

Opening a savings account used to feel like jumping straight into an application form. We flipped that on its head by giving users a new way to browse and choose the right product before committing.

We created a journey for new customers to download our app, browse, select a product and make an application.

Problem Statement

Facing challenges to attract and convert new customers, limiting its ability to grow market share. Currently acquisition touch points and experiences aren’t fully engaging our target audience resulting in missed opportunities.

Solution

Designed a browse first acquisition journey, where new customers could download the app without having an existing account, explore and make an application.

Outcome

Delivered a new acquisition experience in the app first of its kind for Coventry building society. Created a scalable product for future product journeys, setting a new standard for on-boarding and acquisition design.

Challenges

Navigating the challenges of working with old legacy systems, that limited flexibility and required creative workarounds, along with designing within tight delivery time-frames, balancing speed with quality.

Other challenges I had to overcome was learning the business and domain knowledge on the job while ensuring to keep the project on track and on time.

User pain points

  • Not being able to see or compare products before starting an application.

  • Feeling rushed into forms without understanding which account was right for them.

  • Needing an account to use the app

Design Process

Alignment

I joined the project in March 2024, taking over during early design and development.

A preliminary user journey existed, so I focused on refining it, aligning with the team around business goals, user needs, technical constraints, and ensuring design decisions supported acquisition and market growth.

This established a clear, user-centred path that guided the project forward.

The journey

One of the key design decisions I led was creating a personalised on-boarding flow that required only minimal information from users. Instead of overwhelming new customers with lengthy forms upfront, we designed a lightweight journey where users could provide just their preferred name and a few essential details to get started.

This approach delivered several benefits:

  • Reduced friction: By lowering the barrier to entry, users could quickly and easily begin browsing products without feeling burdened by unnecessary steps.

  • Personal connection: Using a preferred name from the start made the experience feel more welcoming and tailored, helping to build trust and rapport.

  • Early engagement: Allowing users to explore products sooner created immediate value, increasing the likelihood they would continue through to application.

  • Acquisition impact: A faster, friendlier on-boarding experience supported our goal of improving conversion rates and growing market share.

By prioritising simplicity and personalisation, we created an on boarding journey that balanced user needs with business objectives making it easier for customers to get started and more effective for Coventry in attracting and converting new users.

I extended personalisation across the journey, using behavioural science to make the experience feel more intuitive and human.

Instead of asking business-like questions such as “What will you use the account for?” I reframed them around life events, making them more relatable.

Adding clear, descriptive information to questions that could be confusing, reducing uncertainty and supporting accurate answers.

These changes made the journey feel approachable and confidence-building, helping reduce drop-off and increase trust.

Usability testing & feedback

Before release, we partnered with a third-party research agency to test the end-to-end journey with real users. This ensured we captured unbiased insights and bench marked our experience against industry standards.

The results were highly positive our journey consistently scored above industry benchmarks for clarity, ease of use, and overall satisfaction. For example:

  • Ease of use: scored 8.0 out f 10 higher than the standard industry benchmark

  • Task success rate: scored 100%

  • Overall rating opening a savings account: scored average of 8.5 out of 10 higher than the standard industry benchmark

As with everything, there was still room for improvement. Based on user feedback, I identified small but meaningful enhancements and created quick iterations that fit within time and scope. We were able to implement these changes prior to go-live, ensuring the journey launched in its strongest possible form.

These outcomes validated our design approach, gave the business confidence ahead of launch, and demonstrated that we had created a user experience that was not only functional but also competitive in the wider financial services market.

Some of the enhancements

After go live

Based on the data we gathered, we identified a few touch points in the journey that were causing confusion for new customers.

The product card / ‘Visit Website’ link had already been live for existing customers, but as part of this new journey for new customers, we started to see friction. Testing highlighted that users weren’t always clear on the intent of this action, resulting in lower engagement.

The Change

I tested a redesigned screen intended to provide clearer direction for users and guide them towards the right action.

Current Experience (Baseline)

  • 30 participants tested

  • 14 seconds average time to first click

  • Actions taken:

    • 15/30 clicked Visit our website

    • 12/30 clicked Savings account card

    • 3/30 clicked other options

  • Navigation confidence:

    • 19/30 confident, 8/30 neutral, 3/30 unsure

  • Accessibility challenges:

    • 13/30 reported accessibility or challenges, with a confidence score of 3.6/5

  • Emotional tone: Hesitation, confusion, and desire for clearer direction

Recommended Experience (New Design)

  • 30 participants tested

  • 10 seconds average time to first click (faster than the current)

  • Actions taken:

    • 27/30 clicked Apply for account

    • 2/30 clicked Visit website

    • 1/30 clicked other options

  • Navigation confidence:

    • 27/30 confident, only 3/30 rated 3 or below

  • Accessibility challenges:

    • 14/30 reported accessibility or challenges, with a confidence score of 4.22/5

  • Emotional tone: Confidence, curiosity, and comfort in exploring without pressure

Outcome

The new design made the primary action much clearer. Participants were quicker to engage, far more confident in their navigation, and emotionally felt reassured. This shift from confusion to confidence demonstrated that the recommended approach simplified the journey and better supported user intent.

Live Impact (Before vs After)

  • 16% reduction in drop off rate at product cards - We were seeing 48% of the visitors to the view Products page (either view all or view category) NOT moving to the product summary page, Following the change this fell to 32%.


  • 31% increase continuing to product summary page - Went from 52% of people continuing to 68% of people continuing


  • 53% reduction in use of 'Visit our website' link - We went from 18% clicking website, to 8%


Designs

Following our design guidelines and design system allowed me to focus on the layout of the UI, along with applying design principles and best practices.

The thought process behind the visual design was to:

  1. Adding a call to action (CTA) on the product cards with clear actionable wording ‘View account’ reducing ambiguity of what will happens next and how to see more about the account .

  2. Taking away the secondary call to action (CTA) at the bottom of the page, and making this a text button, creating a clear hierarchy of content on the page.

Learnings

Reflecting on this project after go-live, we quickly saw how real user behaviour highlighted areas for improvement. While the product card and “Visit Website” link worked well for existing customers, new customers experienced friction in this journey, prompting targeted enhancements.

We took an iterative, data-driven approach. Monitoring interactions and gathering feedback allowed us to prioritise small but impactful adjustments that improved usability and reduced confusion for new users.

The process reinforced continuous learning. Seeing how users engaged post-launch challenged assumptions, revealed opportunities, and strengthened both the product and my own approach for designing smoother, more intuitive experiences in future projects.