FIRST DIGITAL END TO END BANKING IN AFRICA

My favourite project to date, being part of this amazing design team to create the first end to end digital bank in Africa. The onboarding journey was technically complex, requiring users to complete identity verification, regulatory checks and account setup through a digital kiosk interface. A key challenge was that the primary user group had limited digital literacy, making it critical to reduce cognitive load and ensure each step felt clear, guided, and intuitive.

Mission: Design a compliant, self-service onboarding experience that enabled first-time users to successfully open and verify accounts through a digital kiosk, while minimizing abandonment and reducing the need for staff intervention.

Hypothesis: If we offered an intuitive onboarding flow in clear, sequential steps, provided real-time guidance and feedback, and designed robust fallback journeys for failed biometric verification, then users would be more likely to complete onboarding independently and successfully despite the underlying technical complexity.

Data-Driven Design: To validate assumptions and identify friction points, we analysed onboarding drop-off data, reviewed operational support logs, conducted usability testing with representative users, and mapped failure rates across identity verification touchpoints. These insights highlighted areas where users struggled with instructions, face-recognition validation, and error recovery, informing the design of clearer guidance, improved feedback mechanisms, and alternative verification pathways.

The final solution balanced simplicity and regulatory requirements, creating an onboarding experience that remained fully compliant with Reserve Bank regulations while helping non-technical users complete the process with greater confidence and success.

COACHING HUB FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Small business owners face a wide range of challenges when launching and scaling their businesses, often needing guidance that extends beyond traditional banking products. Through customer research, we identified an opportunity to create a more valuable relationship with entrepreneurs by supporting them throughout their business journey and positioning the bank as a partner in their success.

Mission: Create a digital platform that supports small business owners through the critical stages of starting, managing, and growing a business, while strengthening customer acquisition, engagement, and long-term loyalty.

Small business owners often require more than banking products alone. Through research, we identified a need for practical guidance, educational resources, and tools that could help entrepreneurs navigate common business challenges. The opportunity was to position the bank as a trusted partner throughout the business lifecycle rather than solely as a financial services provider.

Hypothesis: If we provided relevant, stage-based business support, resources, and guidance within a single digital experience, then entrepreneurs would perceive the bank as a valuable business partner, leading to increased customer onboarding, deeper engagement, and stronger long-term relationships.

Data-Driven Design:  We leveraged customer research, stakeholder interviews, behavioural analytics, and competitor benchmarking to understand the needs, goals, and pain points of small business owners at different stages of their journey. These insights revealed that entrepreneurs were actively seeking practical business advice and support beyond banking. The findings informed a personalised experience that surfaced relevant content, tools, and recommendations aligned to each stage of business growth.

The resulting platform delivered a more holistic customer experience, helping entrepreneurs access the support they needed while reinforcing the bank's role as a trusted partner in their business success. By aligning customer needs with business objectives, the platform created meaningful opportunities to improve onboarding, engagement, and customer retention.

YouthX AWARDS PROGRAMME

Youth unemployment remains one of South Africa's biggest challenges, with many talented entrepreneurs and innovators lacking the visibility, networks and opportunities needed to unlock their potential. Through research, we identified an opportunity to create a platform that not only celebrates emerging talent but also provides meaningful pathways for personal and professional growth, positioning the bank as an active supporter.

Mission: Create a digital platform that empowers young South African talent by providing a space to showcase their work, gain recognition and access opportunities for learning, mentorship and career development while strengthening the bank's connection with the next generation. Through research, we identified a need for an experience that extends beyond a traditional awards programme by connecting recognition with tangible growth opportunities. The goal was to create a platform that inspires participation while helping young talent build the confidence, knowledge and networks needed to progress in their careers.

Hypothesis: If we created an engaging digital awards platform that combined recognition with access to educational resources, mentorship programmes and exclusive masterclasses, then participants would perceive the bank as an organisation invested in their long-term success, leading to increased participation, stronger brand affinity and deeper engagement with the YouthX ecosystem.

Data-Driven Design: We leveraged user research, stakeholder workshops, competitor analysis and behavioural insights to understand the motivations, aspirations and challenges facing young South Africans. The research revealed that recognition alone was not enough - participants valued opportunities that could help them develop new skills, build industry connections and create sustainable career pathways. 

The resulting platform transformed the YouthX Awards into more than a recognition programme. It became a growth ecosystem, aligning users' aspirations with the bank's commitment to youth empowerment,.

KIDZ' BANKING 

Mission: Design a children's banking app that makes money management fun, educational, and rewarding for young users while providing parents with the tools, visibility and confidence needed to support their children's financial journey.

Unlike traditional banking products, the success of this initiative relied heavily on understanding children's behaviours, motivations and digital expectations. Through extensive research with both children and parents, we explored how young users interacted with technology, what excited and motivated them and how parents wanted to introduce financial responsibility in a safe and controlled environment. The opportunity was not only to create a compelling banking product but also to build long-term brand affinity by introducing customers to the bank at a young age.

Hypothesis: If we created a banking experience that combined financial education, gamified interactions and age-appropriate design principles with parental controls and transparency, then children would be more engaged with managing their money, parents would feel confident supporting their learning, and the bank would strengthen long-term customer relationships and lifetime value.

Data-Driven Design: We conducted in-depth user interviews, co-creation sessions, prototype testing and behavioural research with children and parents to understand their needs, goals and pain points. Insights revealed that children were motivated by achievement, rewards and visual feedback while parents prioritised safety, financial education and account visibility. These findings informed the design of engaging saving and spending experiences, educational features, parental controls and age-appropriate interactions. Iterative prototype testing ensured the experience remained intuitive, enjoyable, and relevant for both user groups.

The resulting solution balanced education, engagement and trust, creating an experience that helped children develop positive financial behaviours while giving parents confidence in their child's financial journey.

WHITE LABEL AFFILIATE PROGRAMME

As the business expanded its partner ecosystem, there was an opportunity to create a scalable white-label affiliate platform that enabled partners to offer branded financial products and services while maintaining a consistent, high-quality customer experience. The challenge was balancing the unique branding requirements of multiple affiliate partners with operational efficiency, compliance, and a seamless user journey.

Mission: Design a scalable white-label affiliate programme platform that empowers partners to deliver branded customer experiences while driving acquisition, engagement, and conversion through a streamlined and configurable solution. Through stakeholder workshops, partner interviews, and market analysis, we identified key challenges across the affiliate journey, including inconsistent customer experiences, complex onboarding processes, and limited flexibility in adapting the platform to partner brand requirements. The opportunity was to create a framework that could support multiple affiliate brands without requiring bespoke development for each implementation.

Hypothesis: If we designed a flexible white-label platform with configurable branding, streamlined onboarding journeys, and consistent user experience patterns, then affiliate partners would be able to launch faster, deliver a more trusted customer experience, and drive higher customer acquisition and conversion rates.

Data-Driven Design: We leveraged partner feedback, customer journey analysis, behavioural analytics, and competitor benchmarking to understand the needs of both affiliate partners and end users. These insights revealed the importance of maintaining brand trust throughout the journey while reducing friction during onboarding and product application processes. Findings informed the creation of reusable design patterns, configurable components, and scalable workflows that balanced partner customisation with usability and operational efficiency.

The resulting platform enabled affiliate partners to deliver tailored branded experiences while benefiting from a shared, scalable infrastructure. By aligning partner needs, customer expectations, and business objectives, the solution improved speed to market, enhanced customer trust, and created a foundation for sustainable programme growth.

business banking - Client & product onboarding

Mission: Design a scalable business banking onboarding platform that enables seamless client and product onboarding for both customers and staff while improving operational efficiency, compliance and overall user experience. Through extensive user interviews with business banking clients and internal staff we uncovered pain points across the onboarding journey, including duplicated data capture, unclear process visibility, manual handoffs and lengthy completion times. A local and international competitor benchmark analysis further highlighted opportunities to simplify workflows and introduce best-practice onboarding patterns.

Hypothesis: If we consolidated onboarding journeys into a unified platform with clear process guidance, streamlined workflows and role-specific experiences for both clients and staff, then onboarding would become faster, more transparent and easier to complete, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Data-Driven Design: We combined qualitative insights from user interviews with process analysis, operational metrics and competitor benchmarking to identify the highest-friction areas within the onboarding experience. These insights informed the prioritisation of workflow simplification, progress visibility, document management and task automation. Continuous testing and validation ensured the platform addressed both customer needs and internal operational requirements while remaining scalable for future growth.

The resulting solution created a more intuitive and efficient onboarding experience for business banking customers and employees alike, reducing complexity and establishing a scalable foundation for future products and services.