Build credit without debt
Experian Smart Money
Year
2023
Client
Experian
Objective & Context
As a Senior Product Design Manager, I led the design of Experia Smart Money (ESM) — a neo banking experience helping users build and strengthen credit without incurring debt. Our goal was to empower users to take control of their financial future through transparent credit-building tools, real-time insights, and educational resources.
The challenge was to make credit building feel intuitive, rewarding, and approachable, bridging the gap between traditional credit systems and users seeking financial independence.
Design challenges
Financial Education Accessibility
Credit-building concepts can be complex. We needed to simplify these processes with clear visuals and contextual education, ensuring users understood how their behaviors affected their credit growth.
Trust & Transparency
As a new kind of financial product, establishing trust was critical. We focused on designing clear communication touchpoints, emphasizing security, transparency, and control over user data.
Engagement & Retention
The main challenge was convincing users to switch their existing bank accounts to Experian. Many users were hesitant to move their primary financial activities to a new platform. We focused on building credibility through transparent communication, clear onboarding guidance, and trust-driven design patterns that demonstrated Experian’s security, reliability, and long-term value.
Technical Constraints
We had to work within Experian’s existing data ecosystem, API structures and a banking partner, balancing innovation with compliance and scalability.
My approach
User-Centric Discovery
Conducted interviews and co-design sessions with first-time credit builders to uncover behaviors, motivations, and anxieties around credit and banking. These insights informed our design principles for simplicity, reassurance, and education.
Intuitive Design
Developed a clean, guided onboarding flow and modular dashboards showing users how their actions directly impacted credit growth. Visual cues and progress meters turned abstract financial data into tangible feedback.
Collaboration
Partnered closely with product, engineering, compliance, and marketing teams to ensure design feasibility and brand consistency. Regular workshops aligned our goals across teams and stakeholders.
Prototyping & Validation
Created interactive prototypes to test key flows like onboarding, progress tracking, and education modules. Iterations were refined through usability testing and behavioral analytics.
Impact
1000000
Deposits within the first year
32
Improvement in weekly active engagement
40
Surpassing Experian’s average satisfaction benchmark
