Designing a Fintech Hub for an African Banking Ecosystem

A pan-African bank runs an annual competition to find fintech solutions from developers across developing countries in Africa. Its digital ecosystem had three separate web properties supporting this effort: an Introduction site, a Sandbox(where developers use the bank's APIs), and the Challenge itself. I led the fintech sub-project within the larger digital banking ecosystem, with the goal of giving fintech one clear, findable home.

CLIENT

ROLE

COMPANY

DURATION

SCOPE

A pan-African bank (name withheld under NDA)

UX Specialist, Sub-Project Lead

Human Factors International

6 months

Brand strategy, Design system, IA, Agentic UX, Conversational AI

TEAM

UX writers, visual designers, UX researchers

The Problem

Visually disconnected: Each site looked different, and none looked like it belonged to a bank.

Hard to find: Fintech was scattered across three URLs inside a much larger ecosystem.

Three navigation systems: Some areas were overly complex and others too thin or static, with no shared logic.

No clear journey: Nothing explained how the Introduction, Sandbox, and Challenge related, or how the Sandbox APIs fed into the Challenge.

Who It Was For

Developers, technical and non-technical, who come to understand the challenge, explore the APIs, and build solutions.
Banking customers, who want to understand what fintech services the bank offers and what they mean for them.

The content, tone, and entry points had to work for people with very different levels of technical knowledge.

My Role

Led the audit, information architecture, and navigation redesign
Designed user flows across logged-in and logged-out states
Designed the homepage, including the banner and service presentation
Worked daily with UX writing, visual design, and UX research
Presented designs to the client and handled their feedback

Process

1. Audit
Before touching any screens, I audited all three sites using a heuristic review, a content inventory, and [three additional UX audit methods]. This gave us a clear map of overlaps, gaps, and inconsistencies across the sites.
2. Redesign the flow and IA first
Instead of restyling screens, we started by rethinking the whole system. Three sites with three navigation systems had to become one coherent flow, so the information architecture came before any visual work.
3. One navigation system. I designed a single, layered structure:
- A main navigation bar
- A sub-navigation bar beneath it
- Secondary drop-down menus under the sub-navigation
This replaced three competing systems with one set of rules for what belongs at each level.
4. Phased launch.
The Challenge launched first because it was tied to the annual competition cycle. The Introduction and Sandbox were then combined into one experience, where the deepest design thinking happened:
- Logged-out users: What do they see, and how much can they explore before signing up?
- Logged-in users: What changes, and what access or personalization appears?
Audience fit: Who is each page for, and does it serve both developers and banking customers?
Sandbox-to-Challenge connection: How does a developer move from experimenting with the APIs to entering the competition without feeling they've left the product?
5. Visual language
Working closely with the visual design team, we had to respect the parent bank's fixed styles and branding, since this was one part of a larger ecosystem. At the same time, the fintech section needed its own identity. We brainstormed together and landed on pattern motifs inspired by African tribal designs, layered into the visual language. This gave fintech a distinct, culturally rooted touch while keeping it clearly within the bank's brand.
6. Cross-functional collaboration:
I worked continuously with UX writers (labels, microcopy, content structure), visual designers (consistency and branding), and UX researchers (user needs and validation).

Client Communication and Stakeholder Management

I was the one presenting designs to the client and absorbing the pushback. With many stakeholders holding different, sometimes conflicting opinions, I followed a consistent process:

Listen first. Understand the concern behind each comment before responding.
If already addressed, walk through the flow again and show where the design handled it.
If not, say so honestly, commit to coming back, and take it away.
Iterate with a test: does the change make the experience easier for users, or does it add complexity?
Return with a reasoned answer at the next meeting.

Outcome

The Challenge launched first, followed by a combined Introduction and Sandbox experience
One navigation system and visual identity across the fintech section
Clear logged-in and logged-out experiences for two distinct audiences
A defined path from the Sandbox APIs to the Challenge

What this project taught me

Good UX at this scale is mostly coordination.

Aligning writers, researchers, and designers behind one direction mattered as much as any screen. And as an intern, I was trusted to present directly to the client and take their pushback.

It was a whole new experience, with real pressure, and it pushed me well past my comfort zone and taught me to explain design decisions in terms of user and business value.