Designing for Trust: How Content Built Clarity in a Pre-Launch Fintech App
Role
Senior Content Strategist
Copy and microcopy
Collaboration
Business Analyst
Project manager
Senior Software Engineer
UX Designer
Client
Redacted until app launch
Timeline
March 2025-May 2025
Tools
Figma
Miro
Word documents
Jira
The problem / context
A client in the financial services industry sought to develop an application that helps individuals identify and understand hidden fees.
The app needed to gather information to understand users’ needs, work with third-party services like Plaid, Akoya, and Mikomo to connect to users’ financial institutions, and then redirect users to the right service for them. The client needed help bringing their vision to life, ensuring the experience was user-focused.
The research
The team had previously conducted remote user testing sessions over Teams. These sessions were designed to gather insights into user experiences, preferences, and suggestions for optimizing the platform prior to its launch.
Tests showed users thought the pages had too much text and product info. They wanted clearer headlines and CTA button text. Users also worried about sharing their bank details with the third-party app.
How we collaborated
I collaborated with the UX designer (and sometimes developer) in Figma, adding comments with my content suggestions and additions. The designer would either implement the changes or tag me with follow-up questions (or chat about it in a Teams message to include the project group). If there was an in-depth issue to discuss, we would cover it during a bi-weekly Teams touch base or a one-off call.
For the Privacy and Security Policy pages, I used Word documents with track changes to make my edit suggestions. However, most of the work took place in Figma.
The team tracked the project in Jira.
My content design
My work focused on:
Improving readability and consistency across content
Clarifying headlines and CTA/button text
Writing new headlines and button text for new pages
Ensuring all messages, including error messages and labels, were clear and helpful
I used research, team input, and previous drafts to guide my edits and decisions.
Removing the fluff and ambiguity
I identified several areas for improvement, many of which aligned with test findings:
Information overload: The original content included a long introduction about the brand and how to use the product. This felt unnecessary since the app already guides users through the steps. It also caused mobile users to scroll more than necessary.
Sections out of order: Important content was buried too far down on the page.
Unclear button text: Some button copy was too vague and did not sufficiently communicate what users could expect when clicking.
Inconsistencies: Since this was a new product and brand, the content lacked capitalization or grammar standards—and it showed.
The results
Simplified and prioritized information
I removed the unnecessary brand overview and instructions
I moved content about the product’s benefits to the top and made the headline shorter and snappier
The Get Started button was set to be sticky and available to click as users scrolled down the page
User-focused button text
I suggested new button text to make the destination clearer. For example, I changed one button from “Next” to “Calculate Fees” so users know it leads to their fee calculations.
Facilitated style standards
I enforced consistency in small but important details, including capitalization, grammar, and tone, to ensure professionalism and build trust in the brand.
Additionally, some desktop pages had duplicate meta titles, such as [Brand Name] | [Page Name].
I advised the team to switch to [Page Name] | [Brand Name] so the page title appears first in tabs and search results.
A more user-friendly search option
The team was struggling with how to communicate and present a list of financial institutions for users to choose from before being redirected to a third-party.
I suggested that we display the two most common institutions to select from, then provide a live search bar for users to find other institutions.