Elan Financial Services

Rebuilding Trust Through Design: How We Transformed Elan’s Mobile App

The Challenge: A Failing Product, A Risk to Reputation

In 2022, Elan Financial Services was facing a critical problem. Their white-labeled credit card app had become a liability. Customers were vocal and unhappy with a 1.6-star App Store rating and consistent complaints about usability. The architecture was brittle, the interface outdated, and partner institutions were beginning to express concern. Elan’s reputation in the competitive payment space was at risk.

The company didn’t just need a redesign, they needed to rebuild user trust, modernize their platform, and deliver a mobile experience that reflected the caliber of their financial services.

INDUSTRIES

Financial Services
Credit Cards

ROLE

Experience Designer

DISCIPLINES

UX / UI

TIMELINE

2022-2025

TOOLS

Figma
Figjam

My Role: Driving Design with Strategy and Empathy

I was brought in as the Experience Designer to help lead this transformation. My role extended well beyond delivering mockups. I operated as a strategic partner across product, research, engineering, and accessibility, owning design execution while aligning on vision, outcomes, and feasibility.

Core responsibilities:

  • Led end-to-end design for 37+ native mobile and responsive web features using a custom white-label system

  • Delivered high-fidelity Figma prototypes for iOS and Android that served Elan and partner brand variations

  • Partnered with UX researchers to shape feature priorities and validate direction through moderated testing

  • Presented roadmaps, user flows, and rationale to executive stakeholders across product and technology

  • Integrated accessibility best practices from day one to ensure inclusive, WCAG-compliant designs

Collaboration and communication were key. I worked fluidly across teams and disciplines, ensuring design decisions were grounded in user needs, technically feasible, and business-aligned.

Strategic Foundation: Research That Mattered

We started by taking a step back. We ran a three-day cross-functional Google Design Sprint with researchers, PMs, developers, and stakeholders to get alignment and accelerate early decision-making.

Key research inputs:

  • App Store feedback and survey data to identify common usability blockers

  • Competitive analysis to benchmark against leading mobile banking apps

  • Google Analytics to surface friction points and user drop-off patterns

  • Usability testing to validate new navigation models and task flows

These inputs informed a simplified global navigation system, clarified core user journeys, and helped us prioritize high-impact features.

My Design Process: Intentional, Scalable, Outcomes-Focused

I approach product design as a system, not just a set of screens. Here's how I brought structure and momentum to a highly complex redesign:

  1. Discover – Clarified goals, gathered data, aligned with PMs and other Product teams

  2. Define – Created user flows and prioritized design opportunities

  3. Design – Built iterative wireframes and prototypes in Figma with stakeholder feedback loops

  4. Validate – Partnered with research and QA to test for usability and accessibility

  5. Deliver – Supported dev handoff with annotated specs and post-launch QA

Throughout, I emphasized clarity, scalability, and impact, ensuring our work not only looked great but worked under pressure.

Design Philosophy: Clarity, Empathy, and Accountability

I believe in designing with intention, crafting systems that are intuitive, inclusive, and aligned with business goals. My design philosophy centers on:

  • Solving the right problem: I anchor every decision in user data and business strategy

  • Designing for everyone: Accessibility and inclusion are embedded in my process

  • Communicating clearly: I bring transparency to complex ideas through storytelling and visuals

  • Owning outcomes: I measure success not by shipped features but by improved metrics and user satisfaction

  • Working as one team: I thrive in highly collaborative, multi-disciplinary environments

This mindset helped us gain stakeholder trust, speed up feedback loops, and ultimately deliver results that exceeded expectations.

The Outcome: A Product Reborn

The redesigned Elan Partner Card app launched in September 2024, and the results were immediate and measurable:

  • App Store rating increased from 1.6 to 4.8/5, supported by 116,000+ positive reviews

  • Task completion rate rose to 94%, enabling users to confidently complete top-priority actions

  • User satisfaction score reached 76% across both iOS and Android

  • Institutional partners gained a more stable, white-labeled platform they could confidently promote

More than a redesign, this project restored trust. It redefined what a white-label financial experience could be accessible, scalable, and built around the user.

  • "It’s so much better. This app used to be hot garbage. I’m not sure who’s in charge now, but it’s so much better than it used to be."

    Nick from Richmond

  • “Great improvement. This app was working and doing what it was supposed to do, but with this update it has gone to another level. It’s so easy to sign in and find everything I need to do with my credit card account. Great job!”

    Myas2011

  • “Simple and Easy. App is straightforward and the features are as well which helps to easier navigate to get what you want to access to something or complete a certain task or two.”

    UsagiBry

  • “AMAZING!!!! This new update is amazing!!! So much better than the previous version, very user friendly and intuitive. Very happy with how it’s functioning :)”

    Ananabella012

  • “User friendly. Easy to find important info on main screen. Making payments are quick and easy. App very stable. Like the Elan app.”

    5-0 in Ellenwood

  • “Big upgrade, great app. Where the app was before to now, it is so much better and easier to use. ExtendPay is a great feature, and things are clearly labeled.”

    rojasn10

What This Project Represents

This was a pivotal experience in my career, one where I owned the full arc of product design across strategy, execution, collaboration, and delivery. It tested and sharpened my ability to:

  • Lead UX within a cross-functional product team

  • Align design systems with long-term scalability

  • Influence stakeholders through data and narrative

  • Solve problems with empathy, not assumption

  • Deliver measurable business and user impact

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