Accessibility & contrast
Information was carried by color alone, nearly imperceptible for users with Protanopia or Deuteranopia and failing recommended contrast standards under testing tools.
SmartWealth Onboarding
“Trust is a design decision. An onboarding either earns it or wastes it.”
The context
NBK SmartWealth is a mobile investment app by the National Bank of Kuwait. Users can open accounts and invest digitally, but the onboarding flow was criticized for being unclear and overly text-heavy on mobile, exactly where first impressions decide whether a financial product feels trustworthy.
The brief: evaluate the flow, clarify identity verification (Civil ID / Passport), and make the experience feel native on both Android and iOS, without losing the bank's authority.
The problem
Five failures stacked on the same flow, each one small alone yet together enough to make users abandon a bank account they asked to open:
- Poor hierarchy: steps look the same, no clear “Continue”.
- No progress tracking: users don't know how many steps remain.
- Unclear instructions: verification text too heavy and confusing.
- Low trust signals: security and privacy never emphasized.
- Inconsistent UI: it doesn't feel native to iOS or Android.
Research
Usability review across the flow surfaced three systemic issues, each confirmed against platform conventions and accessibility tooling:
Information overload
Numbered steps felt excessive and patronizing; the tone lacked empathy; time estimates were vague or inconsistent enough to breed frustration.
Inconsistent typography
Over five distinct font sizes competed on a single screen, breaking visual hierarchy and the reader's ability to connect related text.
The redesign
Every fix maps to a specific failure; nothing was restyled for taste alone:
- Main onboarding: three illustrated steps, progress indicator, skip and back options.
- Verify ID: clear subtext, Civil ID / Passport cards, strong CTAs, a reassurance note.
- Complete info: cleaner forms with icons, native platform-specific styling.
- Fund account: bold numeric entry, one primary “Deposit”, one secondary “Skip”.
- Success: a moment of celebration, confetti then a single “Finish”.
Artifacts
The fund-account screen after redesign: one number to type, one decision to make, one honest default. Access gating communicates the steps left, quietly.
