Design Champions: Monzo

My colleagues would probably (definitely) call me an early adopter – particularly when it comes to technology.  The thing that’s excited me recently is the breed of new digital banks popping up.

Monzo is one of a number of challenger banks looking to shake up the industry through more user-centric design.  Their ambitions are big (‘to build the best bank on the planet’), and it’s clear, even from their Beta service, how design is at the core of all of their decisions.

From its beautifully clean app design giving greater clarity around the way you manage your money, to its super-simple onboarding and conversational customer support – it’s a great example of how user-centred design can transform the way we feel about a brand.

Traditional banks blame ‘legacy systems’ for so little industry change over the years.  Clean-slate start ups like Monzo are reinventing banking from the bottom-up with none of the baggage.

This enables Monzo to think about design in its broadest context – redefining the product, service and aesthetics we’ve come to expect from our banks.

The result is a brand that feels democratic. Customers are involved in co-creating the bank of the future.  Not only are they given direct access to the Monzo team via an active, constructive community, but they’re also able to ‘up vote’ the features they want to see most on Monzo’s ‘Transparent Product Roadmap’.

Treating their customers as equals raises the stakes so much higher. You just can’t imagine traditional banks invoking the same passion.

Hats off to Hugo Cornejo and the rest of the Monzo team for being true Design Champions.

About Design Champions
We celebrate Design Champions regularly at our internal team meeting and thought it time to begin sharing these on the blog. In this new blog strand, we’re going to share those brands who are using design to amazing effect.