Redefining Digital Banking for IOB: Enhancing Simplicity, Trust & Accessibility
About
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), founded in 1937 and headquartered in Chennai, is one of India’s prominent public sector banks. With a network of 3,200+ branches and a strong focus on digital innovation, IOB connects with millions of customers nationwide. Its mobile app stands as a central pillar in the bank’s digital transformation journey.
Problem Statement
The existing IOB mobile app had a dated and cluttered interface, inconsistent design patterns, and limited accessibility, which led to confusion and reduced engagement, especially among digital-first users. Common tasks like UPI, deposits, and card management were overly complex, while older and less tech-savvy customers struggled with usability. A key challenge was to modernize the app while still retaining familiarity for existing users.
My Role
As part of the core UX team, I worked on key modules of the IOB mobile app, Deposits, Credit Card, Debit Card, and UPI, with a focus on improving usability, simplifying flows, enhancing accessibility, and ensuring visual consistency. My responsibilities spanned from auditing these modules to uncover UX issues, defining user flows and priorities, wireframing and crafting high-fidelity UI, refining the visual design with a modern and clean interface, and ensuring accessibility for diverse users, while closely collaborating with stakeholders for feedback and iteration. In this case study, I’ll specifically showcase how I revamped the Deposits module.
Understanding the Current User Experience
To validate and understand these challenges in depth, I conducted a comprehensive UX audit of the existing Deposits module. This revealed key usability issues, friction points, and design inconsistencies, giving me clear, data-backed insights to guide user-focused improvements.
This app fails to gather data from users, which would help provide the right set of offerings later on.
Users need to tap a dropdown to see other accounts. Showing them upfront would make it quicker and easier.
Primary tasks like “View Transactions” and “View Statements” don’t visually stand out from secondary ones like “Recharge” or “Marketplace.”
The screen feels crowded with too many icons and labels at once.
The "Handpicked offers" card shows only brand logos, so users don’t understand what the offers are. It lacks context and feels unclear.
Irrelevant information. This is not helping the user
Icon styles vary in weight and alignment (e.g., “IPO (ASBA)” and “Market Place”
The selected state in the bottom navigation is not visually highlighted, making it hard for users to know which section they’re currently in.
Back button is missing, breaking the natural flow from the home screen.
Info message focuses on technical limitations, which may discourage users from creating deposits.
The bottom navigation bar isn’t needed on inner screens and adds unnecessary distraction.
These labels feel unclear without any helper text. Users might end up tapping each option just to figure out what it does.
No direct access to view or manage existing deposits, which is what most users expect here.
Insights from App Store & Play Store Reviews
Along with the audit, I also analyzed user feedback from the App Store and Play Store. These reviews revealed recurring issues that directly impacted usability and trust. These real-world pain points validated my UX audit findings and shaped the redesign priorities.
Deep Dive - Primary Research
To gain deeper insights, I collaborated with L Code, a Chennai-based development partner, on a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews and usability testing with 80+ IOB customers across age groups and digital familiarity levels. The research focused on how users interacted with key features like fund transfers, bill payments, deposits, and card management, what caused frustration or drop-offs, and what they expected from a modern banking experience.
Engagement Insights - Gender
80+
Candidates
Male
Female
Male Users: 68%
Primary app users, especially for self-service banking, bill payments, and fund transfers.
Female Users: 32%
Mostly used for checking balances and viewing transactions, with little use of advanced features like deposits.
Engagement Insights - Age Group
Age group
Percentage (%)
60
45
30
15
0
15%
18 - 25
52%
26 - 40
25%
41 - 60
8%
60 +
18 - 25 yrs
15%
Primarily use app for checking balances and UPI. Expect quick, minimal UI.
26 - 40 yrs
52%
Most engaged group. Use full suite of features like transfers, deposits, bill payments.
41 - 60 yrs
25%
Use app for traditional banking (FDs, balance checking). Struggle with navigation.
60+ yrs
8%
Limited use. Major usability barriers due to unfamiliar UI and terminology.
Key Insights
The research findings made it clear why users struggled with the app. Simple actions took too many steps, the interface felt outdated, and many users got stuck during critical tasks. Trust was also an issue, with over half saying the app didn’t feel “bank-like.” Nearly half dropped off during onboarding due to confusion or technical problems. These insights directly shaped the priorities for the redesign.
75%
of users said basic actions like checking balance or deposits required too many steps.
68%
found the interface cluttered or visually outdated
60%
felt unsure during critical flows due to lack of guidance or feedback
55%
55% said the app didn’t feel “trustworthy” or “bank-like”
48%
dropped off during onboarding or login due to confusion or technical issues
Empathizing with Our Users
To bring these research findings to life, I created personas that captured the goals and frustrations of different user groups. For example, younger, tech-savvy users wanted speed and efficiency, while older users needed clarity and guidance. These personas served as reference points throughout the redesign, helping me ensure that the solutions stayed user-centered.
From Insights to Wireframes
Building on the research and competitor analysis, I defined clear design goals: simplify everyday banking tasks, build trust with a clean and familiar layout, improve accessibility for all age groups, and reduce friction in key journeys like UPI, deposits, and card management. I then translated these goals into wireframes that focused on usability, clarity, and consistency, making sure users could complete their tasks with fewer steps and less confusion.
Crafting the Ideal Look and Feel
With the wireframes finalized, I moved on to visual design with the goal of giving IOB a fresh, modern look that still felt trustworthy and easy to use. I explored three style directions, each balancing IOB’s brand with user needs. After design sprints, discussions, and reviews with stakeholders, developers, and users, the third option was chosen as it combined a modern interface with intuitive navigation, aligning perfectly with IOB’s vision of enhancing their digital experience while keeping the app approachable for all users.
Building a Consistent Design Foundation
Once the final visual style was selected, I created a foundational style sheet to ensure visual consistency across the app. This style sheet defined the core UI components, including typography, color palette, buttons, icons, and spacing guidelines. By standardizing these elements, I aimed to maintain a cohesive look and feel throughout the app, supporting a seamless user experience. This approach not only enhanced design consistency but also streamlined the handoff process for developers, enabling efficient implementation and a polished, unified interface.
Final Designs
Deposits
Main Key Screens
Let’s Collaborate
©
Rahul R Pillai
2024