Overview
UP is Airtime’s premium experience, built on open banking designed to accelerate rewards and unlock additional value for users at no extra cost. The onboarding journey is the critical moment where users decide whether they trust Airtime with their financial data.
This project focused on designing an onboarding experience that could clearly explain value, build confidence, and scale adoption, while operating within the constraints of regulation, third-party providers and user sensitivity around banking data.
The Problem
Open banking onboarding presented a significant challenge:
- Users were being asked to connect their bank accounts, a moment that carries high perceived risk even if the service is free
- The value of UP was not always clear enough to justify that trust
- Third-party handoffs created abrupt visual and contextual breaks which sometimes created worry and loses trusts for some users
- Regulatory requirements added unavoidable complexity to the flow
- Drop-off at key moments limited adoption and long-term value
The core problem was not usability alone, but trust.
Users needed to understand why they were being asked to connect, what data was being accessed and what they would get in return, without feeling overwhelmed or pressured.
Defining success
Success for the UP onboarding experience was not measured by conversion alone. Given the sensitivity of open banking, success needed to balance adoption with long-term trust.
We defined success as:
- Users clearly understanding why they were being asked to connect their bank
- Users feeling informed and in control rather than pressured
- Reduced drop-off at key onboarding and third-party handoff moments
- Increased adoption of UP without negatively impacting retention
- Fewer users disconnecting accounts due to confusion or mistrust
To clarify, success meant creating an experience users were both educated by but also felt comfortable committing to, not just completing.
The data we used
The work was informed by a combination of behavioural data and qualitative insight:
Quantitative signals:
Funnel data highlighting drop-off at specific onboarding and handoff stages
Adoption trends across different invitation and entry points
Reconnection behaviour driven by open banking expiry requirements
Qualitative insight:
User interviews revealing discomfort and hesitation around bank access
Feedback showing confusion about third-party providers and data usage
Observations that users needed reassurance and context before committing
Together, this data pointed to a clear opportunity: users didn’t need more information, they needed better framed information at the right moments.
Design sprint
Next we kicked off a design sprint. Our goal was to have a prototype we could test with a group on UserTesting by the end of the week. It was important to use a bunch of user's that had never seen the Up onboarding experience to see if it would be confusing at any point and what information they felt would be best included within the experience.
User Testing
User testing allowed us to find out some very valuable insights with the designs
User testing allowed us to find out some very valuable insights with the designs
Changes from testing
Post-MVP testing highlighted several opportunities to further strengthen the onboarding experience.
Key improvements identified included:
• Introducing clearer pre-handover messaging to better prepare users for the third-party experience
• Further simplifying language around data access and permissions
• Adding stronger reassurance at moments of commitment, such as confirmation steps
• Improving visual continuity to reduce the feeling of being “taken out” of the Airtime experience
• Offering more flexibility and clarity around reconnection expectations
• Introducing clearer pre-handover messaging to better prepare users for the third-party experience
• Further simplifying language around data access and permissions
• Adding stronger reassurance at moments of commitment, such as confirmation steps
• Improving visual continuity to reduce the feeling of being “taken out” of the Airtime experience
• Offering more flexibility and clarity around reconnection expectations
These insights helped shape subsequent iterations, ensuring the onboarding continued to evolve based on real user behaviour and feedback.
AI
By combining AI assisted copy exploration with quick prototyping in Figma, I was able to test different approaches to pacing and explanation with users and internal stakeholders early on. This helped identify which messages reduced hesitation and which added unnecessary friction, before committing to final designs.
AI also supported faster synthesis of qualitative feedback, helping me identify common themes around trust, confusion, and perceived risk. This meant design iterations were informed by patterns rather than isolated comments, allowing the team to move confidently while working in a highly regulated space.
AI also supported faster synthesis of qualitative feedback, helping me identify common themes around trust, confusion, and perceived risk. This meant design iterations were informed by patterns rather than isolated comments, allowing the team to move confidently while working in a highly regulated space.
Building
After testing, we meet together, reviewed things, talked feasibility, made some tradeoffs for our first MVP, then they started building things pretty quickly.
Conclusion
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