- Client
- Tidewell Bank
- Role
- Lead product designer
- Timeline
- 16 weeks
- Services
- Research, UX strategy, UI design, Prototyping
01
The brief
Tidewell's members were avoiding their own banking app. Interviews kept surfacing the same word: dread. Balances appeared without context, alerts arrived like warnings and budgeting felt like homework. The brief was to rebuild everyday banking so that opening the app felt closer to checking the weather than opening a bill.
02
The approach
I ran diary studies with 24 members across three pay cycles and mapped the moments when money anxiety peaked. That research shaped a new model called Tides, where spending rises and falls gently across the month instead of hanging on one frightening number. Alerts became calm, specific nudges, the home screen now leads with what is safe to spend today, and every flow was prototyped in motion and tested with members each week before a single screen was final.
03
The outcome
Tidewell relaunched to its full member base in the spring. Members now open the app more often for shorter, calmer visits, and the support team hears far fewer panicked calls after payday.
+41%
weekly active members
−32%
balance-related support calls
4.8
App Store rating, up from 3.1
