Financial Banking App Design
LUMA: Banking built with Ai for its users.
INTRO
Luma is a concept banking app designed around the seamless integration of AI into everyday financial routines. As the financial industry rapidly adopts AI technologies for consumer use, Luma addresses a critical challenge: building user trust through transparency. By prioritizing clear communication and user customizability, Luma repositions AI as an empowering, secure extension of the user — rather than an impersonal or hidden system. The ultimate goal is to help users feel more confident and in control of their financial future.
My initial research into the banking industry revealed striking numbers. As of 2025, 87% of banks are investing in generative AI for both internal operations and consumer-facing services. Yet 74% of users report concerns about a lack of transparency in how this technology is being used (SAS Institute Inc.).
While AI in banking isn’t new — first introduced in the 1980s for fraud detection using basic “if-then” logic — its capabilities have evolved dramatically. Today, AI powers everything from advanced virtual assistants to dynamic financial forecasting and automated reporting. Some banks will succeed in adapting to this shift; others risk losing consumer trust if they fail to evolve with clarity and intention.
Brand
Below are parts from Luma’s brand guidelines. To explore the full guidelines, visit my portfolio at:
Luma’s branding was built with AI at its core. By analyzing the current visual language surrounding artificial intelligence, I crafted a name and identity that feels both futuristic and human. The result is a brand that is modern — designed to reflect technological innovation without feeling cold or sterile.
Research
During a competitive analysis of existing banking platforms, I noticed a shared approach: most rely on generic AI assistant interfaces that escalate to human agents when tasks fail. These interactions often lack transparency and feel disconnected from the user’s actual needs.
Luma challenges this model by taking a transparent-first approach — openly showing where and how AI is used, while offering consumers more hands-on, functional uses for AI within the app. Rather than concealing the technology, Luma invites users to actively shape their experience with it.
User Persona
To shape the app’s direction, I developed a focused user persona: a younger, tech-savvy user who is already familiar with AI in their daily life. This persona helped steer the tone, flow, and feature prioritization of the app.
In the prototype, the user is introduced to Luma through a conversational onboarding flow that immediately highlights its AI-driven capabilities and invites interaction.
User Flow
The app experience follows a simple, intuitive structure: Onboarding → Home Page → Luma AI Chat → Wallet → Profile
Onboarding
One of the biggest barriers to AI adoption is a lack of trust. To address this, I designed a short but thoughtful onboarding sequence that sets clear expectations. It explains how Luma’s AI works and gives users early control over their preferences, such as enabling specific AI-generated insights.
By making transparency a feature — not a burden — this onboarding sequence establishes a strong foundation of trust and user empowerment from the beginning.
A/B User Testing
After wireframing the initial layout, I conducted A/B testing to compare two design approaches:
- Test A: Featured a transparent interface that highlighted when AI was active, allowed users to customize AI features, and provided options for adjusting tone and communication style.
- Test B: Mirrored traditional banking apps, offering minimal insight into AI functionality.
Results:
96% of users preferred Test A’s transparent and customizable design.
Feedback from the test also led to refinements that made transparency-focused features more visually prominent — further reinforcing that user control and clarity are essential competitive advantages in AI-driven banking.
Luma Ai Chat
The AI chat feature offers a familiar, intuitive experience — similar to starting a conversation with ChatGPT or DeepSeek. Users can simply tap the Luma AI icon to begin. From there, they can ask Luma to handle a wide range of tasks. For example, if a user wants to set a new spending goal, Luma can analyze their current spending habits, suggest next steps, and automatically update goal trackers or set reminders — all within the same conversation.
Final Solution
This is the final design turn out of Luma Mobile.
Advertising
To define Luma’s brand voice, I explored how strong messaging can differentiate a product. A notable example is Apple’s 2019 CES campaign:
“What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.”
This line clearly positioned Apple as a privacy-first brand in contrast to competitors under fire for data misuse.
Inspired by this strategy, I created Luma’s campaign:
“Luma. See what your AI sees.”
To visualize this message, I paired the campaign with three iconic artworks. These paintings — rich with centuries of interpretation — reflect how AI can feel similarly opaque or misunderstood. In this campaign, the artworks act as metaphors for Luma’s mission: transforming the hidden into something knowable, visible, and meaningful.
Next Steps
The next stage for Luma includes developing a comprehensive website and expanding user testing across additional app screens. As AI continues to evolve within the banking industry, I look forward to seeing how consumer expectations around transparency, trust, and personalization shape the future — and how Luma’s concept can be a part of that shift.
