Role: Lead UX Designer
Duration: March 2020 – October 2020 (7 months)
Team: Solo designer at pulse.digital, collaborating with bank directors and staff
Client: Caisse d'Épargne d'Aubonne (Swiss regional bank)
The Challenge
Caisse d'Épargne d'Aubonne is a Swiss regional bank with a simple goal: be close to the people, give them essential services. They serve everyone : seniors, families, entrepreneurs, young professionals. Good people, solid values. But in 2020? Their website wasn't keeping up. Client acquisition had stalled. The site didn't reflect who they were. Something had to change.
My Role
- Ran the whole UX process, start to finish
- Did the stakeholder interviews and user research
- Designed and tested 3 concepts
- Delivered final designs and guided implementation
Discovery
Winning Over Skeptical Stakeholders
Here's the thing about UX research in traditional environments: not everyone gets it right away.
More than once I heard: "We're just building a website, not conducting a sociological study; this is wasted time."
Fair enough. I get it. But here's what worked: total transparency. Monthly progress presentations where I explained not just what I was doing, but why. What we learned, what's next, what it means for the design.
They came around, because transparency works.
User Research
The bank serves 5 very different types of people. Seniors don't use a banking website the same way entrepreneurs do. Not even close.
So I needed to understand each of them:
- How do they relate to managing money?
- What services would actually help their daily lives?
- What creates trust with a bank?
- Where are they getting frustrated?
Competitive Analysis
I looked at UBS, BCV, CLER, and other regional banks — running simple scenarios through each. "How do I open an account as a senior?" "Where are the business services?"
What I found:
Bank | What works | What doesn't |
UBS | Clean, professional | Feels impersonal, navigation is complex |
BCV | Good options guide | Weird navigation, confusing layout |
CLER | Modern, responsive | Too many options, cluttered |
Caisse Epargne Riviera | Clear, pleasant | 3-4 clicks to get anywhere |
Caisse Epargne Nyon | Simple offers | Not enough CTAs, looks dated |
The Users
From the main research and 15+ more interviews done, 4 main personas emerged:
Persona | What they need |
Families | Reassurance, guidance, feeling understood |
Seniors | Help with wealth transmission, simple and trustworthy |
Professionals | Quick access, efficiency, no fluff |
Entrepreneurs | Business services, growth support, flexibility |
Solution
Testing 3 Concepts
I designed 3 different directions and tested them — a mix of basic prototyping, online interviews, and in-person sessions when COVID rules relaxed a bit.
What the testing made clear:
- People need quick access to urgent stuff (block my card, e-banking not working)
- Services should be organized by need, not by product category
- Contact should always be visible — proximity is the whole brand
- Keep the naming simple. Not everyone speaks "bank."
The Final Design
Homepage — Above the Fold
Everything important, right there. No hunting.
- Latest news in the header
- Quick contact access
- Emergency services (block card, e-banking help)
- Contact panel that stays visible on the right
The goal? Make this page a direct line to the bank. Reinforce the proximity and transparency they're known for.
Accounts Page
All account types, clearly laid out. Readable. Accessible. No jargon.
Results
What we measured | What happened |
Client acquisition | +30% in 6 months |
Stakeholder buy-in | Full adoption — skeptics became supporters |
Design longevity | Still in use, minimal changes needed |
User coverage | All 5 personas addressed |
The stakeholders who said "this is wasted time"? By the end, they were champions of the process.
Turns out, when you keep people in the loop and show them why decisions are made, they support you — even when it gets tough.
What I Learned
1. Stakeholder management is design work.
The interviews, the methodology, the analysis — it all felt "extra" to them at first. But monthly presentations and clear explanations turned skeptics into advocates. That's not separate from design. That is design.
2. Simple is hard.
K.I.S.S. is easy to say, brutal to execute. Every element on that final site earned its place. If it didn't serve a clear purpose, it got cut.
3. Different users, same solution.
Families and seniors have different needs. But both want clarity, both want trust. The solution had to work for everyone without creating five different websites.
See It Live
Caisse d’épargne d’Aubonne - Accueil
Bienvenue sur la page d’accueil de la Caisse d'Epargne d'Aubonne est une société coopérative implantée dans les districts de Morges et de Nyon, dans le canton de Vaud.
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