An Post Money
An Post undertook a strategic expansion of its financial services offering through the development of a unified mobile application, designed to support both existing Current Account customers and a new Youth Account for users aged 10–15. The ambition was to deliver a mobile-first experience that was intuitive, secure, and age-appropriate, while maintaining continuity across desktop touchpoints.
In this engagement, I led the UX/UI direction, defining the experience strategy and aligning cross-functional stakeholders across product, compliance, and engineering to deliver a cohesive and scalable solution.
Problem
The core challenge was to unify distinct user journeys—serving both adult and youth audiences—within a single, coherent product ecosystem, without compromising usability, regulatory compliance, or security.
A critical aspect of this was designing an experience for younger users that felt engaging and expressive, while still operating within the constraints of financial regulation and parental oversight.
The solution needed to strike a careful balance between empowerment and control—enabling young users to confidently engage with money management, while ensuring parents retained visibility, trust, and governance over account activity.
Process
A structured, research-led and iterative design approach was adopted to ensure decisions were grounded in user insight, validated through testing, and aligned with both business and regulatory requirements.
Discovery & Alignment
I facilitated cross-functional workshops with product, compliance, and technology stakeholders to define key requirements, constraints, and success criteria. This ensured early alignment on scope, regulatory considerations, and technical feasibility.
User & Behavioural Research
In partnership with SPARK Market Research, we conducted qualitative and behavioural research to understand how younger users engage with digital products, including their expectations around autonomy, trust, and usability. These insights directly informed interaction models, tone of voice, and feature prioritisation.
Market & Competitive Analysis
We analysed leading youth-focused financial and lifestyle applications to benchmark best-in-class interaction patterns, visual language, and engagement strategies. This enabled us to position the experience as contemporary and relatable, while avoiding overly simplistic or infantilised design approaches.
Competitor Analysis
Concept Development & Rapid Prototyping
Multiple design directions were explored across visual identity, layout systems, illustration styles, and motion behaviours. Low- to high-fidelity prototypes were iteratively developed and tested with both stakeholders and representative users to validate usability, comprehension, and engagement.
Journey Mapping & Information Architecture
End-to-end customer journeys were defined across key scenarios, including new youth onboarding, existing customer migration, and parent-linked account management. Information architecture and task flows were optimised to reduce friction while supporting compliance requirements.
Onboarding & Service Design
A flexible, modular onboarding framework was designed to accommodate multiple entry points and account types. This required close collaboration with compliance and engineering teams to ensure regulatory adherence while maintaining a simple, intuitive user experience.
Design System & Governance
A scalable component library and design system approach was established to ensure consistency across mobile and desktop platforms, while enabling efficient collaboration with engineering teams throughout delivery.
Hi-Fidelity Concepts
User Flows
Implementation
The final solution introduced a clean, modern visual language that balanced clarity with approachability, using optimistic colour palettes, accessible typography, and intuitive iconography tailored to both adult and youth audiences.
Key deliverables included:
Accessible UI patterns aligned with WCAG 2.0 AA standards
A reusable component library supporting cross-platform consistency
Modular onboarding flows enabling multiple account types and approval pathways
Parental oversight features designed to reinforce transparency, control, and trust
Ongoing design reviews and close collaboration with product and engineering ensured fidelity between design and build, reducing delivery friction and maintaining quality throughout implementation.
Conclusion
This initiative positioned An Post to expand its digital offering and engage a new generation of customers at a formative stage in their financial journey.
By combining research-driven insight with a structured design process and scalable system thinking, the solution delivers an experience that is engaging, responsible, and future-ready, supporting both immediate product objectives and the long-term evolution of the An Post Money proposition.