N26 Bank
N26 Platform Migration
As Experience Design Director, I guided the multi-year redesign of Schwab’s Retirement digital ecosystem (web + native app), spanning onboarding, rollover, client dashboards, plan sponsor software, and advisor tools.
Scope of work
App Design
Desktop SaaS Design
Concept Strategy
6 mo migration our entire userbase
96.1% customer retention — beating expectations by 21%
170,000 accounts migrated seamlessly
German SEC Deadline -> Mitigated company shut down
Role
Lead Product Designer
Date
2017
Team
104+ Team members
Product Owner, CEO, CFO, Director Legal, Engineering Team, Every Single Customer Success employee
Problem
N26 secured a European banking license, requiring the migration of ~170,000 customers to a new banking infrastructure in under two months. The challenge was unprecedented: -> Customers needed to transfer their money and accounts with absolute trust. -> The migration spanned app, web, customer support, and marketing channels. -> Internal teams lacked direction after a product manager’s departure, leaving design to help drive clarity, alignment, and execution. -> A misstep could have meant massive customer churn and reputational damage at a pivotal growth stage.
The Approach
When I joined N26, there was no structured UX research or testing process in place. Product decisions were being made without validation, slowing teams down and creating risk in a regulated, high-growth environment. My Approach -> Identified gaps in decision-making and created the company’s first UX Research Lab. -> Built a scalable process and documentation for testing across flows, usability, and product needs. -> Introduced multiple methods: in-house usability labs, remote testing, guerrilla testing, and needs-based product research. -> Secured stakeholder buy-in across product, engineering, and operations to integrate testing into agile cycles. Trained designers and cross-functional partners in running effective tests, prioritizing hypotheses, and synthesizing actionable insights.
6 mo migration our entire userbase
Outcomes
In 2 years LAUNCHEd
Redesigned and launched at least 1st phase of 6 interconnected experiences:
1. Enrollment & Onboarding
2. Rollover
3. Client Logged-in Experience
4. Record Keeping backend
5. Plan Sponsor Experience
6. Advisor Experience
BUILT PROCESS & CULTURE
01/ Created UX Bootcamps to educate Product and Engineering, which built empathy and shared practices.
02/ Developed a UX-QA process inside Agile, increasing efficiency and trust by 200%.
03/ Raised design maturity on team. Coached designers on workshop facilitation and alignment practices.
INCREASE FUNNEL & RETENTION
01/ Secured deals worth $300M with Airline and Healthcare companies because of work.
02/ Increased funnel conversion through rollovers and easier onboarding. Combined $29M AUM and 12,000 clients impacted first year.
03/ Customer satisfaction increased with combined app and easier to understand data, architecture and design.
SELECTED WORK
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