Hi everyone, I’m currently designing a UI for a fintech web app, and I’m finding it tricky to balance clean, modern aesthetics with usability—especially for users who might not be very tech-savvy. I want the interface to look polished and trustworthy, but at the same time, it needs to be super intuitive.
I’m using Figma for prototyping and focusing on a minimal design with lots of whitespace and clean typography. But when I tested it with a few users, some said it looked “too empty” or “too plain.” Now I’m questioning how much visual detail is helpful before it becomes distracting.
Has anyone else here worked on fintech, banking, or finance-related interfaces? How do you approach visual hierarchy, colors, and spacing in projects where trust and clarity are more important than being flashy? Also, do you use icons or illustrations to guide users, or keep everything super minimal?
Would love to hear how others strike that balance in their projects—especially when designing for a broad audience. Thanks!
When asked, most people will provide superficial responses about whether they like the looks of a design. This is valuable information, but it’s less important than their ability to navigate the UI in a way that easily gets them to where they want to go. Their initial opinion of the aesthetics is also not as important as the underlying confidence and trust the experience conveys. In other words, the UX comes before the UI.
The websites and apps of the large banks and brokerages all have things in common. For that matter, they all look similar with similar layouts. It might seem as though they’re copying each other until one realizes that each has spent millions of dollars on their apps and site, and ran those designs through multiple sessions of user testing to tweak the UX for maximum usability.
They might have a single large image to provide a little flavor. However, everything else is designed to get right to the point in a hierarchical structure that provides obvious avenues for their customers to follow, and that gets them to where they want to go with a minimum of confusion.
My god I checked figma website and their website is horrible haha. Yuck!
There are psychological responses to colors you know. It’s a proven fact. Some say it’s not a huge deal. But subtle colors can translate to trust or lust or well you get it. If your User Interface is boring then brighten it up with colors. I’m sounding like a male fashion designer here ha ha. Colors! Colors! No gray! Hate gray.
Haha, I appreciate the passionate take on color—definitely made me smile! You’re totally right about the psychology of color. In fintech software development services, color choice can subtly (or not so subtly) influence user trust and engagement. I’ve been avoiding overuse of gray for that exact reason, but now I’m rethinking how to add more vibrance without losing that “secure and clean” fintech feel.
I think the trick is finding a palette that adds warmth and clarity without overwhelming users—especially those who aren’t super tech-savvy. Maybe soft blues for trust, greens for financial wellness? Curious to know if you’ve found any go-to combinations that strike that balance.
Thanks again for the energy—definitely got me thinking differently about this!
Ha ha I understand. I uploaded some colors I screen grabbed from bank commercials from the year 1999 and 2025. They are literally the same. No change.
Remember ING commercials? They used Orange. I remember the jokes about ING. They use the same orange our penitentiaries use (prison clothing for inmates). Yet bank of America. American express. And other financial institutions use the combinations I’ve uploaded. Is it safe to use that? Did your client express a color limitation of what you can’t or can use. Or is this like a competition for work and you don’t know what color to use.
BTW. I screen grabbed small sections of a copyrighted commercial for a color palette. I am in t
P.s do you have to account for color blind users. Gay pride flag colors? Color sensitivity to migrant workers (ethnicity and color meanings)? I think I’d go for safe. And maybe a fine l line of color through out the UI like you know how a lemon compliments cooking and also now represents freshness and cleanliness.
You’re totally right about the psychology of color. In fintech software development services, color choice can subtly (or not so subtly) influence user trust and engagement. I’ve been avoiding overuse of gray for that exact reason, but now I’m rethinking how to add more vibrance without losing that “secure and clean” fintech feel.