Case Study
HCB Business Redesign
Evolving a Banking App from MVP to a Scalable Platform
Company
Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan
Duration
Feb–Dec 2025 (~10 months)
Role
Head of Product Design
Team
5 designers, 10 streams
55→76%
Registration conversion
+23%
Stickiness (workdays)
+19%
Merchant Cabinet MAU
4.9
VoC rating
Background
HCB Business is a digital bank for SMEs, launched as an MVP in 6 months (2023). Two currency accounts, basic payments, onboarding — nothing more.
Then the product scaled fast: 7 currencies, business cards, deposits, loans, online accounting, insurance, merchant sales cabinet, tariff plans. All layered on top of the MVP architecture with no room for growth. The app became a Frankenstein — functional, but cluttered and inconsistent.
I initiated the redesign as part of our annual design strategy, presenting the business case to C-level stakeholders and shareholders. ~80% of the App Vision deck was my work.
This was not a business request — the design team identified the need, built the case, and sold it to leadership. A purely design-led initiative.
Research
User Research
50+ in-depth interviews, regular surveys, and quantitative studies across all client segments — merchants, general SMEs, and foreign trade businesses.
Competitive Analysis
Feature comparison matrix across Kazakh banks (Kaspi, Halyk, Jusan, HCB). Screen-by-screen benchmarking of every key flow. Best practice references from top global banks via Mobbin. 13 banks analyzed.
Top 10 Banking Operations
Identified the 10 most frequent operations in SME banking. Compared implementation quality across competitors to prioritize which flows to redesign first.
Key Insight
SME clients prioritize speed over feature richness — they want to find what they need in seconds, not navigate complex menus. The pre-authorization zone was the single biggest conversion lever.
Key Decisions
Pre-Authorization Zone
55% → 76% conversion
Before
Static splash screen. Two buttons — register or sign in. No reason to explore the app.
After
- Product information, tariffs, and promotional offers
- Quick access: branches, FAQ, support, exchange rates
- Registration split by entity type (sole proprietor, LLC, employee) with step-by-step guidance — people were confused between entity types
Conversion jumped to 70% at launch, stabilized at 75–76%. A +38% relative increase.
Home Screen
+23% stickiness, +15% sessions/user
Before
Dense, overloaded. No quick actions, no customization. Users could not find bank details or statements.
After
- Quick actions section — market-standard pattern we were missing; users could not find statements and bank details
- Tab bar unified with retail app's design language — first step toward a single design platform
- "My Bank" section — all accounts and products in one place
- Home screen limited to 3 active accounts — no overload
- Fully customizable: accounts, quick actions, widget order — all user-configurable
Workday stickiness 15% to 18.5% (+23%). Sessions per user 6.7 to 7.7/month (+15%).
VoC post-release: Dipped from 4.91 to 4.78 after the December release — typical for major updates. Recovered to 4.86 within a month. We monitor and iterate.
Merchant Sales Cabinet
Promoted to 5th Tab
Before
Our core audience is merchants. Their main tool — the Sales Cabinet — was buried deep in the navigation.
After
- Moved to the 5th tab in bottom navigation. Instant access to sales, POS settings, history, and analytics.
MAU +19%, DAU +13%, new merchants +40%, total revenue 91M (+21%).
Process
Metrics-Driven Iterations
Every feature passed through a cycle: research, prototype, test, launch, metrics, iteration. No design decision shipped without data to support it.
Continuous Validation
Post-release tracking of satisfaction (VoC), adoption, and retention ensured measurable improvements. VoC data integrated directly into sprint planning.
Design Reviews
Weekly team critiques where every designer presents work. Established design-to-dev handoff with specs, tokens, and QA checklists.
Parallel Execution
4 designers each own 2–3 product streams. The redesign was done on top of regular workload — no dedicated squad, no pause on delivery. Pure resource management.
AI-Assisted Workflow
AI tools used throughout to accelerate research synthesis, exploration, and content generation. The team actively uses AI in daily work.
Design System
Token-Based Architecture
Built from atomic tokens (colors, spacing, typography) to complex UI components. Synced between Figma and code via Token Studio.
Unified Design Language
For the first time, business and retail apps share a visual language — tab bar, navigation patterns, iconography. Two apps that historically looked completely different now feel like one ecosystem.
Theming
Full light and dark mode support. Dynamic typography for accessibility.
Consistency
95% design-to-development consistency — measured by QA audits. Components documented for developers with specs and usage guidelines.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration conversion | 55% | 76% | +38% relative |
| Stickiness (workdays) | 15.0% | 18.5% | +23% |
| Sessions/user/month | 6.7 | 7.7 | +15% |
| VoC (home screen) | — | 4.86 | Stable post-release |
| Merchant Cabinet MAU | — | 3,207 | +19% |
| Total revenue | — | 91M | +21% |
| Client base | 43K | 48K | +12% |
Bonus metrics (business growth, not design-only)
+43%
Loan volume (5.8B → 8.3B)
+62%
GMV POS
+40%
New merchants
+26%
QR revenue (53.5M)
My Role
- Initiated the redesign as part of annual design strategy — design-led, not business-requested
- Created the App Vision deck for C-level and shareholder review (~80% of the presentation)
- Led a team of 5 designers across 10 product streams — all working on redesign in parallel with regular delivery
- Directed user research (11 interviews in the redesign phase) and competitive analysis (13 banks)
- Made key UX decisions: pre-auth architecture, home screen structure, navigation model, information architecture
- Co-owned budget and roadmap with CPO and product owners
Why It Matters
This case is not about a cosmetic facelift. It is about a design team that saw a systemic problem, built the case for change, and delivered it — all while maintaining regular product delivery for 10 streams.
The redesign transformed HCB Business from a patched-together MVP into a scalable, consistent platform that serves tens of thousands of SME clients.
For me, it proves that design leadership at its best is proactive, not reactive. The best design initiatives do not come from a brief — they come from a team that understands the product deeply enough to know what needs to change before anyone asks.
Concept to production in 10 months. No dedicated squad. Design-led from day one.