First Bank of Alabama – Mehak Qureshi Portfolio

Business Problem

The First Bank of Alabama faces the challenge of modernizing its customer experience and digital service offerings. With increasing competition from national banks and fintech companies, it risks losing customers—especially younger demographics—who demand seamless mobile banking and online services. To remain relevant and grow its market share, the bank must invest in digital transformation, improve its technological agility, and personalize customer engagement while maintaining its core strength of trusted local relationships.

Problem Statement

Single point of failure risks causing system-wide outages 2-3 times quarterly. Real-time notifications and personalized services are technically failed many times and struggles with slow transactions, poor scalability, and frequent outages. Its monolithic architecture prevents integration of modern features, driving up costs and frustrating both customers and IT teams, while digital competitors rapidly capture market share.

Objective

The objective of this project is to develop a secure, reliable, and user-friendly mobile banking application that will enable users to carry out their daily banking operations from anywhere and at any time using their smartphones. The application will include features such as account balance viewing, money transfers, bill payments, transaction history, and customer support.

Project Goal

Enhance Customer Convenience
Provide 24/7 accessible banking services through an intuitive and
easy-to-use interface.

Ensure Fast Transaction processing
Support real-time execution of transfers, payments, and other
banking operations.

Establish High Data Security
Implement multi-factor authentication, data encryption, and
secure communication mechanisms.

Project Timeline

Onboarding

Sitemap

Wireframes

Content Review

Design Review

Development Review

Testing

Post Live

Target Audience

We took out time to make some user interview and surveys to better understand the needs of modern professionals who demand speed, reliability and global accessibility in their financial operations. The target user are individuals and small business owners who rely on digital platforms for their income and needs a simple yet a secure way to manage international transactions.

Design Process

Research

Discover

Conducted user interviews
and surveys.
Understood real
frustrations and needs.
Identified pain points, slow transfers, confusing UI, lack
of budgeting tools.

Idea

Define

Synthesized insights to
pinpoint problem areas.
Defined challenge, build a
faster, simple, trustworthy
digital banking experience
for users.

Prototype

Develop

Ideated and mapped
solutions to user problems.
Designed features, quick
transfers, Quick access and better security.

Deliver

Created high-fidelity UI
designs in Figma.
Focused on clarity, ease of
use, and trust-building
features like cardless
cash and
mobile top ups.

User research, user flows & user journey refinement

Persona review Ideation

UX strategy improvements & recommendations

Digital wireframe suggestions and Final Design

Participant Demographics

Users Age

Internet Browser

Phone Type

Internet Browser

User Persona

I learned about the users by creating detailed profiles called user personas, helping me understand their needs, goals and frustrations.

John Adams

Organization

Location

New York

Age

24 Years

Occupation

Sales Manager

Tech Sevy

Social Skills

Org Activity

Biography

John Adams runs an online Clothing brand that sells to costumers across North America and Europe. He manages payments to suppliers, content Creators, and marketing agencies worldwide, His biggest challenge is dealing with international transactions delays, and high fees-Emmanuel needs a reliable, all-in-one financial platform to send, receive and manage payment.

Frustrations

Complicated interfaces.
Slow customer support and limited transaction visibility.
Smooth and fast onboarding process.

Needs

To have a smooth and easy to use onboarding screens.
To have a reliable customers support system.
To have a user friendly interface.

Personality

Internet

Socialmedia

Online Shopping

Personality

Extrovert

Introvert

Thinking

Feeling

Empathy Mapping

Empathy maps provides a simple view of what users say, think, feel, and do. It helps to understand their experiences.

Thinks

"I'm tired of going to the branch for small things."

"Why is banking so complex? I just want clarity."

"I wish there were real-time updates on loans, payments, or eligibility."

Feels

"Stressed about money running out or missing payment deadlines."

"Overwhelmed by complex banking terms and app layouts."

"Empowered and proud when tools are simple and easy to learn.”

"Frustrated with poor customer support or long queue.

Says

"I'm tired of going to the branch for small things."

“I want to reduce paperwork

"I want to do this on my own—but I need a little guidance."

Does

"Uses banking apps mainly for transfers or loan checks."

"Relies on family or staff for help with complex banking tasks"

"Avoids banks unless absolutely necessary."

"Downloads e- statements for official use (tax, visa, etc)."

AI Integration

Frictionless Experience:
AI powers predictive banking, where the app anticipates needs—like flagging unusual spending or suggesting optimal bill pay dates—creating a truly proactive, personalized financial assistant.

Fortified Security & Instant Support:
Biometric logins and AI-powered fraud detection analyze transaction patterns in real-time to block threats. Meanwhile, a 24/7 AI chatbot handles routine inquiries instantly, freeing human agents for complex issues.

Smarter Financial Health:
The app transforms into a personal finance coach, using AI to analyze spending, automate savings via “micro-savings” rounds ups, and offer tailored guidance to help users build better financial habits effortlessly.

AI-Powered Financial Dashboard
Predictive Account Insights
Behavioral Biometrics
Real-Time Anomaly Detection
Smart Virtual Assistant
Intelligent Ticket Routing
Expense Intelligence
Smart Receipts
Automated Financial Reporting
Predictive Alerts

Typography

Form Fields

Colors

User Flow

Low Fidelity

High Fidelity (Mobile)

High fidelity (hi-fi) design closely matches the final result of a product’s design. Content, visual styles, and animated transitions — all work together to make high fidelity assets look and work as close to the final product as possible.

Prototype

Prototype link