Overview
Monzo Money Intelligence is a proactive banking feature that identifies potential cash flow issues before they occur and offers practical actions to help customers stay in control.
Designed during the Experience Haus x Figma Make two-hour hackathon, this collaborative sprint explored how AI-first design could help banks anticipate customer needs rather than simply react to them, making retail banking feel more human.
Figma Make was used to generate and iterate the prototype in real time, allowing us to move from concept to interactive screens within the two-hour sprint.
My role
Product Designer (problem framing, research, prototyping, presentation), working alongside 2 other designers
Methods
Secondary research · Problem framing · UX strategy · Problem framing · AI-assisted prototyping
Tools
Figma Make · Figma Slides · Claude · ChatGPT · Pen + paper
The problem
Banking apps are often designed to react after something has already gone wrong: a payment fails, an account goes overdrawn, or a bill is missed.
Presenting our concept and design rationale.
For customers managing multiple financial commitments, this reactive approach can contribute to stress and uncertainty, particularly among younger users.
The brief set the challenge:
The Experience Haus x Figma Make hackathon challenged us to design a retail banking experience that was “more human, more intelligent, or more empowering than what exists today.”
One question from the brief shaped our approach:
"What if the interface knew what the customer needed before they even asked?"
This shifted our thinking from reactive notifications towards proactive support. Rather than creating another budgeting tool, we explored how AI could help identify emerging financial challenges and support customers before they became problems.
THE SOLUTION
A proactive money intelligence feature that surfaces risks before they become problems.
We designed an AI-powered experience that predicts when upcoming bills may exceed a customer's available balance and proactively suggests actions they can take.
Rather than waiting for a missed payment, the feature gives customers time to make informed decisions and avoid unnecessary stress.
USER RESEARCH
Customers want their bank to anticipate problems, not just respond to them.
of UK consumers feel anxious just opening their banking app.
GFT Banking Disruption Index, 2023
of 16 to 35-year-olds feel anxious opening their banking app — rising from the 77% national average.
GFT Banking Disruption Index, 2023
of UK consumers want their bank to warn them before things go wrong.
GFT Banking Disruption Index, 2023
of customers are completely surprised when they get hit with an overdraft charge.
CFPB Overdraft Report, 2024
Problem statement
We are designing for a young professional who struggles with knowing when they’re about to run out of money, because their bank only tells them after it’s already a problem. Our solution will help them act before it’s too late, without feeling anxious about it.
USER JOURNEY
From reactive to proactive.
Mapping the end-to-end experience to understand how the user journey could evolve:
Current state
Future state
Design DEcisions
Designing for clarity rather than alarm.
The biggest design challenge wasn't the feature itself, it was the tone. Financial alerts can easily create anxiety if framed as warnings rather than support.
We rooted the language in Monzo's tone of voice: warm, direct, and never clinical. Our design principles reflected this:
| Principle | In practice |
|---|---|
| Reduce stress | Risk surfaced early, framed as a heads up not an alarm |
| Create clarity | Bills, balance and shortfall shown together in plain language |
| Support action | Every screen ends with a realistic, concrete next step |
| Feel human | Warm, approachable copy rooted in Monzo's tone of voice |
Final designs
The finished concept.
All three screens were built and iterated in Figma Make on the night, with prompts refined in real time as the design evolved.
Proactive cash flow alerts - Customers are notified when upcoming bills may exceed their available balance.
Recommended actions - The experience suggests practical next steps based on the customer's situation.
Explainable AI - Rather than presenting predictions without context, the feature explains how it reached its recommendation.
Three screens. One moment. Designed to feel calm, not alarming.
Screen 1 — The notification
A lock screen alert that lands like a message from a trusted friend, not a warning system. Clear, specific, actionable.
Monzo · Heads up: Your bills this week total £340. Your balance is £290. We've spotted a shortfall — tap to see your options.
Screen 2 — The intelligence view
A focused breakdown of upcoming bills against current balance, with a clear shortfall indicator in amber rather than red. Four ways to act: move money from savings, transfer from another account, pause a subscription, or talk to a real person.
Screen 3 — The confirmation
A calm success state that closes the loop without fanfare. Bills covered, pot balance visible, no unnecessary friction.
EARLY feedback
After sharing the concept on LinkedIn, a friend who is a Monzo customer reached out directly; they could immediately picture themselves using the feature.
“Your feature which allows me to know how much I’m about to spend is great!”
It was encouraging to see them articulate the core value of the feature in their own words: the distinction between knowing what you've spent and knowing what you're about to spend. A strong early signal that the problem is real and the concept is legible.
Reflections
What I learned, and what I'd do differently.
Financial products are emotional products. The most valuable insight from this project was recognising how closely financial wellbeing and emotional wellbeing are connected. Good banking experiences don't just provide information. They reduce uncertainty and help people feel more in control.
Designing for trust requires transparency. If AI is making recommendations about someone's money, users need to understand why. Transparency became just as important as accuracy.
AI tools change what's possible under constraint. Using Figma Make to prototype in real time meant design decisions and visual output happened simultaneously rather than sequentially, a fundamentally different way of working.
I'd validate the concept with customers. Given more time, I would test the experience with real users and explore how the feature could expand to incorporate salary awareness and open banking data from other accounts.
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