Designing a Beautiful Digital Experience for a Purpose-Driven Bank

Recent research revealed that nearly 75 percent of Australians would shift banks based on their own values. Bank Australia invests in the environment and social initiatives. As a B Corp, Bank Australia doesn’t invest in fossil fuels, gambling, tobacco, live animal exports or arms. With such a strong brand proposition, Bank Australia recognised a need for change: their previous website was outdated and no longer represented their brand. The information architecture was confusing, and there was also a missed opportunity to build trust through storytelling. Bank Australia engaged Paper Giant to design a beautiful, user-friendly website that communicates its values.

We designed a website that reflected Bank Australia’s values, motivating new customers to join, and better serving existing customers with their banking needs. In our design process, it was important that the website felt different to that of a major bank, whilst communicating a sense of trustworthiness. We ensured that product information was clear, transparent, and easy to peruse. Page designs were humanised by the inclusion of features, such as voice modules, that added vibrancy. We also added content modules highlighting Bank Australia’s social positioning to ensure customers could see the direct connection between their investments and the bank’s impact.

Australia has a particularly advanced banking sector in terms of web and user interface design, meaning it’s essential that Bank Australia is seen as a competitor if it’s to achieve significant market share. Bank Australia’s re-designed website successfully communicates the bank’s value proposition and emphasises a point of difference. Its intuitive design also serves to instill confidence in customers and prospective customers that Bank Australia is a sector leader. The redesigned website, with its focus on useability, aesthetic harmony and communicating its unique and socially-focused brand, has the potential to boost Bank Australia’s market share and subsequent social impact.

Bank Australia was in the process of refreshing their brand identity, which we incorporated into the website redesign, adding a distinct approach for digital. Bringing the Bank Australia website to life took a combined approach between multiple organisations: Paper Giant, Harvey, Words for Things, Portable, Good and Proper, Melorium and Widget Works. Each organisation worked collaboratively to ensure the best outcome for Bank Australia, with Paper Giant leading the website design portion of the project. The website was then built by Portable in Webflow, making page layout changes quick and easy for the internal Bank Australia team going forward. The project team included the following members. Paper Giant: Ernez Dhondy, Iain Phillips, Hannah Mitchell, Hope Lumsden-Barry, Duc Ho, Russel Pongho. Bank Australia: Claire Waite, Nicole Hunter, Partick Mason. Other partners: Lisa O’Sullivan, Simon Smallchua.