Balance first, hidden by default
The balance is the first thing on the screen, but it stays masked until you tap the eye. People open banking apps in shops, cabs and offices, and privacy shouldn’t need a setting.
Alfa / Gen 3 · Flagship / Use case
A home that adapts to the person holding it.
The flagship home kept Gen 2’s calm and fixed what the audit found. The balance comes first and stays private, daily actions come next, and customers choose their own quick actions.
01The starting point
Gen 3 didn’t start from a blank screen.
Gen 2 had already settled the big question: lead with the account and the few things people do every day. The flagship kept that idea and fixed what the external audit flagged. The home offered too many choices with too little order, and brand red was carrying both decoration and action, so the main buttons stopped standing out.
The job was to keep what customers already knew, make the home feel personal, and clean up the hierarchy so the next action is always obvious.
02Key decisions
What changed on the home, and why.
Two daily actions, then three tiles
Send money and Overview sit right under the balance. Payments, Mobile top-up and Save & invest come next. It’s the Gen 2 “four daily actions” idea, reshaped for the new system.
Quick actions people choose
Below the daily actions is a row of shortcuts that each customer adds and orders themselves. The home grows around their habits instead of the bank’s priorities.
Edge cases designed, not discovered
11-figure balances, decimals, several accounts and an empty first week each got their own screen, so the layout never breaks for the customers with the most at stake.
Alfa Hub instead of a long menu
Every product lives in one searchable hub, grouped into Cards, Loans, Services and more. It grew out of the grouped categories we introduced in Gen 2.
One system, three identities
Conventional, Islamic and Premier customers each get their own theme, and dark mode works across all of them. Gen 1 started the themes; Gen 3 rebuilt them as design tokens.
03What carried over
A revamp, not a restart.
Most of the thinking on this screen was already proven in earlier generations. The flagship gave it a new system and a cleaner hierarchy.
Gen 2Account card first on the home
Gen 3Balance first, masked by default
Gen 2Four daily actions
Gen 3Daily actions + personal quick actions
Gen 2Services grouped by category
Gen 3Alfa Hub with search
Gen 1Conventional, Islamic & Premier themes
Gen 3Themes as design tokens, plus dark mode
04The screens
The home, state by state.
Drag or scroll sideways, and tap any screen to see it larger.
1Balance hidden
Masked until you tap.
2Balance visible
One tap to reveal.
3Switch accounts
Every account, one dropdown.
411-figure balance
Big numbers still fit.
5Decimals
Exact amounts, readable.
6Add quick actions
Empty state invites setup.
7Pick shortcuts
Choose what’s “quick”.
8Search Alfa
People, top-ups, bills.
9Nothing found
A helpful dead end.
10Notifications
Transactions and promotions.
11Alfa Hub
Every product, grouped.
12Islamic theme
Same layout, own identity.
13Premier theme
A premium tier.
14Dark mode
System, light or dark.
15First week
No activity yet.
16App update
Explains what’s new.
← Drag to follow the flow →
05Next time
What I’d still push for.
If I were designing it today
- Let the home learn. Quick actions are a great start, but the app already knows what each person does most and could suggest them.
- Treat the promo area as part of the experience. Promotions still sit on the home, so they should be personalised to products the customer doesn’t have yet.
- Test the masked balance with real customers. Privacy by default is right in public places, but some people check their balance dozens of times a day.
