What makes a great design tick?
Here’s a roll call of the popular answers most designers give: aesthetics, functionality, and practicality.
Those are useful. If properly implemented, they make your designs visually pop, allowing your brand to steal user attention.
Overdone, and it becomes a hodge-podge of misplaced design elements competing in isolation—and failing—to impress your users. This causes a brand-value mismatch that makes your design flat.
Better designers know there’s an additional ingredient that makes designs appealing: Inclusivity. When you build a design-led product, the foundational systems and design thinking process must apply in your work.
So let’s add a fourth horseman to our earlier roll call, and so we don’t aim lower, we will call this assembly the “holy grail of design.”
- Aesthetics: If it is not pretty on the eyes, then it’s a one-way ticket to build a product our users don’t like.
- Functionality: Does it work?
- Practicality: Can we build this?
- Inclusivity: Words and design mean things. First, define who you’re designing for, then make it clear that you are designing for them; if you think they’ll still doubt that it is for them, make it obvious.
Companies lose money due to design flaws.
Building without clearly defining who you’re designing for can be costly—half a billion dollars costly, as Citibank learned the hard way.
In 2021, Citibank, one of America’s top banks, lost $500 million due to a preventable error rooted in a flawed user experience (UX) design.
Three Citibank employees, using Oracle’s Flexcube core banking software, attempted to send a $7.8 million interest payment to a group of creditors. However, due to a critical oversight in the UI design, they accidentally sent $900 million instead.
The software failed to display the transaction amount clearly before the transfer was executed, leaving the employees unaware of the error.
What’s even more alarming is that this transaction was reviewed and approved by three senior executives before it was processed.
Six people in total scrutinised the transaction, yet none spotted the mistake. Why? Because the UX design didn’t provide the necessary information to flag the error.
When Citibank discovered the error, it immediately requested the creditors to return the excess funds. However, most refused, and the bank was forced to take legal action.
Despite recovering $400 million, $500 million was permanently lost. The court ruled in favour of the creditors, attributing the mistake to “human error.” But was it really just human error?
The root cause was a UX design flaw. The Flexcube software only warned users that funds would be sent out of the bank—it didn’t display the transaction amount for confirmation.
This lack of critical information led to a catastrophic error that could have been avoided with a more intuitive and user-centric design.
Today, many banks and fintechs have learned from Citibank’s mistake. Modern financial solutions platforms now include clear confirmation screens that display the amount and recipient details before any transaction is finalised.
Lessons for designers and businesses
What can designers and brands running a zero-to-one business learn from Citibank:
- Inclusivity in design: Design systems must account for all users, including backend operators. A UI that works seamlessly for both customers and internal teams is essential for avoiding costly errors.
- Design with clarity: Critical actions, especially those involving financial transactions, should include clear confirmation steps. Users should never be left guessing about the details of their actions.
- Continuous improvement: Oracle’s Flexcube software has since improved its design processes, and the software remains widely used in the banking industry. Learn from mistakes and iterate designs to prevent future issues. I usually advise having a dedicated focus group team with design experience to allow you to test micro-design elements you ship; learn from their feedback before you deploy to the public.
How to make your designs inclusive
Banks are easily the poster face for inclusive design systems. Yes, we know they lose money every millisecond due to their highly liquid business (rolls eyes), but most of those are typically caused by technical glitches.
I experienced this firsthand when I worked with United Bank for Africa; one of the top banks in the continent. With each design stroke, we asked:
- Who are we building this X feature for?
- Who are we designing this X feature for?
- What are all the possible ways people are going to use this X feature wrongly?
- What are the consequences?
- What caused the flaws that led to the unwanted consequences? If “design” is the answer, we never shipped it—even in something as ordinary as a graphic design.
What makes banks adopt an inclusive approach to design is simple: they exist for everybody. The core of their existence is to provide financial inclusion. Inclusion for the uneducated and educated; for the wide-travelled and the simple-minded; for the tech-savvy and the non-tech savvy.
Their inclusive design approach is so powerful that it considers everyone. Now, you may not be a bank, but you have a business that targets an ideal user who you want to stand out to.
Great designs include the margins, the edge cases, and the underrepresented. It begins with rethinking the process entirely.
To build designs that work for everyone, you need a different approach.
Start with first-principles thinking
Strip everything back to the basics. Instead of building based on assumptions or existing norms, start by asking fundamental questions: Who will use this? How might they use it differently? What barriers might exist?
Top-down vs. bottom-up approaches
Traditional design often uses a top-down approach: a few people decide for the majority. However, inclusivity thrives in the bottom-up approach: gathering feedback from diverse groups, creating space for wide-ranging ideas, and letting these shape the product.
Apply your thinking
Great ideas mean little without execution. Every detail matters, so question each one. Are the buttons easy to find and click for people with limited mobility? Are the words intuitive for non-native speakers? Have you accounted for different cultural contexts?
Be user-led
Involve real users early and often. Test designs in focus groups, especially with individuals from underrepresented demographics. Listen to what they say and adjust accordingly.
Prototype, save, iterate
Design is never perfect the first time. Create prototypes, test them, and don’t be afraid to start over. Iteration ensures your design evolves to meet user needs.
Monitor usage
Inclusivity doesn’t stop at launch. Track how your design performs. Are users struggling at certain points? Is there unexpected friction? Real-world feedback is the ultimate test of inclusivity.
Elements to consider in design inclusivity
- Words mean things: Clear communication is non-negotiable. Avoid jargon and use plain, direct language.
- Keep it useful, not fancy: Functionality always trumps flair. Users value products that work more than ones that look good but fail.
- Design for all: Ensure your design is accessible. Consider visual impairments, cognitive diversity, and physical and psychomotor limitations.
Building with inclusivity as your north star isn’t just good design—it’s the kind of design that future-proofs your product and your brand.
When you build for everyone, you give your product a fighting chance to thrive in a world that’s beautifully diverse. And in doing so, you might just save your company from its own $500 million mistake.
Content Credit: Oyinoluwa Adedoyin
I am Oyinloluwa Adedoyin, a product designer with 4+ years of experience. At Verifyme, a Nigerian reg-tech company offering fraud monitoring and compliance solutions, I serve as a Product and Motion Designer.
I’ve contributed to products like Gova, Pluto, and QoreID, applying design thinking to lead and shape the company’s design principles.
