Alfa-Bank · Mobile fintech · Study project · 2025
(00) Overview
Hypotheses
Screens
Task flows
Days of work
Role
UX/UI designer in a team of 6
Platform
Mobile app
Duration
68 days
(01) Problem
Alfa-Bank is the largest private bank in Russia, with 36 million retail clients. Its subscription bundled many perks, but users could not tell which level fit them or how to move between levels.
Goal 01
Design a tiered subscription model with differentiated benefits
Goal 02
Simplify the upgrade process
Business
Business metrics
2026 year-end commission income, average revenue per user.
Product
Product metrics
Task success rate, time on task, user error rate, SUS, customer satisfaction.
(02) Process
01
Analysis
Competitive analysis, CJM of the current app, feedback analysis.
02
Research
Card sorting, quantitative research, interviews, hypotheses.
03
Design
Task flows, screens, UI kit, presentation.
04
Testing
Interactive prototype, scenario testing in Pathway, analysis, refinement.
In-depth interviews
Screens
Hours of team calls
(03) Competitors
Russian banks and international fintechs: how they make a subscription feel worth paying for.
01
Monetary value
Show the benefit in rubles, not in percentages.
02
Detailed benefits
Every privilege explained on its own screen.
03
Benefit statistics
How much the subscription has already earned you.
04
Pause
Freeze the subscription in place of cancelling it.
05
Sharing
Give privileges to family and friends.
06
Quiz
A short test that picks the right plan.
(04) Interviews
How people find and manage subscriptions, why they subscribe and cancel, which benefits and game mechanics motivate them.
Question
Is it easy for you to find the subscription screen? Do you know how to manage or cancel it?
Question
What motivates you to subscribe to services? Have you ever cancelled a subscription? What caused that decision?
12
Respondents
Question
What kind of benefits might motivate you to subscribe? What gamification elements do you find motivating?
Interview recording
3:44
Question
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience with bank benefits?
Interview recording
5:30
“
Fear of unexpected charges
“I wish I could find a list of privileges and track how I use them without any extra effort.”
“
Interest in gamification
“In another bank’s app, I like stories with statistics for a week, for a month. You guess how much you spent, on car sharing for example.”
“
Invisible benefit
“I noticed subscriptions, but I didn’t use them. I thought I would spend more than I would benefit.”
(05) Survey
Subscribe for cashback
Cancel because it is hard to cancel
Subscribed by accident
01
Reasons to subscribe
Cashback 89%, discounts on services 45%, status privileges 22%.
02
Reasons to cancel
Cancellation difficulties 62%, unclear benefit 58%, intrusive marketing 49%.
03
Cancellation triggers
Found an alternative 78%, unused benefits 72%, unexpected charges 44%.
04
Payment
50% prefer monthly, 11% annual, for 33% it depends on the benefits.
05
Awareness
45% use subscriptions consciously, 30% subscribed by accident, 25% are not aware of them.
06
Channel
90% manage subscriptions in the mobile app.
(06) User flow
Entry points from the home screen: stories with gamification, personal account with subscription management, benefit levels and the cashback section with gifting.
Home screen · entry points
01 · Stories
First story
→
Second story
→
Gamification
→
Buy subscription
02 · Personal account
Personal account
→
My subscriptions
→
All subscriptions
→
Benefit banner
↳ from Benefit banner
Pros of subscription
→
Current
↳ from Pros of subscription
Potential
→
Upgrade
↳ from Benefit banner
Management
→
Downgrade
→
Retention screen
→
Subscription freeze
03 · Benefit levels
Benefit levels
→
All benefits
→
More details
→
Call to action
04 · Cashback & services
Cashback & services
→
Categories
→
Gift cashback
Key screens designed in this case
(07) Management
Unexpected charges and hard cancelling hurt loyalty most. Management is one tap away from the profile, with the next payment amount and date always visible. All four tiers sit side by side.
Basic, Plus, Smart, Premium
Upgrade: terms and payment account up front
Downgrade: show the loss, offer a pause
(08) Value in rubles
Users see the actual value of each tier in rubles, month by month, and compare what they would get on a higher level.
(09) Gifting
Share a boosted category with a friend in a few taps. The friend gets an offer to try the subscription. The feature adds virality and strengthens loyalty.
Sending a gift
Receiving a gift
(10) Stories & quiz
Stories with a call to action, a familiar format, lead to a short quiz that matches the user with one of 4 tiers.
Type
Typography
Styrene A for headlines, SF Pro for interface text.
Color
Accents
Alfa red #FF0004 and purple #6A4DFF on light and dark grounds.
(11) Testing
10 respondents aged 25 to 44 per task, on mobile devices. We tested scenario clarity and overall perception.
Respondents
Tests
Completed management & freeze
01
Benefit in money
90% completed · clarity 8.8/10 · 70% motivated to use the subscription
02
Detailed benefits
80% completed · clarity 8.8/10 · 20% missed the “All benefits” button
03
Manage in profile
100% completed · clarity 9.7/10
04
Subscription freeze
100% completed · clarity 9.7/10
05
Quiz
90% completed · clarity 7.9/10
06
Stories
90% completed · clarity 8.9/10 · 77% fine with subscription ads in stories
07
Gifting cashback
80% completed · clarity 5.7/10, the weakest scenario
To improve
(12) Outcome
A tiered subscription with distinct benefits, a simpler upgrade and features that attract new customers and keep existing ones.
Hypotheses
Task flows
Screens
