As the lead Principle UX designer at DNB, I spearheaded the creation of a new net bank and overseeing the user experience across all of DNB’s digital surfaces

This transformative project reimagined DNB's digital presence, starting with in-depth UX research and user interviews to uncover key insights. From concept development to aligning user experience and brand strategy across the entire organization, the work set a new standard for how Norway’s largest bank connects with its users.

Challenges  🤔

The net bank faced outdated technology, poor user experience, and accessibility issues, driving high costs and user dissatisfaction. Internal silos and weak communication compounded these challenges. With pressure from the Directorate of Digitalisation, the urgency to modernize, improve inclusivity, and streamline operations became critical to meet evolving user and organizational needs.

The solution 🚀

We transformed the net bank with a modern core system and a focus on world-class user experience. By prioritizing accessibility and fostering seamless team collaboration, we created an inclusive, scalable platform. The result? A solution that met user needs, streamlined operations, and aligned with the demands for digital innovation.

Skills used

UX design
Typography
User research
User interviews
System Design
Product development
Lead
Cultural development
Organization aligment
Strategic design

We revamped the net bank by modernizing its core system and delivering an inclusive, user-focused platform. We tackled outdated tech, accessibility gaps, and internal silos, resulting in more streamlined operations and improved user satisfaction. The solution aligned with digital innovation demands, enhancing usability and scalability while addressing critical organizational and regulatory needs.

Create your own process

I began as the sole designer on a large-scale project to reimagine DNB’s net bank experience. My initial focus was conducting an in-depth analysis of the current system to understand its limitations and opportunities.

This included user research, internal and external stakeholder interviews, and documenting needs, pain points, and aspirations. These insights informed a series of foundational design concepts that established the project’s look and feel and provided actionable direction for the growing team.

As the team expanded, we iteratively refined our approach, ultimately crafting a tailored design process that combined elements of established methodologies like Design Thinking and Lean UX with a focus on collaboration and adaptability.

The process emphasized continuous feedback loops, close alignment with development, and clear documentation, enabling us to meet the evolving demands of the project. The result was a cohesive user- and design system-centric framework that guided the creation of an inclusive, innovative net bank experience.

GET IN CONTACT

Reach out anytime — I’m happy to answer questions, receive feedback or even discuss the current state of Manchester United.

Working with the vision

Our strategy for DNB’s digital products centered on a bold vision: delivering a world-class experience in every interaction.
By addressing the interplay of user needs, business goals, and technical challenges, we gained a clear understanding of what «world-class» meant for DNB customers.

This foundation informed a design approach that emphasized clarity, inclusivity, and modern aesthetics, ensuring seamless and intuitive interactions.
Through iterative prototyping and visioning, we translated insights into actionable goals, aligning every decision with a shared vision of usability and design excellence.

His knowledge inspires and drives others which is why he was a perfect fit for Principal UX designer for the web teams. He is a fast and precise designer with the understanding needed to create a great user experience for millions of users.

Casper Brekke Sandanger
Senior UX designer @ reMarkable

Working with the organization

DNB is a large organization with many sections, departments and a lot of people.  To be able to create a product that dips in to all of these the main priority was to establish communication and set up a foundation that makes collaboration easy.

This process ment preaching interaction design, accessibilty, visual design and much more. Basically it was lecturing the value of design. Through workshops and meetings I did this with success and broke down silos that haven’t collaborated to good with the rest of the organization before.

Sindre and I worked together for almost 3 years in DNB, and he showed great design skills during this time. He has a very good capability to see things from a broader perspective, which is extremely important in design. He also has a genuine desire to assist others.

Mats Vassli
UX Lead @ TET Digital AS

Design principles and guidelines

Already in the defining stage of the process I saw that we needed principles and guidelines moving forward. This would also help as more people was joining the team.

First I created a set of principles that we as a team later built on and developed. These principles was also used to guide other sections in discussions.

Narrativ design

Keep a storyline throughout the process. The «task» is always the main character!

Confirm before commit

Adopted from the developers we as designers should also confirm with lead or UX principle.

Feedback matters

During the process the users should be on top of things. If they click a button and an error accors, what do you tell them?

Working with the vision

If the users don’t understand it it doesn’t matter if it looks good or not.

Context is key

Are we designing for people on the go or people at a desk? This one also will take care of the discussion when coming to apps and what to do where.

Less is more

Don’t fill up the pages with clutter information. This leads in to the «One task, one page principle.

Meet the users needs

What do the user actually need? If the user wants to order a card, is it the amount of cards they already have that they want to see, or is it an overview of which cards they can order?

One task, one page

Keep things neat and tidy! If the information isn’t in direct context with the content on the page then leave it in the sidebar or another page entirely.

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