Design for more than surface-level attention

At last count, I have six different financial services apps on my phone. Each one has its own unique brand colour palette and design preferences. Some are gamified, using badges, interactivity, and notifications to improve engagement. Others are minimalist and streamlined, looking to support understanding through a simplified UX. With each app comes the challenge of learning how to locate key information and which push notifications are worth reading.

On the face of it, improving customer engagement with their financial lives through design sounds like an obvious positive. The more engaged, the better informed, the more likely to make better decisions. But not all engagement is good engagement. Some aspects of design may, inadvertently, be driving poor outcomes for customers.

By understanding how design elements might impact customer understanding and engagement, more effective journeys, apps and communications can be developed.

Design elements that can drive poor outcomes

• Gamification can lead to attention burnout. On average, we spend four hours a day on our phones. We are exposed to near-constant notifications and prompts to engage with content on our phones. This can lead to cognitive fatigue, where an individual becomes overwhelmed by the sheer number of notifications. When cognitively fatigued, we are more likely to make decision-making errors, and we process information more slowly. Gamification can be a useful tool for improving engagement with a decision or key piece of information, but it should not come at the cost of customer understanding or decision-making.

• Colours can drive negative emotional reactions. Colours are often associated with emotions. Some colours induce a positive emotional reaction, like yellow and orange, while others, like black and dark red, can make people feel negative emotions. Our emotional reaction to a colour can then influence how we think and behave. For example, red is often associated with failure, which can make people more likely to focus on errors and negative thoughts. Brands should consider the colour palettes they are using to communicate with customers, especially when discussing sensitive or important information, in case they are inadvertently driving negative emotional reactions.

• Some layouts may impact understanding. For customers to make informed decisions about their finances, they must be given the information they need in a way that supports understanding. In a recent behavioural experiment, the FCA found that customer understanding was significantly worse when important information was accessed vis a link or a navigation bar away from the main page. Placing information on a different screen or page can obscure the information customers need, making it more difficult to understand in the context they need it in. Webpages should be designed to not be overly cluttered, but with important information placed in the context it is needed in.

What does this mean for financial services firms?

• A/B test webpages and communications to prevent inadvertent harms. Avoid causing poor outcomes by testing design changes before they’re implemented. It’s useful to be aware of how your journeys and communications can make your customers feel. We know from psychology and behavioural science how different non-conscious reactions can impact customer behaviour.

• Tailor colour and design to the purpose of the communication. Colour and design should be tailored to the target outcome. For example, red and black can be helpful for drawing the eye of customers to important debt communications, but the emotional reaction could drive disengagement. Changing colours or using language that softens the severity of the colours could be an option to mitigate any negative emotional reaction. Pairing colour palette, message, and desired outcome should be a foundation of every new communication rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. 

• Send timely notifications, sparingly. To prevent cognitive fatigue, notifications should be used sparingly. App notifications should be minimised to only those with a specific desired call to action or reminder. Removing unnecessary or cluttered notifications can build a sense of importance for customers and increase attention.

Sources

Dekker, C. A., Baumgartner, S. E., Sumter, S. R., & Ohme, J. (2025). Beyond the Buzz: Investigating the Effects of a Notification-Disabling Intervention on Smartphone Behavior and Digital Well-Being. Media Psychology, 28(1), 162–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2024.2334025

Upshaw, J. D., Ganis, G., & Zabelina, D. L. (2022). The hidden cost of a smartphone: The effects of smartphone notifications on cognitive control from a behavioral and electrophysiological perspective. PLOS ONE, 17(11), e0277220. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277220

Jonauskaite, D., & Mohr, C. (2025). Do we feel colours? A systematic review of 128 years of psychological research linking colours and emotions. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 32(4), 1457. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-024-02615-z

Fikrlova, J., Cechova, L., Lebedova, T., Pycha, P., Sesulkova, A., Prochazka, J., & Vaculik, M. (2019). The power of red: The influence of colour on evaluation and failure – A replication. Acta Psychologica, 198, 102873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102873

FCA (2025), ‘Digital design for financial products and services: Consumer impact of sludge, deceptive design, timeliness and simplification’, research note. Research Note: Digital design for financial products and services