Zenith Bank Sierra Leone: Internet & Mobile Banking Ecosystem
Mobile App (iOS & Android), Web (Corporate Banking, Admin Panel)
Zenith Bank Sierra Leone needed more than a banking app they needed a complete digital ecosystem. Not one product, but four interconnected systems: Consumer Mobile Banking, Corporate Banking, an internal Admin Panel, and a checkout/payment layer, all expected to feel like one coherent bank, not four disconnected tools bolted together.
I was brought on as the sole product designer across this entire ecosystem which meant every interface decision, from a customer checking their balance to an admin managing internal operations, ran through one consistent design vision.
My Process
1. Establishing one system before designing screens Before any individual interface was finalized, I built and maintained a single, unified design system spanning both Internet Banking and Mobile Banking across the corporate suite. This wasn't just a component library it was the mechanism that let four different platforms stay visually and functionally aligned as they were built and updated independently over time.
2. Designing for permission, not just persona Each platform required distinct information hierarchy based on what that user was actually allowed to do not just what they preferred to see. Admin flows needed audit trails and override capability; consumer flows needed to hide that complexity completely.
3. Working the design-to-code boundary directly Rather than handing off static designs and hoping for the best, I worked closely with engineering throughout implementation ensuring subtle animation, spacing, and interaction detail survived the build process instead of getting lost in translation, which is a common failure point on complex, multi-team builds like this one.
4. Proposing net-new functionality, not just executing a brief Partway through, I identified a gap: Corporate Mobile Banking didn't exist as a proposed feature, but the underlying need clearly did. I designed and proposed this as a new addition it's now live in production, expanding what corporate clients can do without needing to switch to web
Outcome
The system is live and in active daily use within Zenith Bank Sierra Leone's operations today across consumer, corporate, and internal admin use cases. Beyond the shipped product, this project shaped how I think about design systems: not as a style guide, but as the actual infrastructure that lets a large, multi-surface product stay coherent as it grows.
zenithbanksl.com
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