Relm: A FinTech Banking App for College Students

Relm is a fintech app designed to empower college students with financial tools and knowledge tailored to their unique needs. Built to address common financial literacy gaps, Relm combines intuitive banking features with accessible educational resources to help students better understand and manage their money.

As the product designer for this project, I collaborated with a local branding and strategy agency in Indianapolis to bring this vision to life. While the agency focused on creating a new branding strategy for the app, my role centered on conducting user research, crafting wireframes, and designing the app’s user interface. This partnership ensured that the branding vision aligned seamlessly with the app’s functionality and user experience.

The design process began with in-depth user research, including interviews with college students from several universities. These sessions provided invaluable insights into the financial challenges students face, from budgeting and managing student loans to building credit and saving for future goals. These insights informed the creation of wireframes and feature prioritization.

Using Figma, I designed an interface that balanced simplicity with functionality. The app provides a streamlined account management experience, savings goal tracking, and educational modules on topics like budgeting and credit-building. Each design decision was guided by the need to make financial concepts accessible and engaging for a tech-savvy but inexperienced audience.

Accessibility and usability were central to the design. Leveraging available tools and best practices, I ensured that the app was inclusive and easy to navigate for all users. After developing the wireframes, usability testing sessions were conducted with the same group of students interviewed during the research phase. Their feedback helped refine the designs and address any pain points.

Despite facing development limitations during the project, I adapted the designs to ensure a balance between the vision and technical feasibility. The result was an app that merges financial clarity with user-friendly design, creating a supportive companion for college students on their financial journey.

Relm remains a standout example of how thoughtful design and collaboration can address real-world problems and empower the next generation with essential financial tools.