**Project Title** **Mercury — Banking Dashboard (Concept)** --- **Executive Summary** This case study presents a comprehensive analysis of a concept for Mercury’s marketing and product landing experience, focused specifically on the banking dashboard and supporting marketing pages. The project goal was to communicate product value clearly to prospective business customers while demonstrating a refined, trustworthy interface for account management and financial workflows. The approach balances visual refinement, information architecture, usability, and conversion-focused copy alignment. --- **Problem Statement** Mercury’s product combines banking tools, payments, and business workflows. The challenge addressed by this redesign concept is twofold: (1) present complex financial data and features in a way that is immediately comprehensible to new visitors, and (2) create a product dashboard that supports power users and accountants with fast access to insights without overwhelming casual users. --- **Objectives** * Communicate Mercury’s value proposition quickly and persuasively on the landing page. * Showcase core product features (dashboard, payments, accounting integrations, card management) with clear visual hierarchy. * Reduce cognitive load for new visitors while maintaining deep functionality for returning users. * Improve perceived trust through visual design, copy, and information architecture. * Create reusable UI components and layout rules that scale across pages and product experiences. --- **Target Users** * **Startup founders and small business owners** who need simple, reliable banking and finance tools. * **Finance teams and accountants** who require transaction history, exports, and integrations. * **Product and operations managers** who need insights and controls (cards, permissions, payroll). * **Prospective customers evaluating banking providers** based on trust signals, pricing transparency, and integrations. --- **Research & Insights** Research assumptions for this concept were derived from competitive analysis and common small-business banking pain points: * Decision drivers include speed of onboarding, integration availability (accounting software, payroll), fee transparency, and automation capabilities. * Users trust concise, familiar data visualizations (balance trend, recent transactions) and clear CTAs over dense explanatory text. * Business users value exportable data and administrative controls (multiple accounts, user permissions, virtual cards). * On marketing pages, real-world trust signals (customer logos, data-driven statements, security copy) improve conversions. Key insights informed layout decisions: put a single, focused hero with a clear value statement and discovery CTA; use modular feature blocks with screenshots and short copy; include a product demo path for users who want to explore the dashboard UI itself. --- **Information Architecture** The page structure follows a top-down hierarchy optimized for scannability: 1. Hero — Value proposition, hero dashboard visual, primary CTA. 2. Feature clusters — grouped by "Core Banking", "Payments & Cards", "Integrations", and "Financial Workflows." Each cluster contains a micro-visual, short benefit copy, and an action. 3. Trust & proof — metrics, customer logos, security notes. 4. Detailed feature expansions — invoice, exports, automation illustrations. 5. Pricing or conversion nudges — clear CTA and next steps. This IA ensures visitors can either convert quickly from the hero or scroll to self-educate via incremental detail. --- **UX & Interaction Design** * **Hero and Onboarding Flow**: The hero contains a screenshot of the dashboard with a subtle gradient background to draw attention to controls and data. The primary CTA leads to a fast-signup flow; a secondary CTA offers a product demo or contact option. * **Dashboard Microinteractions**: Lightweight hover states on cards and chart points; inline filters for date range selection; progressive disclosure for account details to avoid initial overload. * **Card Management**: Quick-create virtual card flow and card controls (freeze, expense limits) presented as primary actions within the dashboard to reduce task friction. * **Search and Filters**: Global transaction search with saved filters supports accountants and power users; filters persist between sessions for convenience. * **Error and Empty States**: Friendly, professional copy for empty/inactive states that guides users to next steps (e.g., link bank, make a payment, invite teammates). --- **Visual Design & UI System** * **Visual Language**: A restrained, soft gradient palette establishes trust and approachability. Typography emphasizes legibility with large, open headings and clear numeric hierarchy for financial data. * **Components**: Cards, tables, charts, and form elements are designed with consistent spacing, elevation, and corner radii. Color usage is conservative — using muted backgrounds with a single accent color for CTA and critical data points. * **Charts & Data**: Line charts for balance trends with tooltip states; sparkline thumbnails in account lists; micro copy for units and currency formatting to avoid ambiguity. * **Responsive Behavior**: The layout scales down by stacking feature blocks and collapsing peripheral navigation into a compact header for smaller screens. Key actions remain accessible via sticky footer or top bar on mobile. --- **Content Strategy** * **Hero Copy**: A short, benefit-driven headline followed by a single supporting sentence. Use action-oriented CTAs such as "Open Account" or "See Demo". * **Feature Blocks**: Each block has a 6–12 word headline, a 1–2 sentence explanation, and an image or micro-interaction. Focus on outcomes ("Save time on reconciliation", "Create virtual cards in seconds"). * **Trust Copy**: Provide quantifiable trust statements (e.g., "$9.6M processed daily"), customer testimonials, and security certifications near the conversion points. --- **Accessibility Considerations** * Sufficient color contrast for text and data visualizations. * Keyboard-accessible interactive elements and logical tab order. * Chart tooltips accessible via keyboard focus with textual equivalents for screen readers. * Clear focus states for all actionable components. --- **Prototype & Testing Plan** * **Prototype Fidelity**: High-fidelity prototypes for the hero, dashboard interactions (filters, card controls), and onboarding flows. * **Usability Testing Goals**: Measure clarity of the hero value proposition, ease of finding recent balances/transactions, success rate for generating a virtual card, and first-time onboarding completion time. * **Metrics**: * Conversion rate from hero to sign-up. * Time-to-first-deposit (or first transaction) after sign-up. * Task success rate for common actions (view balance, export CSV, freeze a card). * Net Promoter Score (NPS) for early testers. --- **Implementation Recommendations** * Build a component library matching the visual system described — cards, tables, chart primitives, and form elements — to ensure consistency and speed of development. * Implement analytics events for every primary action in the dashboard and landing page CTAs to measure impact of design iterations. * Prioritize the onboarding funnel: ensure signup takes under five minutes and that the user sees a meaningful account balance or sample data within the first session. * Create a lightweight admin panel for customer success teams to seed demo accounts and to push sample data for trial users. --- **Potential Next Iterations** * Add guided product tours that highlight critical workflows for new users (e.g., connect accounting software, create a card, pay an invoice). * Implement role-based dashboards where finance users see different defaults than founders. * Explore machine learning-driven insights (e.g., cash flow forecasting, anomaly detection) surfaced as non-intrusive cards. --- **Conclusion** This concept redesign organizes Mercury’s product messaging and dashboard experience to meet the needs of both newcomers and power users. By pairing a focused hero, modular feature storytelling, and a consistent UI system, the design aims to reduce friction, increase trust, and improve conversion and retention metrics. The recommended next steps are to validate the prototype with real users, instrument analytics on the core funnel, and iterate based on measured performance. --- If you would like, I can convert this into a presentation-style layout (PDF or slide deck), produce a shorter executive summary for LinkedIn, or expand any section with wireframes or component specifications.