Transforming a Legacy Investment App into a Trust-First Growth Platform
Overview
Kotak Cherry is a comprehensive investment platform by Kotak Mahindra Bank. While the brand carries immense credibility, the legacy application struggled to compete with modern, digital-first competitors like Groww and INDmoney. The project aimed to rebrand and redesign the experience to better serve the next generation of Indian investors.
As the Lead Product Designer, I focused on high-impact journeys—specifically SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) onboarding and the Autopay mandate flow. The primary business goal was not just a visual refresh; it was a strategic initiative to drive recurring AUM (Assets Under Management) growth by reducing friction and building long-term investor confidence.
Legacy app screenshots
What We Overcame & Achieved
We faced several significant hurdles, ranging from high user drop-off rates during complex regulatory steps to a general lack of trust in automated financial commitments.
Key Challenges Overcome
Mandate Friction: Users felt a loss of control when setting up Autopay, leading to a high abandonment rate at the final stage of SIP activation.
Information Overload: The legacy dashboard was cluttered with fragmented navigation and asset classes that were difficult to distinguish.
Regulatory Complexity: Onboarding required mandatory KYC, risk profiling, and suitability mapping, which users found tedious and intrusive.
Measurable Results
The redesign transformed the platform’s performance metrics and user sentiment:
Completion Rate: Increased from 62% to 88% for the SIP flow.
Efficiency: Average completion time dropped from 6.5 minutes to 4 minutes.
User Trust: The trust rating improved from 3.1/5 to 4.3/5.
Business Impact: Achieved a significant increase in SIP activation rates and recurring AUM inflow.
Metric
Before
After
Completion Rate
62%
88%
Avg Completion Time
6.5 min
4 min
Trust Rating
3.1/5
4.3/5
The Why and How
Our strategy was rooted in the behavioral insight that in fintech, speed alone does not drive adoption—perceived control does.
Strategic Pillars
Trust as a Visual Language: We moved away from the outdated aesthetic toward a clean system of gradients and structured hierarchy. We ensured WCAG compliance and used purposeful micro-interactions to provide a sense of calm and reliability.
Behavioral Confidence: Research showed that users often drop off because they fear losing control over their money. We reframed the "Autopay" experience by visualizing future deduction dates and making "Pause/Modify anytime" options explicit.
Intent-Based Sequencing: We restructured the regulatory requirements. Instead of forcing users through KYC immediately, we allowed them to browse and build "investment intent" first. This reduced the perceived effort of the compliance steps.
Our Process
Discovery: I conducted competitive teardowns of Groww, INDmoney, and Kuvera. We identified a gap: while competitors optimized for transactional speed, none truly optimized for the psychological reassurance needed for recurring commitments.
Ecosystem-driven but comparatively complex navigation and mandate steps.
Optimized for speed. Minimal friction during fund discovery and SIP setup. Limited reassurance layers.
Strong data presentation and portfolio visibility. More information-heavy flows.
Advisory-oriented but dense information architecture.
User Research: We conducted moderated interviews with users aged 24 to 38. These sessions revealed that users think in terms of safety and control: "How much will go?", "When will it go?", and "Can I stop it?".
Prototyping & Testing: We moved from paper wireframes to digital prototypes, testing specific "exit rebuttal" layers to intercept users about to abandon the mandate flow.
Iteration: Based on usability findings, we replaced tabbed navigation with contextual cards on the dashboard. This brought asset returns "above the fold" and simplified the data hierarchy for immediate clarity.
Through this process, we successfully repositioned Kotak Cherry as a modern, trustworthy platform that balances compliance with a seamless, confidence-building user experience.
Designing high-trust products that balance compliance, clarity and conversion.
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