How N26 makes banking more approachable with Figma

With industry-leading technology and a strong focus on design it’s no wonder N26 has become one of the most popular mobile banks in Europe. With over 8 million customers in 24 markets, the Berlin-based company attributes much of its success to its focus on breaking down barriers to make it easier for people to access financial services. Its commitment to financial empowerment and prioritising pricing transparency help too.

As you’d expect, designing, developing, updating and improving a bleeding-edge digital product is a resource-heavy task… N26’s PTX (product, tech and UX) team has grown to several hundred people since the company was founded in 2013.

And with the sudden shift to remote work in 2020, these teams needed a new way to maintain their usual pace of business while keeping everyone on the same page. That’s when they switched to Figma.

How N26 smoothly replaced a mix of design tools with Figma

With most staff working remotely, finding ways to continue collaborating efficiently became critical for companies of all shapes and sizes. N26 was no different, and with the mobile bank’s design and development teams geographically dispersed, existing tools couldn’t keep up.

"We wanted to have a more efficient use of tools, rather than having to use multiple tools for design, prototyping, design handoff, etc. Using Figma as a collaborative one-stop-shop tool was the obvious next step," says Stefanus Sunarja, UX Operations Lead at N26

Even before the pandemic hit, N26 had a taskforce of ten people across the Product & UX teams who experimented with Figma for various use cases. When remote work necessitated a wider rollout of the tool, N26 let it happen organically rather than following a specific onboarding plan:

• Some designers who were already familiar with Figma helped onboard others and set up a public Slack channel for questions and suggestions.
• Employees learned the basics of Figma through community-sourced gamified templates such as Figma Ninja and used Figma as a virtual room for remote team-building exercises.
• N26's UX leadership and operations teams monitored employee satisfaction with Figma through surveys and interviews in the first few months of use.

Fast product development supported through collaborative design in Figma

In their quest for product excellence, N26’s designers and developers work in a fast-paced environment with rapid release cycles. They can roll out new code every 30 minutes or so, and aim to release new features every two weeks.

This requires hundreds of people across departments to collaborate seamlessly. And this was where Figma immediately proved its value: it allows all team members involved in product development to quickly implement new iterations and drive innovation at the speed that defines N26.

By 2023, Figma was mostly being used by N26's Product, Tech, and UX departments for product development, and by the Creative Studio for the creative production of marketing campaigns.

And by using the features in Figma’s Organization Plan, N26 was able to take even better control of security with Single-Sign-On and improve insights with Design System Analytics, which helps N26 define success and make better use of their design system. Based on the data, N26's team can decide where to focus next - whether it's more training or better communication.

FigJam further boosts Figma adoption and makes virtual offsite "a little too much fun"

Another game-changer followed when FigJam was released in 2021. FigJam is designed to be lighter and easier to use - especially for virtual whiteboarding - and so it helped more people get on board with Figma.

As a result, usage at N26 skyrocketed and collaboration became a breeze. While Figma is still the tool of choice for designers and their stakeholders in product development, FigJam is being used by a wider audience to ensure smooth collaboration and communication in the product development process.

“We think of Figma as the tool that helps us build the ‘right product’ by providing the platform for our component library, product design, prototyping, handoff, etc. And we think of FigJam as the tool to help us build the ‘product right’ by enabling brainstorming and retros and helping us get our processes in line,” says Stefanus.

In addition, FigJam has proved invaluable in ways the team at N26 hadn’t anticipated, such as team events.

"Given the pandemic-related travel restrictions, we weren’t able to come together in person as much as we would’ve liked. While nothing could substitute the in-person interaction and experience, using Figma and FigJam in our team events have enabled us to run those events efficiently, while maintaining some sort of fun and interaction in hybrid/remote setup," says Felix Mergemeier, Corporate Communications at N26.

For a hybrid offsite in 2022, the Product and UX teams used FigJam to create a "Connect Arena" where around 100 people from multiple locations could interact creatively. They made virtual name tags, found virtual swag, connected with others using prepared conversation starters, and took digital polaroid photos. It was a "borderless place to hang and connect" with others.

Stefanus remembers the event with a smile on his face. "We discovered a fun plug-in from the Figma Community that allowed people to take pictures and interact outside of the main discussion topics. Actually, we had a little too much fun with reactions. People were really excited and it helped bring some of the spirit of in-person events to our virtual offsite."

Designing a product people trust – through uncertain times

N26 was born in the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis and vowed to make things better by caring deeply for its customers, offering simple, intuitive and secure banking services that are built around their customers’ needs. And Felix feels that ideology remains important today. "Now, in another economic crisis, we need to do everything we can to be a true financial partner, empowering consumers to stay on top of their finances and develop a positive relationship with their money," he says.

And while that goal isn’t achieved through design alone, the simplicity and ease of use people love about N26 relies on all product development processes running frictionlessly. N26 is keeping up with the pace of innovation and an ever-changing business landscape with Figma by their side.