Banking Beyond the Screen: How Design Thinking Brought Empathy and Innovation to BBVA’s Digital Services
How do you design digital banking for people who fear technology, live alone, or feel excluded by modern platforms? This was the challenge tackled by UXER School students in collaboration with BBVA during a high-intensity Design Sprint in Madrid. Over just five days, participants explored real pain points faced by vulnerable banking customers and prototyped solutions to meet their needs—not in five years, but now.

The result? Not only creative ideas like “panic buttons” and “TV-based home banking,” but a shift in how BBVA viewed its digital transformation strategy.

The Challenge
BBVA, one of Europe’s largest banks, knew that digitalization was not reaching all customers equally. Older adults, technophobic users, and frequent travellers were often left behind. The question they posed to UXER students was bold and specific:
"How might we improve the experience of digital banking for people who feel disconnected from it?"

The participants were a mix of career changers, UX design students, and service innovation professionals—none of whom had direct experience in banking. This outsider perspective, combined with a structured Design Thinking process, would prove to be one of the sprint’s greatest assets.

The Sprint Process: Design Thinking in 5 Days

🧠 Day 1: Understand and Empathize

The sprint kicked off with interviews of real BBVA customers—people who had trouble navigating the app, struggled with trust, or feared losing control over their money. Personas emerged quickly:

• A 72-year-old widow living alone

• A busy freelancer who travels often

• A middle-aged customer with visual impairments

The team also spoke with BBVA staff to understand internal processes and constraints.

🔍 Day 2: Define

Through affinity mapping and “How Might We” exercises, the teams honed in on several key problems:

• Low confidence in navigating digital interfaces

• Difficulty accessing human support quickly

• A disconnect between the bank’s tone and customer emotional states

They reframed the challenge as:
"How might we make digital banking feel human, intuitive, and safe for customers with diverse needs?"

💡 Day 3: Ideate

Ideas poured out in fast, visual formats. From sticky-note explosions to “Crazy 8s” sketches, the teams explored both low-tech and high-tech ideas. Top concepts included:

• BBVA Te Acompaña (BBVA Accompanies You): A personal assistant feature embedded in the app, offering emotional support, simplified language, and real-time help.

• Panic Button for Mobile App: A one-tap emergency contact option that connects to a live agent for guidance.

• Home Banking via Smart TVs: A solution for elderly or low-tech users allowing them to access key banking functions through a familiar television interface.

✏️ Day 4: Prototype

Working against the clock, the teams created clickable prototypes using tools like Figma and paper mock-ups. They storyboarded the user journey for each concept, highlighting how empathy, ease, and emotional connection could be built into each step.

🧪 Day 5: Test

In real-time usability sessions, testers navigated the prototypes while verbalizing their thoughts. The feedback was striking as users felt safer, more understood, and surprisingly comfortable with the new features—even those who previously avoided digital banking.

BBVA team members present during testing sessions were visibly impressed, noting that the solutions not only made banking more accessible but aligned with BBVA’s commitment to inclusive finance.

Impact and Outcomes
While none of the concepts were implemented immediately, the sprint seeded longer-term thinking inside BBVA. Several ideas—especially the “Te Acompaña” assistant—entered further development. Perhaps more importantly, the sprint showed BBVA staff the power of empathy-led innovation.

The sprint also served as a powerful experiential learning opportunity for UXER students. They didn’t just practice DT theory—they contributed to real-world change.

What Made It Effective

• Direct user contact shaped authentic insights

• Cross-disciplinary teams brought diverse thinking

• Tight timeframes pushed rapid creativity without overthinking

Why It Matters for VET and Professional Education
This case offers a real-world model for how VET learners—especially those in UX, service design, and social innovation—can use Design Thinking to co-create services for inclusive digital transformation.

It also demonstrates the value of partnerships between education providers and industry to solve meaningful problems.

Looking Ahead
BBVA has continued to experiment with inclusive design features, and UXER School now uses this sprint as a flagship example of learning through doing. The message is clear: with the right tools and mindset, innovation can be both fast and human.