Designing fintech for reality, not for ideal users – McElvanney

Vulnerability is the backdrop against which millions of people manage their money, seek help, and try to navigate complex systems. When you design digital journeys for financial services, you quickly realise that you are not building for a minority – you are building for the majority.

Recent national data makes that point difficult to ignore. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported in 2025 that around a quarter of UK adults were struggling to get by financially, while nearly one in five experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

At the same time, the Vulnerability Registration Service has seen rapid growth in people self‑registering and disclosing multiple challenges at once, from mental health needs to communication barriers. This data demonstrates clearly that those with vulnerabilities are in the mainstream.

Mortgage customers sit right at the intersection of these pressures. A mortgage is often the largest financial commitment someone will ever make, and if life becomes unstable through illness, job loss, relationship change or simply mounting costs, the administrative tasks around maintaining or restructuring that commitment can quickly become overwhelming.

Even in the best of circumstances, affordability assessments and budgeting exercises demand precision, attention and emotional resilience.

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When someone is feeling under pressure or stressed, which often is the case in these situations, the design of the digital journey becomes far more than how aesthetically pleasing it looks – it becomes the aim to support.

Vulnerability as a fintech standard, not an add-on

In our work analysing income and expenditure journeys, we see first-hand how quickly attention shifts. From one screen to the next, a user’s confidence, concentration and clarity can vary dramatically.

Many users rely on accessibility tools such as screen readers, translation features or styling adjustments to complete the task. Others disclose mental health conditions, cognitive load challenges or communication needs that significantly shape how they engage with information. These signals all point in the same direction – most people need more support than traditional UX assumptions allow.

This is why designing with vulnerability in mind should not be treated as an add‑on for ‘special cases’.

It is a fundamental requirement for any organisation that wants accurate information from customers, fair outcomes, and a relationship built on trust. When users are already under pressure, every point of friction becomes amplified, meaning a confusing login process stops progress before it begins. Dense wording, inconsistent layouts and a lack of guidance all increase the likelihood of errors and anxiety.

The challenge for mortgage providers, and for the financial services more broadly, is to rethink what ‘good design’ actually means. It’s not just about creating a sleeker interface, although this often helps.

It’s about reducing cognitive load, clarifying intent, and giving people the tools and confidence to complete tasks even when their capacity is low. When we design for real users in real circumstances, not an imagined ideal, journeys become more accurate and ultimately far more accurate.

To learn more about the importance of designing user experience with vulnerable people in mind, and how IE Hub has approached this, you can find their whitepaper here.