Insights ¦ Digital design in customers’ online journeys: good practice and areas for improvement

Key Take Aways

1. Digital platform design significantly influences customer understanding and decision-making, with good design supporting positive outcomes and poor design leading to rushed or misinformed decisions.
2. Firms that proactively review and update their digital journeys demonstrate better alignment with Consumer Duty expectations.
3. Designing journeys tailored for different customer groups, including vulnerable and non-standard customers, enhances support and compliance.
4. Inclusion of friction points within digital journeys can effectively encourage customers to make more deliberate and informed choices.
5. Clear layout, plain language, and visual aids are critical in enhancing customer comprehension of products and their features.
6. The involvement of frontline agents in digital journey design ensures feedback from customer interactions is incorporated, improving outcome quality.
7. Identifying and supporting vulnerable customers within digital platforms remains inconsistent; testing ease of disclosure is recommended.
8. Default settings and choice architecture can unintentionally nudge customers towards undesirable decisions, risking exploitation of biases.
9. Timely presentation of key product information, including fees and charges, is vital to aid understanding and support responsible decision-making.
10. The speed of digital journeys influences customer behaviour, with an overemphasis on quick processes potentially undermining customer interests.
11. Analysing behavioural data offers insights into drop-off points and journey flaws, enabling continuous optimisation.
12. Reliance solely on customer reviews is insufficient; multi-indicator measurement and ongoing outcome monitoring are necessary for adherence to Consumer Duty.

Key Statistics

• The publication date of the article is 31/07/2025.
• Firms are encouraged to understand the needs, characteristics, and objectives of their target market, especially in digital environments.
• The article references multiple guidance and research notes, including FG22/5 from July 2022 and FCA publications.

Key Discussion Points

• The importance of thoughtful digital journey design in achieving good consumer outcomes.
• How firms are incorporating vulnerability considerations into digital platforms.
• The role of friction in encouraging informed customer decision-making.
• Risks posed by bias in layout choices, defaults, and nudging tactics.
• The necessity for clear, jargon-free language and accessible information presentation.
• Challenges in ensuring customers understand complex products through digital channels.
• The importance of frontline insights in refining digital journey design.
• Monitoring customer behaviour via analytics to identify friction points and drop-offs.
• The risk of prioritising speed over customer comprehension and thoroughness.
• The importance of testing and quality assurance in assessing the clarity of communications and product understanding.
• The need for firms to measure outcomes through multiple indicators beyond just customer satisfaction.
• Ongoing regulatory oversight and the focus on continuous improvement aligned with Consumer Duty.

Document Description

This article presents an assessment of digital design practices within customer onboarding and product application processes in the consumer credit sector. It highlights both good and poor practices in digital journey design, with particular emphasis on how these influence customer understanding, decision-making, and overall outcomes. The piece offers practical guidance for firms to strengthen their digital channels, support vulnerable customers, and ensure compliance with Consumer Duty obligations, by fostering deliberate, informed, and fair customer experiences in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.