Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience.

Project highlights

Voice user interface design task

Task

Prototype a multimodal loan journey (voice + text + Generative UI)

Voice user interface design team

Team

1 UX Engineer, 2 UX/UI Designers, 1 AI Service Designer, 1 Coordinator

Voice user interface design duration

Duration

2.5 weeks (initial sprint) 10-week refinement post-demo

Voice user interface design scope

Scope

Discovery, multimodal patterns, Generative UI, live prototype, agent/tool orchestration, real-time voice testing, observability mock

About the client

A leading consumer finance platform helping millions manage everyday money (from credit and investments to insurance and shopping) inside one super app. 

Serving 200M+ customers, 4,000+ service locations, and 50+ financial offerings, it supports both digital natives and first-time users. Backed by a strong innovation center and deep AI/cloud partnerships, the company is now transitioning from fintech success to FinAI pioneer.

What the client needed

The company had launched 100+ AI use cases, with another 100+ in progress, but their existing digital products still felt like traditional fintech. They partnered with us to prototype an AI-native loan experience that would:

  • work fluidly across voice, text, and tap, with no dead ends;

  • reduce friction in sensitive steps like credit checks and loan applications;

  • build trust with clear states and explicit confirmations;

  • showcase Generative UI inside the conversation;

  • stay brand-agnostic and mobile-first;

  • demonstrate real-time orchestration across tools and modalities.

We aimed to go beyond screens, building a conversational layer and a Generative UI system that would demonstrate how voice user interface design can enable complex financial interactions.

Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden
Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden

Challenges

  • voice, text, and UI drifted out of sync in early tests, breaking the illusion of a single conversation;
  • sub-second voice latency was required, as anything over 2-3s felt unusable;
  • financial forms had too many steps at once, risking cognitive overload;
  • users needed clarity about what the assistant was doing behind the scenes;
  • voice sessions sometimes failed to end cleanly, requiring rules for turn-taking;
  • existing GenAI+ voice SDKs lacked observability, complicating debugging and UX validation.

Results

  • a working multimodal loan prototype demonstrating real-world conversational finance;
  • seamless switching between voice → text → tap with preserved conversational context;
  • explicit consent flows for sensitive actions (credit checks, identity lookups);
  • Generative UI for EMIs, loan comparisons, and financial insights;
  • 11+ core actions covered (from voice-start loan flow to EMI exploration);
  • latency and orchestration validated in live tests under production-like conditions.
Hybrid Interaction Interface
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123
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Go
Capabilities
Real-time Generating UI
Emergency Fund
Savings Progress
70%
Complete
$35,000
of $50,000 goal
Remaining
15.0K
Monthly
2.5K
Deadline
Dec 2025
Savings Insights
Performance Analysis
+9.0%
Average monthly change
Last 6 monthsVolatility snapshot
Your savings have increased by 23%
over the last 3 months
Smart Tips
Personalized Advice
Boost Savings Goal
Increase monthly savings by 10% to reach target 2 months early.
Review your subscriptions you could save an extra $50
Consider automating your savings transfer on payday
Savings History
Last 6m Snapshot
$
January
$1.8k
+7%
$
December
-$345
-11%
$
November
$1.5k
+12%
$
October
$1.2k
+3%
Our approach to
voice user interface design.

We worked with the client’s innovation team at startup speed – just 2.5 weeks from idea to demo. The initial sprint focused on one high-impact use case: how an everyday loan journey could feel in an AI-native world.

We kicked off with discovery, scanning regulatory signals, market patterns, and multimodal UX trends using AI-accelerated research. This fed into a cross-functional brainstorming session that aligned us on clarity and control as core principles.

We skipped static mocks in favor of a live demo. Following the sprint, the prototype continued evolving through a 10-week refinement phase, transforming into a production-ready foundation for multimodal finance.

Execution happened in three fast-moving tracks that ran in parallel:

  • tech feasibility: a coded POC in Next.js, Convex, and ElevenLabs, with an evolving agent-orchestration and observability framework for tool testing;

  • UX: defining rules for "who has the floor," turn detection, and voice user interface design recovery patterns between voice, text, and tap;

  • UI: early experiments with Generative UI cards, quizzes, and calculators.

Multimodal interaction flow

FinPilot was designed around a single principle: the user should never need to think about which mode they are in. Requests could start in voice, continue with typing, and end with a quick tap, all within one conversation.

To achieve this, we created a multimodal continuity model, defining how context is preserved and how the assistant behaves when modes switch:

  • continuous context across all three modes, with no resets;
  • live text bar active during voice, enabling mid-speech corrections;
  • quick-action shortcuts for mode switching;
  • conversation bubbles combining spoken and typed turns;
  • behavioral rules for switching (e.g., when typing interrupts voice, when voice resumes after taps).
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Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden
Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden

Multilingual voice support

The client operates across diverse linguistic markets, so we validated whether the flow could remain stable as users switched languages mid-conversation.

We introduced a language-flex model: voice detection immediate language state update context carries forward without resetting the thread.

Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden

Generative UI components

The UI was generated in response to the conversation. This required a generative layout model that defined how financial information expands and transforms based on user intent.

Instead of static forms, the assistant generated interface elements in real time: loan cards, calculators, and sliders appeared directly in the thread, turning financial details into touchable interactions users could follow at a glance:

  • loan comparison cards with “recommended” labels and at-a-glance EMIs;

  • interactive EMI breakdowns and repayment timelines;

  • secure document cards surfaced only when needed;

  • expandable details using progressive disclosure to reduce overload.

Promo Fixed
Recommended
10-month plan
$250 /month
Lowest rates available
0% APR • 10 months
Headshot
JAMES ORION
DOB 12.08.1985
Class B
Expires 15.01.2033
JAMES ORION
Scan for verification
QR code will be available 4:57
Driver's License
B0123456789 • Verified by System
Document Verified
Headshot
Surname
SMITH
Given Names
JAMES ORION
Date of Birth
12.08.1990
Place of Birth
NEW YORK, USA
Date of Issue
15.01.2023
Date of Expiry
15.01.2033
Cat. Valid From Valid To Code
A 15.01.2018 15.01.2033
B 15.01.2023 15.01.2033 01.06
C1 15.01.2023 15.01.2033 95
Loan Details
42% paid
Total
$12,000
Paid
$5,040
Remaining
$6,960
Payment Rate
100% on-time
Est. Completion
Aug 2026
💡 Auto-pay suggestion

Guided loan quiz

When users weren't sure which loan to pick, FinPilot shifted from open-ended conversation into a guided quiz, following a decision-scaffold pattern. Instead of filling out a long form, they just needed to answer five short questions with a visible progress bar

  • single-choice steps replacing long, multi-screen forms;
  • real-time adaptation (answers fed directly into loan eligibility and EMI logic);
  • final recommendation tailored to user inputs.
Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden

Financial guidance

Financial information can overwhelm users, so the flow applied a focused-card model: instead of dashboards, the assistant surfaced one actionable insight at a time. Cards were generated contextually inside the conversation:

  • smart tips with suggested next actions;
  • history snapshots showing month-over-month progress;

  • voice-triggered charts (e.g., “Show me my loan history”)

Voice user interface design for a unified, AI-native banking experience Cieden
Emergency Fund
Savings Progress
70%
Complete
$35,000
of $50,000 goal
Remaining
15.0K
Monthly
2.5K
Deadline
Dec 2025
6-Month History
SepOctNovDecJanFeb
Net saved (6mo)
+$12,800
Avg monthly
+$2,133
Largest withdrawal
-$1,500
At $2.5K/mo you'll reach the goal in ~6 months
To hit Dec 2025 you need $1.4K/mo
On track
Savings Insights
Performance Analysis
+9.0%
Average monthly change
Smart Tips
Personalized Advice
Boost Savings Goal
Increase your monthly savings by 10% to reach your Emergency Fund goal 2 months earlier
Review your subscriptions you could save an extra $50
Consider automating your savings transfer on payday
More tips for you
Trim Subscriptions
Pause 1–2 unused services to free up extra cash each month.
+$50/mo
Auto-transfer on Payday
Schedule an automatic transfer the same day you get paid.
+$250/mo
Round-Up Savings
Round up purchases and move the spare change to your fund.
+$35/mo
Grocery Guardrail
Set a weekly grocery cap and track it to avoid overspending.
+$60/mo
One-Time Boost
Move a small one-off amount from 'misc' spending into savings this month.
+$100
Based on your Emergency Fund pace and recent spending patterns.
Savings History
Last 6m snapshot
January
$1.8k
+7%
December
- $345
-11%
November
$1.5k
+12%
October
$1.2k
+3%
January
$1.8k
+7%
December
- $345
-11%
November
$1.5k
+12%
October
$1.2k
+3%
September
$1.1k
+5%
August
$980
+8%

Trust & privacy

Sensitive financial steps needed a transparent-action pattern, making sure users always knew what the assistant was doing, why, and with what data. We designed trust-building behaviors directly into the flow:

  • explicit consent prompts before credit checks;

  • sensitive data shown only after a user approval event;

  • consistent visual + voice cues during background actions.

Waiting Approve
Credit Score
Experian
720
Very Good
out of 850

Testing & observability tools

To prototype quickly without sacrificing reliability, we built a testing and observability layer that let designers, engineers, and researchers inspect and trigger tools during live sessions. 

These tools let us debug voice disconnects and validate complex flows long before wiring everything into an agent-driven path:

  • Wizard-of-Oz trigger panel for invoking tools;

  • real-time logs for events, errors, latency, and tool calls;

  • manual override mode to test UI components independently;

  • voice session metrics for turn reliability and disconnect patterns;

  • full session replay for analyzing intent/behavior mismatches.

FinPilot in Motion: A Full Platform Walkthrough

A comprehensive walkthrough of the multimodal flow in action. This demo captures a pivotal Beta milestone, showcasing the foundational orchestration of Voice, Text, and Generative UI.

Note: Current production builds feature further enhancements in visual fidelity and latency optimization.

FinPilot Walkthrough
Watch full walkthrough

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