lgf.design

Case Study — UX/UI Design

Meridian Bank
Redesign

Website redesign, responsive UI kit, and custom illustration system for a regional East Coast bank.

UX/UI Design Illustration
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Meridian Bank redesign project mockup

Project Overview

1
Designer
5+
Landing Pages

01 — Objective

Redesign for a Regional Bank

Background

Redesign the Meridian Bank website and create a UI kit to match their print branding and overall company tone.

Meridian Bank is a regional East Coast financial institution. As the sole UX/UI designer, I conducted market research, created wireframes and responsive designs, developed a comprehensive UI kit, designed custom illustrations, and supported developers through implementation and QA.

The core challenge was balancing the polished feel of national banks with the welcoming, community-focused approach that makes regional banks distinctive.

02 — Research

National vs. Regional

  • Market research on national and regional bank websites to identify industry patterns
  • Met with marketing team to understand brand preferences and admired competitors
  • Created user personas based on Meridian's full range of customer segments
  • Mapped typical user flows from need recognition through agent contact
  • Developed extensive sitemap including branch sites

Key discovery: national and international banks prioritize mobile app access and login prominence, while regional banks emphasize local services and community imagery. All customer segments, from individuals to business owners, shared a single core desire: building personal relationships and establishing trust with the bank.

Regional Focus

Regional banks lead with community imagery and local services rather than login areas and app downloads.

Trust First

Every customer segment studied shared a desire to build personal relationships with the bank. The design had to feel warm and credible simultaneously.

Login Strategy

Key decision: keep login access limited to navigation only. This balanced national bank polish with regional bank accessibility.

Referral Result

Client satisfaction led directly to a referral for Merit Business Funding, a full brand and website engagement.

03 — Define

Personas and Sitemap

All customer segments shared a desire for personal relationships and trust. This insight drove navigation decisions, hero imagery choices, and the overall warmth of the visual direction.

Key insights

  • Remove topfold login section; keep login only in the nav to reduce friction without sacrificing access
  • Replace generic banner imagery with regional landscape photos to strengthen local connection
  • Build reusable templates and patterns to support future page development
Site Architecture Meridian Bank site architecture diagram

04 — Design

From Print to Digital

UI Kit

Converted CMYK print brand colors to RGB for digital use, introducing new shades and gradients appropriate for screens. The UI kit became the single source of truth for all component patterns.

Custom Illustration

Designed custom illustrations for hero images, photo treatments, block quotes, and icons. Hero imagery used regional landscape photo collages with a Polaroid aesthetic for a distinctly local feel.

Landing Pages

Designed landing pages for Personal Banking, Open an Account, Locations, Business Checking, and Rates. Collaborated with the lead developer throughout, with regular check-ins to ensure technical feasibility.

UI Kit Meridian Bank UI kit
B&W Wireframes — Option 1 Meridian Bank black and white wireframes option 1
B&W Wireframes — Option 2 Meridian Bank black and white wireframes option 2
Topfold Banner Options (Archived) Meridian Bank topfold banner design options
Color Wireframes — Option 1 Meridian Bank color wireframes version 1
Color Wireframes — Option 2 Meridian Bank color wireframes version 2
Topfold / Hero Images Meridian Bank topfold hero image options with regional Polaroid-style photo collages
Final Pages Meridian Bank final web pages presentation mockup

Before and After

The new homepage (left) compared with the original site (right).

New Site
Original Site

05 — Conclusion

Increased Engagement

The client reported increased user engagement following launch. The redesign successfully balanced the polish of national banks with the warmth of a regional institution.

Satisfaction was high enough that Meridian Bank referred me to Merit Business Funding for a complete brand and website engagement — a direct result of the relationship built through this project.

The live site has since been updated by Meridian Bank. This case study documents the original UX/UI designs as delivered.