Synchrony App Consolidation
Led a major app consolidation project that combined the flagship mobile app, MySynchrony with the Synchrony Home and Car Care Apps. The consolidation effort was completed one month ahead of schedule thanks to the newly created and distributed native design system.
Within several months of the consolidated app (MySync) launching, the Android app experience enjoyed a 4.7 Star Google Play rating
Service
Native App Design Strategy
Client
Synchrony Financial
Where it began...
Initially, when I joined Synchrony, the native app portfolio was extremely siloed and inconsistent…created by several designers/agencies.
So, why consolidate?
Value to the business
Maintaining several design and development teams was proving to be a costly endeavor. Additionally, it slowed feature releases and contributed to a fragmented user experience due to the teams having varying velocity.
Value to the user
If there’s a retail chain store you like to shop at, chances are it offers a credit card — and that credit card has a good chance of being from Synchrony Bank. Additionally, the chances of needing more than one app to service them was likely.
Phase 1: Nomenclature and Minor UI Updates
I planned this first phase of fixing the inconsistencies across the app portfolio by selling the value of reducing call center training for addressing the most common issues.
Phase 2: Standardize Design Across Networks
Synchrony’s Private Label Credit Card (PLCC), Synchrony Care Care, and the Synchrony Home networks contribute nearly equal revenue and users could have cards in one or all networks so network branding needed to be maintained.
Phase 3:
Consolidate 3 Apps Into One
Even with the added benefits of similar UI across the three network apps, the cost associated with maintaining separate apps and the fragmented UX for multi-cardholders reinforced the decision to consolidate.
Phase 4-5: Carry Brands Over & Future Scaling
There remains some brand equity across networks and will be core to the company’s long term vision. A scalable iconography and brand asset framework was created for this purpose.
Given the journey so far, I wanted to ensure the design updates could scale and not look dated as new trends like “dark mode” are gaining popularity.
Phase 6: Focus on Feature Parity
With a single consolidated app across Synchrony's three major networks we are now free to focus on designing features that help create sustainable competitive advantage.
