Greatest Design Practices for Fintech, Healthtech, and Legaltech (Said Like a Real Person)

Introduction: Designing for Real People in High-Stakes Industries

Okay, so designing for serious stuff—money, health, legal things—it’s not like designing for your average to-do list app or some cool music platform. These are products people use when they’re stressed, confused, scared, or just trying to get through something they didn’t ask for. Nobody wakes up excited to check their insurance coverage or fight with their bank’s interface. They’re in the app because they have to be. That right there already changes the game.

Principle 1: Get Out of Their Way (The Designer’s Prime Directive)

So if you’re building in fintech, healthtech, or legaltech, here’s the first rule: get out of their way. Seriously. Your job as a designer is not to impress them. It’s to not make their life harder. That means no weird hidden menus, no clever animations they don’t need, and definitely no vague buttons that say “submit” without explaining what’s about to happen. These people are trying to pay a bill, find a lab result, or sign a document. Help them do that. Fast. Clean. Done.

Principle 2: Earn Trust on Every Screen

Now let’s talk trust. People don’t trust easily in these spaces. And for good reason. They’ve been scammed, misled, confused, and put on hold for too many hours in their lives. The second your app looks janky or inconsistent or slow, they’re gonna bounce—or worse, panic. Even tiny things matter. Like if a button looks slightly different on one screen, or the wording changes from “Continue” to “Next” for no reason, it triggers doubt. You have to earn trust with every screen.

For additional insights into digital identity and how trust is built online, consider exploring resources from experts in the field, such as those found here.

Principle 3: Speak Like a Human (Not a Robot)

Same goes for what you say. If you can say it like a human, please do. No one wants to read: “In accordance with section 5A of the User Processing Framework…” Come on. Just say: “Here’s what we need and why.” Especially in legaltech. The design shouldn’t make it harder. You’re not a lawyer. You’re the translator between the scary formal stuff and real people who just want to know if they’re gonna get fined or not.

Principle 4: Empathy in Healthtech and Clarity in Fintech

Healthtech: The Calm, Safe Interface

Healthtech gets even trickier. Now we’re dealing with people who might be in pain, scared, or honestly just exhausted. So tone matters a lot. Your interface should feel safe, calm, almost like a good nurse. Not flashy. Not robotic. Just clean and human. Half the time people don’t. Heck, half the time the doctors don’t.

Fintech: Precision and Transparency with Money

And fintech? People are super touchy when it comes to money. They wanna know where every cent is going, and they want to know now. If they move money from one account to another, and it disappears for even a second, their heart rate goes up. So give them clear messages:

• “Your payment is processing. It should arrive in 1–2 business days.”
• Better yet, give them a timeline.
• And don’t use bank-speak. “ACH transaction completed” means nothing to 90% of users. Say: “We’ve sent your transfer. It’s on the way.”

Principle 5: Conquer the Dreaded Form

Another thing—your forms are too long. I already know they are. In all three of these industries, users are hit with the longest, driest forms. And yeah, some of it is unavoidable—you need legal info, or patient data, or financial history. Fine. But:

• Break it up.
• Show progress.
• Explain why you’re asking for certain things. “We ask for your ID to prevent fraud.” Boom. That one line reduces anxiety by half.
• Also: save their progress. Let them come back later. Life happens.

Principle 6: Address Edge Cases with Empathy

People also overlook the edge cases. Like, what happens if someone’s denied a loan? Or their test result isn’t available yet? Or they try to upload a PDF that’s too big? These aren’t “maybe” scenarios—they’re common. Bad design here is how someone ends up calling customer service or just leaving forever. Show empathy. Show next steps. Always give them something they can do.

Principle 7: Accessibility Is Not an Option, It’s a Requirement

Now accessibility. Look, it’s not just a checkbox. These apps are for everyone—young, old, sighted, blind, fluent in English, not-so-fluent, dealing with disabilities, using old phones, shaky internet… If your design only works perfectly for tech bros on brand-new iPhones, you’re doing it wrong. Use readable fonts. Good contrast. Make buttons big enough for shaky hands. And test your stuff with real people, not just your team in a Zoom call.