BAANKNET

Overview

BAANKNET is a flagship national e-auction platform, an initiative of India’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). It brings 12 public-sector banks onto a single portal to sell non-performing assets (NPAs), from residential homes to movable assets.

I led the UX/UI redesign, turning a complex and confusing portal into a modern, intuitive experience worthy of a national initiative. The goal was to improve transparency, build public trust and increase participation in auctions.

• Responsibilities

  End to end

  User flow analysis, information architecture, wireframing, high-fidelity design and prototyping.

• Constraint

  Same backend

  The redesign had to sit on the existing database and APIs, so core backend logic couldn’t change radically.

The problem

As a key government initiative, BAANKNET had a mandate to be transparent and accessible. The existing design was failing that mission. A confusing user flow and poor information hierarchy created real cognitive load, a major barrier for first-time investors and individual citizens, who found the process intimidating and hard to trust.

The users

The audience was a wide cross-section of the Indian public, from large real-estate firms to individual, first-time investors. Many were new to formal e-auctions, so the design had to be simple and reassuring for novices while staying efficient for power users.

• 55%needed a fully functional mobile platform to track auctions on the go
• 68%found the multi-step bidding process intimidating and overly complex
• 75%had trouble finding complete property and auction details
• 88%struggled with the confusing navigation and cluttered layout

Process and decisions

The process centred on clarifying the user journey and creating a trustworthy environment that lived up to the institutions behind it.

Wireframes

1. A clear hierarchy

The first step was to declutter. I redesigned the property listing pages around a powerful filtering system and clean, card-based layouts, so people could quickly find relevant properties and take in key details, like reserve price and auction times, without feeling overwhelmed.

2. Trust and urgency in the bidding hall

The bidding hall is the climax of the journey, where significant money changes hands. It needed a careful balance of clarity, trust and urgency.

• Clarity and trust

  Always know where you stand

  Strong visual cues and clear typography put the critical information first: the current highest bid, the next required bid and your status, like “You are the highest bidder”. Details such as the reserve price stay visible to show the auction is legitimate.

• Sense of urgency

  Keep the momentum

  A prominent countdown timer and clear calls to action keep bidding moving and create focused excitement that encourages people to take part.

This turned an intimidating process into an engaging, transparent event.

The solution

The final design guides citizens from property discovery to the final bid. With a logical flow and the right information exactly when it’s needed, BAANKNET lets the public take part in auctions with confidence. The flexible design also handles both real estate and movable assets.

Impact

The redesign delivered a more transparent, efficient auction process, and the clarity of the new design directly contributed to a more active, engaged user base.

• +32%Bidders per auctionThe streamlined flow and clearer bidding brought more people in.
• +25%Successfully closed auctionsMore confident bidders meant more auctions reached a sale.
• −60%User-reported bidding issuesOverwhelmingly positive feedback on the new bidding flow.