Halden
Money, made calm.
Overall UXE Score
9.21
18 jurors · +0.9 vs season average
- Recognition
- Editors’ Choice
- Recognized
- 18 May 2026
- Season
- Quarter 2, 2026
- Studio
- Nordvik Studio, Oslo
- Categories
- Mobile Experience · Fintech · UX Writing & Content Design
- Platforms
- iOS, Android
01/Overview
A personal finance app that treats attention as the scarcest resource: one quiet overview, budgets that explain themselves, and no dark patterns around credit.
Halden brings every account, card and pension a person holds into one calm overview — and then gets out of the way. There is no confetti, no streak, no red badge demanding attention. The home screen answers one question: how am I doing?
Budgets are written in plain sentences rather than percentages, and every number can be tapped to see where it came from. When spending drifts, Halden says so once, gently, and suggests a single next step instead of a wall of charts.
The team made deliberate trade-offs: no credit products are promoted in-app, notifications are opt-in by category, and closing an account is as easy as opening one.
- Client
- In-house product
- Audience
- Young professionals juggling accounts across several banks
- Industry
- Finance
- Platforms
- iOS, Android
- Status
- Live since March 2026
- Markets
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark
- Languages
- 4 — Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, English
02/Honors
Recognized by the editors. Awarded by the jury.
Recognition
Editors’ Choice
The editors’ highest recognition, for work that changes how its category should be designed.
Conferred by the editors on 18 May 2026 · minimum UXE 8.5
Distinctions
- Distinction · UI & Consistency
UI & Consistency scored 9.4 — the bar is 9.0.
Awards · Quarter 2, 2026
Season results- Mobile ExperienceGrand Prix
02 / 12 · Fintech
- UX Writing & Content DesignWinner
08 / 12
Results announced 15 Jul 2026 by the category juries.
03/Jury verdict
In the jury’s words.
“Halden is the rare finance app designed for the bad weeks, not the good ones. Every screen lowers the temperature — and it does so without hiding a single number.”
Freya Holm
Principal Researcher, Salt Research · Denmark
On behalf of 18 jurors
04/Score breakdown
How the jury scored it.
- Overall UXE Score+0.9 vs Q2 2026 average
- 9.21
- Strongest criterionUI & Consistency
- 9.4
- Jury agreementaverage spread ±0.38
- Moderate
- Jurorsof Q2 2026’s panel
- 18
- 9.3+0.8
Usability
Can people complete what they came to do — efficiently, confidently and without error?
- 9.1+0.9
Information Architecture
Is content organized, labeled and navigable in the way people actually think?
- 9.4+0.8
UI & Consistency
Is the visual language coherent and purposeful across every screen and state?
Jury noteA near-perfect system: 64 components, no orphans, and numerals that align across every screen.
- 9.2+0.8
Interaction & Feedback
Does every action respond clearly, promptly and meaningfully?
- 9.0+0.7
Performance
Does it feel fast — perceived and measured — on real devices and networks?
Jury noteLaunches cold in 0.7 s on a mid-range Android phone; charts never drop a frame.
- 9.2+1.4
Accessibility
Can everyone use it, including people relying on assistive technology?
- 9.3+1.0
Learnability
How quickly does a first-time user become a confident one?
Jury noteFirst-time participants answered “how am I doing?” in under ten seconds without guidance.
Scores are the mean of 18 jurors. Ticks mark the Q2 2026 average across 4 recognized projects.
05/The jury
18 ballotsEvery vote, on the record.
Each juror scored Halden independently, from 1 to 10 on every criterion. Nothing is weighted by seniority and no score is discarded — the published result is simply their mean.
One juror Jury mean
| Juror | Usab | IA | UI | Inter | Perf | A11y | Learn | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomasz WójcikMotion Design Lead, Kadr Studio · PL | 9.4 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 9.66 |
| Marco BelliniSenior Product Designer, Studio Vetro · IT | 9.9 | 9.2 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 9.57 |
| Freya HolmVerdictPrincipal Researcher, Salt Research · DK | 9.4 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 9.56 |
| Ana CostaInclusive Design Researcher, Maré Digital · PT | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.8 | 8.9 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.46 |
| Diego FerreiraFrontend Architect, Rede Norte · BR | 9.8 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.39 |
| Chloé MartinContent Design Lead, Plume & Co · CA | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 10.0 | 9.3 | 9.36 |
| Zara HassanHead of UX, Sahel Pay · AE | 9.7 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 8.7 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 9.34 |
| Mei TanakaUX Research Lead, Hoshi Labs · JP | 9.1 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 9.19 |
| Ravi MenonWeb Performance Engineer, Quickline · SG | 9.8 | 8.5 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 9.4 | 9.19 |
| Sofía MarínAccessibility Lead, Clarosol · ES | 9.5 | 8.3 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.19 |
| Liam O’ConnorAccessibility Engineer, Cardinal Web · IE | 8.9 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 9.2 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.16 |
| Kwabena AsanteService Design Lead, Adinkra Digital · GH | 9.3 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.2 | 9.1 | 9.14 |
| Min-jun ChoDesign Lead, Seoul Form · KR | 8.8 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.14 |
| Yusuf DemirProduct Design Manager, Kuzey Labs · TR | 9.2 | 8.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 9.5 | 9.13 |
| Camille RouxCreative Director, Atelier Nuit · FR | 8.9 | 9.1 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.06 |
| Amara NwosuDesign Director, Kestrel & Vale · GB | 9.5 | 8.7 | 9.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.04 |
| Hana NovákováStaff Product Designer, Brno Works · CZ | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.67 |
| Jonas LindDesign Engineer, Fjordline Systems · SE | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.63 |
| Jury mean | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.21 |
| Spread (σ) | ±0.35 | ±0.42 | ±0.40 | ±0.38 | ±0.36 | ±0.44 | ±0.29 | ±0.27 |
marks each juror’s area of expertise. Deeper tint, higher score.
01
Submitted
20 Apr
Entry received, free of charge
02
Jury scoring
28 Apr – 15 May
18 independent ballots
03
Recognized
18 May 2026
Editors’ Choice
04
Awards
15 Jul 2026
Grand Prix · Mobile Experience
06/Screens
3 screensThe product, screen by screen.
07/Case study
From problem to proof.
The challenge
Nordic banking apps are competent but anxious: alerts, upsells and six tabs of charts. Research showed people opening them less over time — and avoiding them entirely in stressful months, exactly when they needed them most.
The approach
The team designed for the worst week of the month first. Every screen was tested with participants who were over budget, and anything that raised heart rate or induced avoidance was cut, rewritten or moved behind a tap.
Research
Diary study
32 participants over 6 weeks, logging every money moment
Usability testing
5 rounds, 48 sessions across Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen
Biometric pilot
Heart-rate variability during budget review, n=12
Key insights
- 01
People avoid money apps when they expect bad news — so the app must never deliver bad news without a next step.
- 02
Percentages feel like grades; plain sentences (“kr 6 840 left for 9 days”) feel like information.
- 03
Trust drops sharply the first time an app promotes credit.
Outcomes
+41%
Weekly active use
vs. the team’s previous app, 90 days after launch
86
SUS score
System Usability Scale, n=120
−38%
Time to answer “how am I doing?”
moderated tests, median
Outcomes are reported by the submitting team and reviewed by the jury.
08/Accessibility & performance
Built for everyone, on any device.
Accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AA
Audited by Funka (external audit), February 2026
9.2
Jury
- Full VoiceOver and TalkBack support, including chart summaries
- Dynamic Type to 310% without truncation
- Reduced-motion mode replaces every animation with a cross-fade
- Colour is never the only signal for over- or under-budget
Known gaps
- Pension provider pages are third-party web views with partial screen-reader support
Performance
4 of 4 within budget
Pixel 7a and iPhone 12, median of 30 cold launches
9.0
Jury
| Metric | Measured | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Cold start | 0.7 s (within budget) | ≤ 1.0 s |
| Sustained frame rate | 120 fps (within budget) | ≥ 60 fps |
| Crash-free sessions | 99.96% (within budget) | ≥ 99.8% |
| Install size | 38 MB (within budget) | ≤ 60 MB |
Within budget Over budget
09/Design system
Stillwater, the system behind Halden.
- System
- Stillwater
- Components
- 64
- Design tokens
- 212
Color
- #0F3D2E
Forest
- #C9E7B6
Lichen
- #F3EBDD
Oat
- #FBFAF7
Paper
- #2F8A57
Growth
Typography
Manrope
Interface & numerals
Google Fonts
Instrument Serif
Editorial headlines
Google Fonts
UX patterns
- Account aggregation
- Budgeting
- Data visualisation
- Plain-language copy
- Haptic feedback
10/Credits
The people who made it.
Studio
Nordvik Studio
Oslo, Norway
A product studio working at the intersection of finance and wellbeing, known for interfaces that do less, deliberately.
- Founded
- 2017
- Team
- 11–50
- Recognized
- 1
Team
- Sigrid AasDesign Director
- Emil StrandLead Product Designer
- Nora HaugenUX Researcher
- Henrik MoeiOS Engineering Lead
- Ida LundeContent Designer
- Client
- In-house product
- Industry
- —
Built with
- SwiftUI
- Jetpack Compose
- Kotlin Multiplatform
- Open Banking APIs
- Figma
- Rive
→/More from the showcase
Whole season
