Swakirti Sidhu
Branch Technology Modernization
Retail fee based application was an initiative for branch technology modernization for one of the top 5 banks of Canada. This application provides an opportunity for high value customers to access an asset based program. As a User Experience Designer I led the project and enhanced overall user experience.
Overview
Project Type:
UX research & design, product design
Tools: Figma, Sketch, Mural, Miro and Teams
Company: CGI Inc.
Client: one of the major banks of Canada
Industry: Banking
Methodologies:
Design Thinking Framework, Iterative
My Role:
I designed end to end experience for the users. Completed user research, ideated, prototyped design, conducted usability testing and delivered iterated designs.
Skills:
User research, user interviews, storytelling, ideation, prototyping and usability testing.
Duration: Feb 2022 - December 2022
User: Financial Planner
Outcome
Designed an easy and accessible calculator for the financial planner so that they can guide high value customers to make an informed decision. Also designed onboarding and off-boarding process for both an individual or a household.
Retail fee based program provides opportunity to allow the bank to remain competitive with other financial institute, increase asset retention, regain mutual fund market share and acquire new assets for the high value customer base. , off boarding process either as a single person or as a household.
Design process
I followed design process by conducting research, focus group sessions, ideation, prototyping, usability testing and by iterating designs.
-
Competitive Analysis
-
User research
-
User interviews
-
Design statement
-
Sketching new Ideas
-
High fidelity Design
-
Usability testing and design Iteration
-
Testing
-
Key Learnings
Research
Initially conducted secondary research and further primary research was completed by conducting focus group sessions with the financial planners to understand the pain points and how the financial planners work in the current situation.
Focus Group Sessions
4 sessions
1 hour duration
3-4 Financial Planner in each session
Research Key Findings
-
Lack of unified channel which can systematically exchange the existing funds to applicable series when fee based indicator is updated.
-
90% of financial planner require a functionality to calculate and compare total fee paid in account under the retail fee based program and total fees paid in the traditional non fee based program.
-
100% of financial planner added they are currently using excel sheet for calculations which is a very frustrating experience for them.
Ideation and Prototyping
Before designing design statements were formulated so that we can design the best solution and on focus on solving user pain points.
-
How might we design the calculator so that financial planners can show the benefits to the clients clearly by comparing the total fees paid if the customer enrols into the program vs when they do not.
-
How might be design a onboarding and off boarding process so that financial planner can help high value customers without feeling overwhelmed with information.
-
How might we let the other family members of the household take part in this program so that high value customers can benefit the most from this program.
Mutual Fund Fee Calculator
Designed a calculator so that financial planners can calculate and generate report for the high value customers. Unique portfolio can be build and accordingly results are calculated.
Usability Testing
After designing I moderated all the 5 sessions conducted with the financial planners. The usability study measured how well the calculator helps the user to:
-
Search mutual funds and add to the list
-
Calculate the results for the portfolio
Each session was one hour and was conducted remotely.
Along with positive feedback, in total 1 minor, 2 major and 1 critical usability issue was identified.
1. Fund Added to Portfolio List
All participants had consistent positive experience with the 'Added to Portfolio List' message and button update.
Heuristics Supported : Visibility of System Status
"I like this notification coming up on the screen and the button also saying that the fund is added to the list " - Participant 3
2. Initial Result Section : Portfolio Details Collapsed
4 out of 5 participants were confused and could not figure out that they can expand the result section. They loved the functionality that they can collapse the results for overall findings but at first were expecting the results to be expanded rather than collapsed.
Heuristics Violated : Match between system and the real world
"How my brain processes according to that if this is expanded at first that would be better" - Participant 4
3. Initial Result Section : Information Displayed
-
Once results were displayed financial planners experienced information overload with lot of numbers on the screen which was MER and Fees written on the screen.
-
Additionally, financial planners pointed the importance of MER total to be added as that is the first point of conversation they have with the customer.
-
'Total Account Fee Including Taxes' was a confusing label for financial planners as they were expecting the calculations to be done at the backend and to be added to each fund. It was also giving false expression that 'Existing Total Fee' do not have any tax included at each fund level.
Heuristics Violated : Aesthetics and minimalist design, Match between system and the real world
"I was expecting taxes to be shown within fee total" - Participant 1
Design Iteration : Redesigned Result Section
Following usability testing the result section was redesigned in oder to improve the user experience.
-
Divided the results into two sections:
-
Breakdown in %
-
Breakdown in $
-
with % being as the first section because MER total is the first point of conversation that financial planners have with the clients.
-
The results section was initially expanded to reduce any confusion.
-
Total account fee including taxes label was removed and taxes were instead added directly to each fund, reducing the information overload for the user.
-
Additionally, summary of total cost saving and reduced MER average was added to show how the clients will benefit from the program.
Branch Technology Modernization Other Designs
I also designed the following for the retail fee based program:
-
Onboarding/enrolling into the program
-
Create new fee group
-
Add customer to an existing fee group
-
Inquiry screens
-
Dissolve Fee Group
-
Off-board/un-enroll from the program
Due to the non-disclosure agreement, I cannot reveal final design of these features to the public.
We further evaluated our mutual fund fee calculator designs by conducting usability testing with 5 more users and asked the participants to rate their experience from the scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very negative and 5 is very positive.
-
Overall experience of the user on mean rating was 5.
-
Clarity of language on the screen on mean rating was also rated 5.
Evaluation
Key Learnings
As a UX Designer we wear several hats and are responsible to keep a balance between business and user requirements. But because the product will be used by the user ultimately, their voice is most essential.