Project Context

Whether customers are opening an account for the first time, or preparing for retirement, now more than ever, it’s important to have your banking information at hand any time of day or night. Liberty Bank wants to offer customers a digital-first solution for all of their banking needs, from education services to saving for retirement.
View Prototype

Role

Team Lead, UX/UI Design, Budget tool & Service Design

Team

3 UX/UI Designers

Timeframe:

2 weeks

Problem

Liberty Bank wants to offer customers the services and convenience of a brick & mortar bank in a streamlined digital experience.

The Solution

Mobile-first application that addresses our users’ top 3 priorities & pain points:

ease-of-use
overview of all assets in one convenient place
access to education & budgeting tools.

Throughout this case study, I’ll be focusing on the assets that I delivered.

Best In Class

Of the twelve user interviews we conducted, 100% of users used large national banks. We heard that most users were happy (enough) with their current banking solution – and were not planning on switching banks.

So I turned to a feature analysis to supplement our user research with the intention of finding out what large national, mobile-first banks are doing right. Most banks offered the following that Liberty Bank doesn’t currently offer:

Financial education & youth education
Customizable budget and tracking
Online bill pay
Send/receive money

Defining Our User

From the user research conducted, three personas were born.
Nathan – a new parent who is budget-conscious and needs to make their dollar stretch.
Jordan – a business professional, Jordan wants to make the most of what she has and watch it grow.
Michael- who is new to banking and finance.

Nathan

Jordan

Michael

Ideate & Design

Plan, Learn, Grow – In One App

We created a plan to accommodate all three users that entailed a learning, budgeting and investing tool. The introduction of a widget on the homescreen seemed the most appropriate for meeting all three users’ needs. This made the homescreen completely customizable and unique to the individual user.

Homescreen sketch
Spending widget
Customizable widgets

Lofi wireframe of homescreen with spending widge
Lofi Dashboard in edit mode
Hifi Dashboard in edit mode

Budgeting Built-in to Everyday Banking

Gone are the days of toggling between apps in order to nail down the monthly budget. With just a little footwork upfront, our user has the ability to keep track of their expenses and income, plan for all of life’s expenses and reach their goals in no time.

Homescreen sketch with categorized spending
Lofi wireframe of budget page
Hifi budget page

Trust and Professionalism

Service Design

Our users gain confidence with their bank through security and professionalism but dread calling & waiting on customer service. They want fast, professional service on their terms. However, some users are unaware of banking features available to them (CDs, HYSA). Implementing a robust customer service feature allows the user to make an appointment with a financial advisor, chat with a representative, or schedule a call with a customer service agent as soon as one is available. This saves time and drives sales.

Other Considerations

Like other small banks, LB does not currently offer youth education or tax education and resources, something my team would have liked to explore if time would have permitted. Accessing educational resources and outside investment accounts were addressed in our design, but not in the case study.

Testing & Iterations

Tool: Maze

Users expected to arrive at the Budget Detail page from the Spending Widget on the homescreen, although I had built it to link the Account Detail page.

Linked the Spending Widget to the Budget Overview page

Users didn’t know they could change/add widgets

Changed color of button & added + Widget

There wasn’t an evident way to add a new account

Added clear section under Accounts

Users would drop after the Account Details page

Users didn’t know the Budget Snapshot Widget was interactive
- Added an affordance (not shown here)

The 40% of users who found the Budget Snapshot page did not continue to the Budget Details page (not shown here)

Added affordances to show each category was interactive

Reflection

Accessing educational resources and outside investment accounts were addressed in our design, but not in the case study. Similar to other small banks, LB does not currently offer youth education or tax education and resources, something my team would have liked to explore if time would have permitted.
Moving forward I would like to continue working on building out the budget feature and continued user testing.