How can you make fintech solutions user-friendly?

There are a few factors that need some additional consideration while designing Fintech Solutions or for that matter, any solution. From my experience, not enough attention is spent to truly understand our target user in both a B2B build or a B2C build. Contrast a busy, young executive to the need of an ageing parent. My second learning has been to use "design research" as a methodology prior to the use of tools such as surveys, in-depth interviews. The design research methodology differ conventional research.Greater emphasis is laid on silent observation and truly understanding the role your solution will play in your end customer's daily life. Insights from design research can be validated through surveys.

The first step to making fintech solutions user-friendly is to know your users and their needs, preferences, and pain points . You can use various methods to research your users, such as surveys, interviews, feedback forms, analytics, and user testing . By understanding your users, you can design fintech solutions that effectively solve their problems, meet their expectations, and align with their specific contexts . This user-centered approach ensures that your fintech products are tailored to the needs of your target audience, resulting in a more intuitive and satisfying user experience

To ensure fintech solutions are user-friendly, it's essential to embed value in their use cases. In our design, we recognised the value in interactions between Finance Business Partners and stakeholders, focusing on targets aligned with KPIs and KRIs, and embracing the triple bottom line of Profit, People, and Planet. We developed the FP&A+AI Companion, a tool that integrates AI with best practices, ensuring alignment with valuable, measurable outcomes. Tailoring these solutions to user needs and workflows enhances their effectiveness and user-friendliness, boosting financial operations' success.

For me, it’s a brand/marketing challenge - so its all about promoting simplification, understanding and engaging narrative, connected to: * keep language choices simple so multiple meanings can’t confuse - and avoid acronyms * share context and backdrop to any research or case studies, applications or tools etc, to ensure all assets and opportunities are valuable for all * know your narrative and reinforce that messaging at every opportunity - showing how it achieves the outcomes (don’t get lost in the what, why, how) * focus on outcomes

Successful adoption of any sort of AI mandates an attention to data. As noted earlier, one of AI’s most powerful capabilities is its capacity to analyze large amounts of information and, from there, arrive at the best choices and decisions possible. But, it should be added, only when that data is of the highest quality. Given the nature of AI, its potential depends on the accuracy and trustworthiness of data as much as the quantity. Falling short of reliable information, the validity and accuracy of AI’s algorithms can only suffer.

Provide a quick and easy overview of the most important information, such as the balance and the latest transactions. Avoid causing stress to your users by cluttering the dashboard with all kinds of unnecessary information. Figure out what insights could simplify the user's life. Users should feel like the main menu is always there to guide them but at the same time it's not overwhelming and doesn't steal a lot of attention. Pay attention to the menu titles, those should be formulated correctly not to mislead the users.

If you are working in a product-led company, remember to work closely with Sales and Marketing to provide a complete brand experience. Otherwise, you may end up having weird, half-baked experiences throughout your funnel.

From my perspective, it’s crucial to focus on simplicity and clarity in design. Fintech solutions often deal with complex financial data and processes, which can be overwhelming for users. By simplifying the user interface and ensuring that the language used is jargon-free and easy to understand, you can significantly enhance user experience. This not only makes the application more accessible to a broader audience but also increases user trust and engagement.

This is an area where a fintech solution must excel. This is why they exist in the first place. To make banking a better experience.

Simplicity is key in solutions, ensuring ease of use. Clearly communicate the purpose of each data point you collect and avoid repetitive requests for the same information.

Prioritizing security and transparency is paramount in fintech solutions. Users need to feel confident that their financial data is safe. Clear communication about security measures and transparent policies can help build trust and reassure users about the safety of their data.

To think it easy and logic. Every step has to be a logic consequence of previous one. In case, spend some digit to remind the logic.

Securing the data is critical to a fintech solution but as important is to be able to communicate what measures you have taken for potential users to feel comfortable with the tool.

Implement clear FAQs and pre-trained bots to quickly address user queries. Utilize various communication methods, including text, video, and audio, to better serve your customers.

Partner with financial service providers to train their client advisors on the software offered. In this way, the impact on the customer base would be extended to a large scale

Ensure that clients can have access to more information and support if required. Make sure clients know how to access your support services and where to go to escalate issues if required. Put yourself in your client's position and there is a problem how would you want to be treated Problems handled efficiently can help retain clients keep regulators happy and help you improve processes and procedures.

Education is key and also quite difficult. Many companies out there attempt to use youtube, and other social avenues to adopt them. The problem is that most people are unwilling to sit and watch something longer than 30 seconds. Gamification can be strong method for this or "the point system". Mint tried to do this, but unfortunately did not scale well.

If you have to spend time educating a user on an app, it’s probably not user friendly. So begin to share your app with some key clients and get feedback and make changes along the way!

Initially role out new apps to limited number of users and even consider as part of the testing the press, family friends to get alternative input and feedback. Nothings perfect day one. If you can get access to regulators sandbox to test and trial new products and services, consider this too.

Implementating an agile based framework (pick your flavor) will greatly assist in creating an iterative approach that will continuously improve the product. Within the chosen agile framework are multiple quality assurance steps that will reduce poor implementations and allow for more rapid, continuous delivery that will provide value to the both the product users and owners.

The user advisory group is critical to providing simple and effective communication. I have learned that communicating without end user feedback creates possible confusion and waste of time and resources. Not to mention toon pack of confidence from the end user.

This collaboration is critical as it is also needed to drive the next iteration of the designed solution. If the solution built is not adaptable and can’t accommodate change, it might be on the chopping box sooner than later.

Collaborate with key stakeholders, establish clear communication, conduct user research, incorporate feedback, address accessibility, and foster ongoing collaboration to develop user-friendly fintech solutions.

Involving customers directly in the design and development process can provide invaluable insights into user behavior and preferences. This firsthand information can guide the creation of features and interfaces that are not just intuitive but also genuinely meet the users’ needs. Engaging employees, especially those who interact with customers, can offer practical insights into the real-world challenges and opportunities in the fintech space. Their day-to-day experiences can highlight potential areas for improvement that might not be immediately obvious.

Yes. Stakeholders. Primarily these are banks. They are interested in the solution and may be interested niestest in one form or another. Second these are other fintechs. Most of the fintech companies are very good in one thing. Hence if the overall banking experience should be improved, collaboration with other fintechs is essential.

Try as often as possible to test live with users and your development team watching. Having them see firsthand where a user gets stumped, or confused is the key to flushing out show-stopping items that impact conversion. Testing on just 5 people can surface the main friction points in your product, or experience.

"Stress-testing" the user experience is an often overlooked step. Identify what are the friction points in the user journey and improve them. Because they tend to be rare (fortunately) they do not tend to appear as key dissatisfaction drivers, but if they appear at a critical moment they can break the relationship. I would conduct user interviews for any drop in platform usage, for example.

* Keeping everything practical * Testing end to end * Data, data, data * Communicate, communicate, communicate * Learning safety nets

It is always best to keep the end user top of mind when designing new products and rolling out updated products. This is easily done by creating a clearly defined process map, with the end user as top adviser through the design and roll out process.

Similarly, keeping investors informed and involved can help in securing the necessary support and resources for development and scaling. It also ensures that the solution aligns with the broader business objectives and market expectations. Regular communication and transparency with all these stakeholders can foster trust and create a sense of ownership and collaboration. This collaborative approach can lead to a more well-rounded, robust, and user-friendly fintech solution. Thus, stakeholder collaboration is not just about getting feedback; it’s about integrating diverse perspectives into the fabric of the solution, thereby enhancing its relevance, usability, and acceptance in the market.