What are the best practices for handling complex usability issues in financial software?

1 Define your user goals and scenarios

Before you start designing or testing your financial software, you need to have a clear understanding of who your users are, what they want to achieve, and how they will use your software. You can use user research methods, such as interviews, surveys, personas, and user journeys, to gather insights about your user needs, preferences, and behaviors. Based on your user research, you can define realistic user goals and scenarios that reflect the typical tasks and situations that your users will encounter when using your financial software. These goals and scenarios will help you focus your usability testing and design efforts on the most important and relevant aspects of your software.

2 Simplify your user interface and interactions

One of the main usability issues in financial software is the complexity of the user interface and interactions. Financial software often has to display a lot of information, options, and features, which can overwhelm and confuse the users. To avoid this, you should aim to simplify your user interface and interactions as much as possible, without sacrificing functionality and performance. You can use design principles, such as hierarchy, contrast, alignment, and whitespace, to organize and prioritize your content and elements. You can also use design patterns, such as navigation, menus, tabs, buttons, and icons, to make your interface consistent and intuitive. You can also use feedback mechanisms, such as tooltips, progress bars, and error messages, to guide and inform your users about their actions and outcomes.

3 Validate your data and calculations

Another common usability issue in financial software is the accuracy and reliability of the data and calculations. Financial software often has to deal with sensitive and complex data and calculations, which can have significant consequences for the users and the business. To ensure that your data and calculations are valid and trustworthy, you should implement rigorous quality assurance and testing processes. You should verify that your data sources are credible and up-to-date, that your data formats are consistent and compatible, and that your data inputs and outputs are clear and correct. You should also check that your calculations are logical and precise, that your formulas are consistent and error-free, and that your calculations results are meaningful and actionable.

4 Optimize your performance and security

Another crucial usability issue in financial software is the performance and security of the software. Financial software often has to handle large and complex data sets and calculations, which can affect the speed and efficiency of the software. Financial software also has to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the data and transactions, which can affect the safety and trust of the software. To optimize your performance and security, you should use best practices and standards for coding, testing, and deploying your software. You should use efficient and scalable algorithms, data structures, and architectures to improve your software speed and capacity. You should also use encryption, authentication, and authorization techniques to enhance your software protection and compliance.

5 Test your usability with real users and data

The best way to evaluate and improve the usability of your financial software is to test it with real users and data. You can use usability testing methods, such as usability testing, user testing, and heuristic evaluation, to collect and analyze data about how your users interact with your software, what problems they encounter, and how satisfied they are. You should test your software with representative users, who match your user personas and scenarios, and realistic data, which reflect your data sources and calculations. You should test your software in different stages of development, from prototypes to final products, and in different environments, from lab settings to real contexts. You should also test your software for different usability criteria, such as effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, learnability, and error prevention.

6 Iterate your design based on user feedback

The final best practice for handling complex usability issues in financial software is to iterate your design based on user feedback. User feedback is the most valuable source of information and inspiration for improving your software usability. You can use user feedback methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and reviews, to gather and understand the opinions and suggestions of your users. Based on your user feedback, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your software, the opportunities and threats for your software, and the gaps and needs of your users. Based on these insights, you can make changes and improvements to your software design, and test them again with your users, until you reach a satisfactory level of usability.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?