Good UI/UX in Banking

Research from Gartner?posits that banks and financial institutions that refine both their internal and customer-facing services rank higher in terms of customer satisfaction. This is something accomplished UX designers can help you achieve.

The experts at DataArt Design Studio often say that the user experience is not solely about customer-facing UIs. In fact, having an appealing ‘face’ for the customer’s banking app but poor presentation for the bank’s employees is not a best practice at all.

Employee Experience Essentials

When finance institution workers are faced with a rigid, outdated back-office system, they tend to feel frustrated. In time, they become ineffective, like a flat tire, delivering low-value work. The common expression is that you are only as good as your tools, so?companies should not expect a lot from employees unless they have modern tools.

A good UI and UX can help employees in the following ways.

Faster Learning Curve

Simple and straightforward workflows make employees extremely effective. They can also adapt quickly if there are any changes to the workflow. However, complicated user interfaces that require countless tutorials and guidebooks will affect employees' overall efficiency, which slows down the company.

Simple Workflows

If an employee has to go through a dozen steps to perform a single task, the processing time becomes longer and the chances of forgetting or missing something are high. However, a simple interface that is clean and devoid of redundant elements and displays relevant customer data on one screen can solve this problem.

This can help employees get what they want within a very short time and without a fuss.

Reducing Chances of Mistakes

No bank knows the cost of mistakes better than Citibank. While processing a payment of $7.8 million to its creditors, Citibank accidentally sent more than $800 million because an employee forgot to check two boxes.

Is it possible the software interface was complicated? We will never know, but it is probable.

How UX Designers Can Help

A bad UX can cost businesses a massive amount of money. For this reason, it is ideal to work with professionals who know the ins and outs of good design.

Working on a banking application with designers comes with the following best practices:

Full-Service Print

Design entails professional jargon that some heads of operations may not understand. That is why many designers provide service blueprints that detail every move a customer will make with the company while buying a product.

In addition to helping executives get a clear picture of the design route, blueprints can help manage complex projects that involve several parties. Furthermore, it is easy to pinpoint errors in the original service and adjust accordingly.

Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)

Jobs-to-be-done is a production tool that lets companies develop products that customers and users want. It focuses on coming up with services and products that get the job done to the benefit of all those included (employees and customers). As such, it is a great internal tool that every financial institution should use.

User Journey Maps

The bitter truth is that the current back-office systems are outdated, slow, and prone to employee mistakes. The latest systems, on the other hand, focus on employee pain points by reducing the learning curve while helping them boost productivity through easily understandable workflows. To make those modernized systems work as they are supposed to, it is important to visualize the processes they cover, which can be achieved with the help of user journey maps. The UX specialist will follow the illustrated user flow and optimize it where necessary.

Failure Mapping

Designers can conduct failure mapping for potential flaws in a banking system infrastructure, even if employees deem those flaws “insignificant.” These problems can result in mistakes that cost banks and financial systems boatloads of money.

Design System

Designers incorporate design systems in apps and websites to prepare them for future scaling. This allows businesses to progress alongside rapidly changing technological requirements. The beauty of this strategy is that changes are introduced using the same premade UI elements and components, which avoids inconsistency.

Case Study

A big banking customer has been working with DataArt on multiple services over the years. One project involved modernizing a legacy app with current-generation updates. However, the company had planned to introduce the changes slowly and carefully because some employees were used to old patterns, so there was a lingering fear of a mistake occurring.

With all the precautions in place, DataArt’s UX team adopted an iterative approach that introduced micro-improvements and ran them through test phases for feedback. Eventually, the company switched its legacy system to modern applications, without impairing employees’ efficiency.

Improving Customer-Facing Interfaces

A good UX/UI is not just about bright colors, minimal information, and fewer steps. It is also about emotions. We all burn with them. That is why good copywriting can make customers fall in love with your product.

Case in point: N26 bank. Their tagline is, “The bank you’ll love.” That tremendous promise alone would make any customer want to discover why it is worth loving. Good software designers should also help you have emotion-rich interfaces.

Customer-Facing Apps Analysis

The number of mobile banking apps keeps growing and today nearly every financial institution has one. However, a?study from Statista?indicates that, in 2018, most people in the United States only used banking apps to check their account balances.

But during the pandemic, goals shifted. A huge number of customers started to use banking apps to open accounts, make bill payments, and set up simple investments.

For customers to be fully satisfied, banking apps must provide a seamless experience. Unfortunately, that is not usually the case. If you dig through Android and iOS reviews for major banking apps, you will see plenty of user complaints. Many of those complaints reference slow loading times, inconsistent experiences from one section to another, user authentication issues, and notification problems.

Despite all these hiccups, some customers are happy with banks whose apps have frictionless navigation and user-friendly interfaces. Other features that help them save money or protect their accounts (like being able to quickly block a card) are also highly preferred.

If you carry out a small comparison of customer feedback between digital banks and traditional banks, a few things pop up. First, they both have above-average ratings. However, digital banks (neobanks) cater to the needs of the digitally savvy population, most of whom are younger.

The popularity of neobanks among people under 35 years old has to do with their simple interfaces that use animated characters to make banking fun. Users also praise how some banks send personalized offers, such as discounts on purchases they make often. Revolut and Monzo are classic examples of digital banks that impress modern bankers.

Sources:?Revolut,?Monzo,?Bank of America

It does not end there. Digital banks understand that to buy customers’ loyalty, they must be able to keep their money safe. Therefore, it’s necessary to implement?artificial intelligence?to curb fraud. Some AI tools, like Bank of America’s Erica, can double as financial assistants to address client problems.

Reporting fraud needs to be a one-second activity that customers can perform with a single click or by calling an easily accessible customer care number.

Things That Make a Good Customer Experience

Banks and other financial institutions are in the business of making money. To do that, they must meet the ever-growing demands of their customers, including improving the UI and UX experiences. Here is what matters most when redesigning an app’s UI and UX.

Trust and Security

For a customer to access banking services, they have to fill in their personal information. They need assurances that this data will be kept safe. A simple design tailored for a smooth user experience should never compromise security. Never.

How does a superior UX design include security? Simple: apps and websites should be built with secure code and should remind users to pick strong passwords. It’s best if these suggestions include a brief reason for why users should make this decision.

Next, the login process should be straightforward. A common poorly designed process is when customers need to enter a password and then are faced with two-step authentication and captcha challenge. Regular sign-ins where a lot of data is not collected can be performed as a single sign-in, such as a fingerprint scan, pin, or password.

Simplicity and Harmony

No customer wants to go through a steep learning curve to understand banking products. Unfortunately, some banks create products using unfamiliar approaches, diverse paths, and uncommon element placements, making it hard for clients to follow along. On the other hand, when an app follows conventional design principles, it is easy for clients to catch on. In his article, “Fresh vs. Familiar: How Aggressively to Redesign,” J. Nielsen puts it better: “people hate change.”

Jacob’s Law of UX posits that users spend a lot of their time on many sites. Most of them have already had a good experience. This means they expect the same level of performance from your company’s apps and websites.

Innovation That Appeals to the Younger Generation

Young folks are among the most digitally savvy consumers and tend to drive the adoption of newer technologies. Their buying power has a direct impact on the future of the economy, which is why banks must strive to understand their needs. For instance, millennials are not going to visit a company’s physical store. They would rather use the instant chat app and messaging bots because it is a quicker and more convenient solution.

Younger consumers tend to be more conservative with their spending habits. To understand them better, banks may want to tap into AI to personalize banking for them. If the services they get feel bespoke, younger customers will trust banks the way they trust their friends.

Considering the Needs of the Elderly

Banking services should be accessible to everyone, including the elderly. This should be reflected in a company’s website and app design. In particular, the UX and UI designs for the elderly should target those with motor issues and visual impairments.

Some design features to consider include the ability to zoom text, use of clear text with good space format, color coding to highlight interactivity and errors, and simpler language that does not require intensive cognitive processing.

As you may know, no app can be fully elderly-friendly, unless there is a separate one that is entirely dedicated to them. So, a good app will only feature a few elements that help aging consumers perform financial transactions with relative ease.

Gamified Experience

A common problem at many banks and financial institutions is an inability to be playful. However, to better engage and retain clients, banks need to integrate gamification in some parts of their apps and website design.

Gamification does not mean that the app is turned into a game, though that is one option. This approach integrates gameplay tactics that turn boring transactions into fun experiences. A gamified design can include things like performance graphs, badges, avatars, progress bars, and teammates.

Case Study

DataArt was approached by a European bank and insurance provider for help with a mobile retirement planning and finance management app that was targeted at a younger audience.

The app offers a comprehensive view of the customer’s finances and, through interactive questionnaires, guides users on the steps they should take to accomplish their goals.

A report from PwC showed that, before 2019, more than half of the U.S. population were conscious of their retirement plans, while others did not have an idea of how much they will earn before retirement. Lack of information has been cited as the key reason for failing to properly plan for retirement, which is bad for customers and financial organizations.

The same study posits that individuals can save more if they switch to high-fee programs and better income plans. Sadly, many organizations lack transparency in this regard, which has slowed the shift toward pre-retirement fund programs.

But as the economy has improved, people have begun to take pre-retirement plans seriously and are looking into alternative pension plans.

Recently, there has been a sharp rise in the adoption of interactive retirement planning apps and services. Before creating the app for the client, DataArt had to analyze the target audience and design a creative solution that appealed to both those who knew what they wanted and those who needed extra help with planning for retirement. The result was a massive increase in engagement.

Conclusion

Surviving in the digital age requires companies to be agile enough to incorporate newer and better technologies. The two core areas to focus on are UX and UI because they directly affect both employees and customers.

An improved client experience builds trust and loyalty – the two things that can either make or break a company’s progress.

A good experience makes employees and customers happy. When that happens, companies can meet their targets. If you do not provide value through fast and modern improvements, your company might end up spending more to market its products.?Contact DataArt?for help regarding modern UX/UI design flows.

Originally published here: Part 1 and Part 2.