Overview
Bree is a service designed to be a friendly financial partner for Canadians, helping them get their own money in hand earlier to prepare for unexpected bill payments or life events. We prioritize user convenience by providing a financial mobile app service with a simplified loan application process.
Role
Product Designer
UX Research, User Survey, User Testing, Wireframe, Design System, UI/UX QA
Background
The project started with a team of 5 individuals, including the founder and one developer, aiming to create a streamlined and convenient financial services experience, ultimately providing a trendy platform.
Over the 4-month project duration, we completed a design that aligns with the company's branding and goals through continuous communication and information sharing with stakeholders.
Key Achievements:
Conducted research and usability tests, considering users' mental modelling while also differentiating the service through comparative analysis of various competitors.
Maximized collaboration efficiency among teams by establishing an overall mobile environment branding and a systematic design system.
Challenge
Due to a large amount of data and complex procedures, getting used to banking services can be quite challenging. With the widespread use of smart devices, banks are encouraging customers to adopt online banking, and a considerable number of transactions are now happening on digital platforms.
While online banking is efficient for most people, there's a noticeable trend of older users encountering a steep learning curve. This can pose a challenge in ensuring satisfaction for all users.
Process
The overall design process is broadly classified into five stages. Firstly, in the 'Empathize' stage for creating empathy, it involves understanding and learning about the relevant industry and current situation through several research activities.
Next, after identifying the problems, the process proceeds to providing solutions, conducting testing, and ultimately completing the final prototype.
01. Competitive Analysis
I analyzed the most potential competitors for Bree, in order to have a better overview and insights of the strengths and weakness by comparing overall user-experience of the mobile app
02. Case-Study
As stakeholders' main concern was about delivering most fast, easy, and efficient sign-up process to eliminate any inconvenience that user can potentially get into. To address these concerns, I conducted a comprehensive case-study by comparing services that closely align with Bree's design philosophy. This study aimed to identify the sign-up process that could best maximize business value while mitigating potential challenges.
03. User Interview
I conducted a user survey for accurate diagnostics, and the interview process focused on the features and environment users require. To ensure precise feedback in the diagnosis, survey participants were primarily classified as individuals working in completely different industries.
Key Insights:
Financial banking app service users are expecting fast process
Majority of users were tired of complicated verification processes
User were expecting more intuitive information visualization in the app.
04. Persona
Based on insights obtained through surveys, we created user personas to make sure the pain-points we identified are relevant to the users' needs.
Opportunity
IA / User Flow
After consolidating all the insights gathered during the research process, I successfully crafted the overall structure and flow of the product. Bree's mobile platform now features a more detailed information architecture and a straightforward flow to prevent recurring confusion.
Wireframe
After going through numerous design iterations, including internal critiques and sharing with fellow designers, I was able to hand off the MVP design to the developer. Due to our thorough communication throughout the entire process, we were fully aware of the compromises we made.
Onboarding Process
Based on the previous Onboarding case study, I provided a user experience with a simple and quick process aligned with Bree's business model philosophy. Instead of requesting all information on one page, I focused on minimizing user fatigue during service usage by asking for necessary details one at a time.
Key Design Focus
Design system
I built a design system by referencing the already established branding of Bree. The design system has not only enhanced the efficiency of the overall product design but also elevated the quality of the user experience through the maintenance of consistent patterns across the service.
Project Reflection
Structure:
In order to provide all design solutions within a short period, I made efforts to handle a variety of tasks in a fast-paced environment. Given the constraints inherent in fintech design, it was a great opportunity to understand limited designs or approaches while simultaneously creating more user-friendly features.
Research:
Due to limited resources during the research process, I had to rely heavily on the help of my acquaintances and former colleagues. However, in the end, I was able to gain very satisfactory insights. Being accustomed to an environment where all information and research capabilities are provided, I had a completely new experience and learned how to overcome such situations.
Design:
From the early stages, I attempted to approach the design with an innovative and differentiating perspective from existing competitors, setting goals that were both philosophical and human-centric. As a designer, I was pleased to include many of the features I wanted to express, as the project structure was primarily focused on product design.
