Aeon Bank

Project Overview

This project introduces a new banking platform that seamlessly integrates traditional banking features with a primary focus on innovative financial management tools. By offering people a unified interface, we empower them to navigate their financial journey with ease, streamlining processes from budgeting to online purchases and international transactions.

Scope

Timeline: Jan 2023 - Nov 2023

Industry: Finance

Platform: iOS and Android App

Design Toolkit:

My Role

As the design lead for this project I developed the product strategy, conducted all research, designed the UX and UI and built the prototype. My focus was on creating the saving and budgeting features.

The Opportunity

Users want to save their money but they don’t know how and their bank does not have easy budgeting features built in.

The Goal

How can we create a comprehensive financial management app that seamlessly integrates budgeting, saving and banking functionalities?

1. Discover

First, let’s clarify the difference between saving and budgeting because we’re looking at both:

Budgeting is the act of putting together a budget, which is an estimate of your revenue and expected expenses for a given time period. Savings refers to the money left over after your expenses are subtracted from your revenue, also within a specific time period. By creating a budget, you may be able to locate and cut any unnecessary expenditures, thereby increasing your savings. Investopedia.

Before jumping into solution mode I wanted to dig deep to uncover what the real problem is in this space.

This was helpful for me to differentiate between an observation and a problem.

User research

I conducted a user survey of 28 participants using Start Question to gain insights into their financial management habits, preferences, and pain points. I followed up with user interviews with 4 people over Zoom to elaborate on the questions I asked and gather richer qualitative data. I followed up the interviews with another survey that included new and past participants.

Additional research

Market research

Conducting a competitive analysis helped me to gain a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape. By examining competitors I wanted to identify industry trends, assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing solutions, and pinpoint unmet user needs.

The results from my research helped to identify that the main job to be done is to save money, regardless of what is going to be done with said money. In the user interviews, I asked questions to help determine the sub-jobs for our main job of saving money. Asking these questions helped to unveil what the user does before, during, and after completing their target job, allowing me to see a more complete picture of their journey and potentially uncover new opportunities to assist them.

I conducted a second survey where I asked paired importance/satisfaction questions for each sub-job. The answers to these questions uncovered features that are crucial yet currently unsatisfied and signal an opportunity to stand out from competitors.

Major insights & findings

I created a mind map in Miro to visually organise and synthesise the data obtained from my research into a cohesive and easily digestible format. By mapping out key insights, findings, and user preferences in a structured manner, the mind map serves as a comprehensive reference tool that enables me to identify patterns, connections, and areas of emphasis more effectively.

Data suggests users want to be able to customise but it needs to be easy and visible
Multiple accounts/"buckets" is a common theme
I learned that users want to feel in control of the result - for some this is automatic xfers some this is manual. They want to choose how they do it
To consider: Vast array of goals. How to prioritise how much goes to each one?
Data suggests that too much information is overwhelming and a deterrent
To consider: how can we show/project the impacts of spending/savings decisions

The table below describes the kinds of questions I wanted answers to, why they were important to get answers to and the information I was hoping to gather by asking them. Click on the image to enlarge it.

You can explore how I organised the research data that was collected by interacting with the embedded Miro board below.

2. Define

I started filtering through all of the information I’d gotten and elaborating on it to define the main opportunity and the design challenge.

The Opportunity

How might we help users create savings goals they can easily track?

Archetype

From my research one main archetype was prevalent: The Financial Explorer

Financial Explorers aspire to save money but lack the knowledge, skills, or confidence to do so effectively. They may feel overwhelmed by financial terminology, uncertain about where to start, and hesitant to take action due to fear of making mistakes. Financial Explorers are curious about improving their financial well-being but may struggle with setting clear goals or creating a structured budget. They may also have limited experience with financial products and services, leading to uncertainty about the best strategies for saving and managing money. Despite these challenges, Financial Explorers are motivated to learn and seek guidance to navigate their financial journey and achieve their saving goals. They are tech-savvy and open to leveraging digital tools and platforms to streamline their financial management processes.

Jobs to be done

In my research, I chose to employ the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) method due to its powerful framework for understanding customer needs and motivations. This approach enabled me to move beyond surface-level preferences and demographics, delving into the fundamental jobs or tasks that customers are trying to accomplish. This was beneficial in guiding me to critically assess the essential features required to directly address the identified problem, emphasising practicality over features that might be aesthetically pleasing or just exciting to have.

3. Develop

The research helped identify what features were important and would help Aeon stand out from competitors. After considering which options would have the biggest impact on users while factoring in time and business constraints there were three that stood out and made the MVP list:

The ability to create a budget directly in the app
A cashflow forecasting tool that can show how much money is in an account and how much can be safely spent considering the upcoming expenses before the next payday
A visual representation of upcoming expenses to easily see what’s happening in the account

Information Architecture

I did a closed card sorting exercise using OptimalSort with 6 participants. I opted for a closed card sort instead of an open card sort primarily because I wanted to leverage existing industry standards and user expectations. By providing predefined categories for participants to sort the information into, I aimed to align the information architecture with established conventions and familiar mental models that users are already accustomed to. This approach allowed me to avoid reinventing the wheel with categories and ensured that the structure of the app would be intuitive and easily navigable for users. Sticking to already understood categories facilitates a smoother user experience and reduces the cognitive load associated with learning a new system of categorisation. Click on the image to the right to enlarge it.

Sketches & wireframes

I started sketching ideas for these MVP features by hand 🤯 to help define different ways that each one could be presented and define a feature list. My focus at this stage was to diverge first, converge later. Click on the image on the right to enlarge it.

Usability testing & interviews

I conducted moderated usability tests using interactive mid-fidelity prototypes with 6 users. I employed a combination of Zoom for the video call and screen sharing, along with the participants' own phone screen recording. This dual approach allowed me to capture both the participants' reactions and interactions in real-time through the Zoom call, while also obtaining a detailed view of their on-screen actions through the recorded phone screen. I focused on the usability of the prototype, trying to see if the product is usable or not, how participants interact with it, where they get stuck, etc.

I conducted moderated usability tests to validate ideas, uncover opportunities, obtain unbiased feedback, and discover minor bugs, thus ensuring the refinement and improvement of the app's user experience.

Results

Several key findings emerged that provided valuable insights into the user experience and identified areas for improvement. Based on these results some chnages were made to the final designs:

Upcoming payments cards were made smaller to increase the vertical space for transactions. Making the smaller also allowed me to show that there were more cards available to use when the drag to the left which wasn’t visible before.
Changed the “current” vs. “spendable terminology to clarify what each number means
Made the transactions tighter and smaller so more could fit onto the screen
Removed the “income sorter” and “insights buttons from the home screen because they were also on the budget screen. This makes more sense for the information architecture to have them in one place and creates even more vertical space on the home screen.
Replaced the menu items with ones that reflect industry standards and mental models
Removed user profile image from the home screen to reduce visual noise
Created visual hierarchy between set amount and percentage split items in income sorter to clarify which is which

4. Deliver

I was finally able to move on to my hi-fi prototype. Several key design considerations were meticulously incorporated to enhance user experience and adhere to industry standards:

Ensured compliance with accessibility standards (such as WCAG) to guarantee inclusivity for users with diverse abilities. This encompassed providing alt text for images, maintaining sufficient colour contrast, and ensuring navigational elements are easily distinguishable and operable.
Implemented a consistent and intuitive user interface across the app to promote familiarity and ease of use.
Maintained a clear information hierarchy to guide users effortlessly through the app. This involved strategic placement of essential features, using visual cues to highlight key actions, and ensuring a logical flow of information to prevent cognitive overload.
Incorporated user feedback obtained through iterative testing phases to refine the design continuously. This user-centred approach allowed for adjustments based on real-world usage, ensuring the app evolves in response to user needs and preferences.
Streamlined navigation to enhance user comprehension and reduce cognitive load.

Final app design

5. Reflect

Takeaway 1

Focus research efforts on collecting data that will have an impact on the outcome

Takeaway 2

Without data, design is directionless

Takeaway 3

Biases and personal preferences can get in the way of good design. What makes sense to me may not make sense to my users.

Takeaway 4

Validate whether the feature brings value without building the whole thing

What's next?

I would have liked to build out all of the features that came about from the research, but due to time constraints I could only pick a few. In an ideal world I'd test the features that were chosen, make any improvements or changes and do more user research on what could be the next best feature to work on.