UX, the
upper level, the visual side, that layer where Interaction Design shares
glories with Usability, both of them glued with Visual Design. That layer where
Content (and content strategists command) and User Research reign. UX, the starting
point for a more and more complex universe.
Certainly,
you have heard terms such as UX and CX. CX a wider concept than UX. CX is
something like a metamorphosis, the monkey transformed into a human. It is when
the street walker attracted by a casual billboard decides to enter the store
and demands high quality service. Everything in CX starts with a Brand; the
Brand eventually would shine or suffer deprecation, all by the customer. But
that happy or sadly end depends on Customer Service, Advertising, Sales process
(E2E), delivery process, Pricing, perceived quality. In this system, the experience
is digital, non-digital, emotional, and physical.
What a supreme
experience for the customer who suffers from a flat tire at 2 am, stops his
car, takes out his mobile phone, buys a new pair of tires (let`s suppose a full
change for the flat tire and its pair) and in a matter of 30 minutes plus his
car has a pair of new tires and the man is heading home. All of this because
the tire dealer move as fast as the help message and the buying order was
received and deliver a pair of new tires and besides its delivery service also
helped to remove the old tires and installed the new ones at no cost.
The
classical Customer Experience journey starts with a human in need of something,
material or virtual (product or service) and ends with a big smile or a
frustrated son of Adam. But for service companies such TELCOS, Insurance
Companies, FinTech Start Ups, Banks and others, the Customer Journey is not
just a mere journey is an entire life. Tradition is dead, those years when a
Bank was like a tradition in families is no more. There`s a fierce fight in the
Banks` Red Ocean, but fortunately there are chances to find blue waters through
innovating services.
Now…yes,
and what about Service Design. The key for success is to create seamless
customer experiences that drive differentiation and long-term value. Let`s
suppose UX is the Moon and CX the earth…Service Design (SD) would be something
like a comet than shines into the night and affects both, the planet and the
asteroid. SD will complement the atrocities
described for UX and CX. SD deals with
Consulting, Support, Education, Success, and Community.
Companies
call themselves as customer centric ones; everything revolves around that tyrant,
the customer. But wait, he is not the tyrant, he`s also the prey and salvation,
yes! The loyal customer will let us increase revenue, gain market, develop new
products among other things. A proper
design should be based on in-depth knowledge of the customer’s current and
projected needs at the core; with all the activities, roles and processes
aligned to enable smooth customer experience across all traceable points. Services are the engine that power loyalty,
retention, advocacy and, therefore, revenue growth.
Healthy
habits include KPIs, benchmarking against competition, continuous improvement,
research of the products and new ways of service selling. The team for a successful SD becomes complex,.
With marketing gurus, psychologists,
brand champions, Big Data analysts, etc.
Top advices on developing for effective User Experience in Banking
1. Practice some Design Thingking principles, think like your customer
Commonly, banks tend to design products using interfaces that are defined by bankers. They assume, wrongly, that users know about banks like professionals and also they try to mimic the obscure process in the user interface... guess what, users are common people that wants to be served fast and easy. So, keep calm and try to behave as a common mortal before designing any interface
2. Every application is different. Stop copying other interfaces' behavior and L&F.
Other misconception about applications and interfaces is to think like if a Size fits for All. Wrong! The behavior of a good application should fit the device that is managed by the user. Some informational web sites are OK detecting how to fit in the device that is calling for them. But it is for information, period. Transactional applications need to adapt comfortably to the current device, but such automatic adaptability is far to be the best. So, there is the urgency of having a specific design for every device. And also kill the "Copycat" custom. Apply psychology and sociology principles.
If you like to mimic some other service or application from your competitors or referents, stop, think what are pros and cons, try to be original and evolutive.
3. UX is not cheap. You need specialized people in UX Banking and ... invest time!
The last move in this pasarela is being User Centric, and like in "Au Couture" you need specialized UX designers. Maybe a good UX designer can do the job, but there is also the time cost of try and error, or wireframes. Do not be afraid of using lots of resources like Brainstorming sessions, information gathering, prototypes, beta testers or users groups. Try using kids and old people for testing, go and ask your teen relatives.
4. Success do no to come just with a new User interface
Maybe this can sound rude, but nothing changes just painting that rotten car to have it running like a brand new one. The real change comes from inside your systems, new web services, security zones, maybe some services in cloud, etc. Think about everything. You can end up with dislikes in the App Store because your customers cannot register or the messages never arrive on time. UX is a matter of combining best of the best. I do not mean you need to invest in such top line software or hardware but to use efficiently your infrastructure and commit essential changes that make the difference of seconds to milliseconds in transaction response.
5. UX and CX is a matter of multidisciplinary teams, it is not just graphic design
Focus your mind in a new Ferrari Sport Car...very good looking outside and a real jewel inside. The jewel that moves that piece of engineering and design is not visible for the street passenger. Do you understand? You need people working on graphic design, other in user interaction, other ones in marketing research to understand which transactions are prone to error, which ones can make a difference, etc. For instance, unfortunately none of my banks have such an useful feature that allows me to interact with Siri, Cortana or Alexa and instruct the bank to execute the customary monthly money transfer to my old aunt. WOW! Yes, a phrase can save me the torture of login, menu, etc. Do you see the difference.
You need to sum: User's opinion, bank's strategy, technical opinions, market research, innovation
6. Yes...be innovative
Old approach: traditional transactions such transfers, account statements, checks balance...should be in my service.
Stop! think about mobile payments, wire transfers, peer's loans. Yes, why no to provide your customers with services like peer to peer loans. If you do not implement services like that, any FinTech will and your customers will be running from your bank, but that is not what you want, do you? Think about bankarization, there are people who do not use banks for a number of factors but they need to access the payment system. What if.....
I hope your efforts in UX and CX will make a difference in the World not just in your country.
