NCR

Redesigning a white label mobile banking app to be more customizable and adaptable.

In collaboration with NCR, I spearheaded the development of a cutting-edge mobile banking application designed to be adaptable both now and in the future. My process began with an in-depth analysis of NCR's existing app, identifying its strengths and pain points for users. Despite its B2B focus, I also prioritized end-user experiences, conducting thorough stakeholder and user interviews to understand expectations and areas for improvement.

The outcome is an innovative modular app architecture, empowering financial institutions (FIs) to tailor the home screen with diverse modules while affording users the freedom to organize them as desired. This strategy enables NCR to allocate specific modules to FIs and empower FIs to extend specific modules to their customers. The adaptable framework allows for new modules to enter the ecosystem, with administrators retaining control over rollout decisions. This flexible system ensures dynamic customization while maintaining administrative oversight, allow NCR's to work at scale with their customers.

While initially given a blue sky approach, we quickly learned from stakeholders that there are some constraints we need to be aware of.

REUSABILITY

The app needs to be versatile enough to be used by any FI.

CONSISTENCY

NCR can establish standardized features.

ADAPTABILITY

The app can take on any FI branding.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Heuristic Evaluation
Competitive Analysis
UX Design
Visual Design Oversight
Stake Holder Interviews
User Interviews
User Flow Testing

TEAM

Jesse Newton - UX Director
Mark Damiano - Creative Director
Katie Foster - Sr UX Researcher
Cate Kennedy - Sr Designer
Amy Kosloske - Sr Designer
Vivian Lowe - Project Manager

DELIVERABLES

Heuristic Eval. of the Current App
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder and User Insights
User Testing Results
Annotated Wireframes
Sitemap
UX Design for iOS and Android

TIME

Late 2019 - Early 2020

The Pain Points

The current app is bare bone on initial view, with many features hidden in the “More” menu.

Both the stakeholders and end-users agreed that the More menu was creating more obstacles than serving as a useful feature on the app. Initially used as a space for items that did not fit in the navigation bar, it quickly evolved into a catch-all for both useful and extraneous elements. This inadvertently contributed to another issue: reducing the discoverability of features. This is because all of them are nested in the More menu as well.

Design-wise, it did not allow FIs to customize very much beyond uploading their logo. Interestingly, while FIs cannot make very many visual changes, they can affect user flows. For instance, one FI omitted the "Forgot password" flow from their app, resulting in customers having to contact the FI directly in order to resolve any password issues.

A

Account placement is determined by the FI.

B

Transaction are not searchable and no details for each transaction.

C

There are multiple sections to scroll through in the More Menu.

D

No way to log out. Users have to wait for their session to expire.

UX Exploration

We conducted qualitative and quantitative research to determine at scale which features will resonate with end-users.

When seeking simple yes or no responses, gathering a larger sample size was advantageous where quantitative research methods can shine. However, for aspects requiring deeper insight into users' preferences and reasons behind them, we conducted user interviews to capture their thoughts.

AREAS OF FOCUS

A. Account Balance: Display in list or grid view. End-users can rearrange and rename to their discretion.

B. Transaction History: Added a peek feature to view recent transaction on the home screen. Search and filter features are added.

C. Spending Visualization: Adding visuals to numeric value where it makes sense to bring the data to life.

D. Customizable Home Screen: The new home screen consists of components provided by FIs, which end-users can customize to suit their needs.

E. Account Detail Screen: Common actions became buttons.

F. More Menu Optimization: Important content are highlighted as buttons, and the rest are organize into 2 sections.

Idea #1: Developed a system that allowed end-users to set multiple small savings goals.

WALKTHROUGH

We designed a walkthrough flow in order to guide the end-users through easy steps to understand the purpose and benefits of setting up a Coffee Can. This flow can also be used to introduce new features down the line.

WIZARD

Once a saving goal is established, end-users are guided through one step at a time to complete setting up their Coffee Can.

ICONOGRAPHY & INFOGRAPHIC

To personalize their goal, we wanted something that was readily available and already has affinity with end-users. Emojis were a perfect fit. Visualizing the data helped to illustrate their goal.

Idea #2: Helped end-users create a monthly spending budget.

FINANCIAL EDUCATION

A common theme we heard from end-users was that they did not know how to save money. This component was designed to provide education on budgeting and monitor their progress.

GAMIFICATION

Once a budget is set, it is displayed in a visual form that would allow the end-users to quickly take note of their progress. Alerts or success notes will occur based on their performance.

EVALUATE PAST BUDGETS

Besides setting a budget, it was also important for us to allow end-users to see their success or lack thereof in order to learn. The Budget History displays their past budgets and whether they were under or over.

Visual Design

The primary design mantra was to be able to adapt to different branding colors while maintaining consistent functionality.

The design team aimed to create a design that incorporated all elements from the wireframe, while ensuring flexibility in color usage. Overall, the design very closely resembled the wireframes.

Learnings

The scale of this project presented both a blessing and a learning opportunity. With the client being very receptive to all our ideas, it was crucial for us to propose those we believed were the strongest contenders. These ideas aimed to benefit end-users and showcase NCR as a company that understands the needs of its customers' customers.

In the end, we successfully delivered an app that we all would happily use ourselves, thanks to its flexibility and personalized approach, particularly rare in a banking app. Additional features like Coffee Cans and Monthly Spending Budget were not just enjoyable add-ons but, also enhancements to the user experience.

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