UX / UI
UX RESEARCH
REIMAGINING IN-BRANCH DIGITAL KIOSK FOR INDIAN BANK
DOMAIN
FINTECH
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The financial client had an innovative and existing platform for customers to use digital banking in the physical bank branch. In the aftermath of deploying the existing kiosk, customers continued to turn towards the branch staff for support as the kiosk was observed to have a strenuous interface and proposed challenges in queue management.
We were entrusted to create a seamless digital customer experience and interface of kiosks for over 60+ banking services and therefore, increased customer engagement.
WHAT I DID
Initially a part of the UX Research team, I contributed to the research structure, going to the branch sites for primary research, and data analysis. The insights generated then guided me and my team to create information architecture and UX design.
After the UI was set, I became the sole point of contact for the client and closely worked with the internal web development team. I led the delivery of all 60+ services in high-fidelity UI design.
AWARDS WON
Made the Major Bank win The Best Retail Bank at The Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2019.
OUR APPROACH
Indian banks are deeply dependent on branch staff in helping customers navigate through their transactions. ICICI caters to 60+ banking services. The approach was to give the power of digital banking into a layman’s reach so that they need not rely on branch staff. This will in turn reduce the floor management time and give branch staff better throughput. Our prices to understand the problem statement:
Discovery
Hypothesis
In-Person Interview
Key Problem Areas
Definition
Leverage points
Information Architecture
User flows
Solutioning
UX design
Implementing UI
Completion and Learning
Key focus areas
Keeping the eye on the prize
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Understand the behavior of customers & ICICI Bank employees
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Get a better perspective of the branch dynamics
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Get a deeper understanding of pain points, delights, expectations & challenges
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Gauge customers’ mental models and emotions
How we did it:
Our Hypotheses
After ground research,
For customers at the branch, time is of utmost importance, which is why they themselves don't want to wait or make the person behind them wait either.
HYPOTHESIS 1
Users are not using all the available services because they are not all visible to them.
HYPOTHESIS 2
Some services in the application are not used at all because they are not important to the users
HYPOTHESIS 3
Money-related services are of more importance than account-related services
HYPOTHESIS 4
ACTIONS
In-person User Interviews
Who are our customers?
We shadowed 154 respondents across 5 cities in 10 bank branches as they interacted with the kiosk, asking facilitating the tasks and replying to their feedback in real-time.
Image: L- Participant types , R- Customer segments
KEY METRICS
Our focus areas while interviewing the various customers i.e., account holders and third-party customers, and branch staff employees were banking behaviors, employee feedback, and their existing interface experience.
For customers, we collected data on branch visits and transactions, and for employees, time and assistance that was given to the customers. Existing interface experience was observed for both customers and employees.
Discovery: Qualitative Data on Customer Behaviour
Pan-India research was conducted in the bank's branches to identify the underlying pain points for customers and branch staff.
APPROACH
Challenges identified from the user interviews
Behavioral
CHALLENGE #1
Persuading Senior Citizens to use the kiosk
Nearly 20% of the bank branch's customers were retired senior citizens, who were challenging to convince and struggled with using the new kiosk technology and accessing services.
CHALLENGE #2
Fear of making people wait
Customers were convinced that using the kiosk made people wait, especially due to errors, and most assistance was required at the start of the user journey.
CHALLENGE #3
Technical issues putting employees in a tough spot
Kiosk is occasionally dysfunctional as a result of network issues or after multiple transactions. It puts pressure on affecting lobby management and branch inflow.
CHALLENGE #4
Need to restart journey for multiple transactions
Kiosk is occasionally dysfunctional as a result of network issues or after multiple transactions. It puts pressure on affecting lobby management and branch inflow.
Accessibility
CHALLENGE #5
User Interface not considering Human Factors
Low screen visibility because of dark UI and placement of kiosks opposite to tube lights, small touch targets, no system status, scrolling difficulties, and keypad difficulty, especially among senior citizens. Double tap would also zoom into the screen due to it being a low-fidelity image.
CHALLENGE #6
Privacy and Security
Other concerns from customers included the privacy and security of making big banking transactions in a public space.
CHALLENGE #7
Visibility of services
The full set of services were not categorized and caused users to keep asking branch employees to find the services in the kiosk.
SOLUTIONING FOR BHEHAVIOURAL AND ACCESSIBILITY CHALLENGES
Information Architecture
Visibility of services
Based on insights gained from the user interviews, all the services were categorized with data collected on the type of services most accessed and some stand-alone services.
User flows
Human Factors and Privacy
User flows below provide a detailed look at content hierarchy and user experience.
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No-scroll model: For accessibility issues such as scrolling, we designed the entire application on a "no-scroll" model where information does not exceed one page. This was to accommodate the outdated kiosk device as well as new ones in the future.
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Keypad control: The keypad area covered a large portion of the screen to alleviate the senior user's pain points.
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System status: Every screen had a heading showing system status and system feedback were given through pop-ups or error/success dialogue boxes.
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Guidance and trust: To ensure customers that the kiosk was secure to do transactions, clearly guided screens were designed for authentication.
Transaction confrmation Page
Repetition, Errors, and Assistance
The confirmation of transaction page was created for clarity of next steps of the user journey as well as a demarkation of end of transaction
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Repeat transaction: The user with multiple cheques to deposit could repeat a transaction.
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Reference number: Big and bold reference number as well as sending it on SMS would make the user feel secure about using a kiosk for transactions.
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Error messages: System or user error is better handled through messaging instead of hassled assistance from branch employees.
Onboarding screens
Legibility and Senior Citizen usage
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Visibility: The UI design used earthy tones, in contrast to the initial dark UI of the kiosk. The colors and fonts were in line with the brand guidelines of the client and provided the best experience for legibility.
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Large touch targets: Chunky and square UI kept the touch targets big as it fits best in the grid system of 3x3 and 2x3.
Prototype of the NEFT Journey
Learning and Completion
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Initiated and engaged in my inaugural long-term project at Fractal, actively contributing to Research, User Experience, and User Interaction components.
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Gained significant insights in adhering to research methodologies and strategic analysis, which proved to be invaluable lessons during this endeavor.
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Following the establishment of the UI, I independently drove the project for a year, acting as the sole client liaison and coordinating with the Development Team.
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Successfully navigated numerous journey changes throughout the project's duration, demonstrating adaptability and resilience through effective teamwork and collaboration.
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