How do we groom the next generation in mobile banking?
How do we create the best first banking experience for teens?
How to provide beneficial, educated finance foundations for teens; allow parents to partake in educating and monitoring proper financial behavior; and how to boost the long-term commitment to a specific bank.
Challenge
Create a mobile app for teens with an engaging and educational banking experience. The goal was to design a user-friendly interface that would appeal to younger users while providing valuable financial information. See the GenZ sub persona:
Solution
I conducted competitor market research and client sentiment research to develop UX/UI alternatives that emphasize gamification, personalization, and clarity. My out-of-the-box contributions included:
Harnessing the customization trend to enhance engagement for teens with their banking app.
Emphasizing the educational aspects of the app usage.
Designing a one-stop screen with all necessary information to fight young minds' current distractions.
The final product was a set of mockups that showcased the proposed user interface.
Role
Product design, Design thinking, User Research.
Method
Based on the preliminary research, I created mockups that showcase various approaches to user experience and interface design, emphasizing making the app more engaging through gamification.
How can gamification be harnessed to create an optimal user banking experience?
Step 1: Research scope
I researched teen banking needs, characteristics, and opportunities, including comparative market research to understand the app bank landscape, identify areas for improvement, and learn from competitors. It helped in defining the target audience and feature requirements. The research results were used to inform the design of the app bank principle concept.
Step 1.1: Research scope | Whiteboard
A whiteboard represents the entire research phase:
Teen banking and financial education
Positive motivation
Inspiration
Financial apps
Case studies
Step 2: Conceptual research
Next, I conducted conceptual research to explore different ideas for the digital wallet: this involved brainstorming sessions and user interviews. The research findings were used to create a product vision and a list of prioritized features for the pilot.
Step 3: Wireframing
I developed a journey map to understand the user's end-to-end AR interface experience. This map helped identify pain points and opportunities for improvement in the user's journey. The journey map guided the design of the AR interface and ensured a seamless shopping experience.
Step 4: Prototyping
After wireframing the app, the next step was prototyping, with interactive prototypes used to test the app's user experience and gather user feedback. The feedback received was used to make necessary adjustments to the app's design.
Step 5: Final mocks
In the next stage, the designer focused on the UX/UI of the mockups, starting with visual inspiration and justifying the use of illustration. As Aarron Walter stated, illustrations have significant power in setting emotional appeal and creating a better experience. The designer aimed to include pleasure, fun, joy, and delight in the app's hierarchy of needs to make it an experience teens would recommend to friends and an idea worth spreading.
To sum it up
I dived deep into teens' frame of mind and desires, laid the foundation for a systemized gamified approach, systemized the dual function of the app to cater to teens and their parents, and amplified the educational approach to secure benefits for both parents and their kids.