UX/UI Design: EBAC + Itaú Project
This is the second project given by Escola Britânica de Artes Criativas e Tecnologia (EBAC). It's an optional project partnered with Itaú, the biggest private bank in Latin America. It was made exclusively by me following tips given by tutors and applying the tools required.
The Problem
The Brazilian financial market has evolved a lot over the last few years. After decades of banking centralization, new financial players entered this market, like fintechs, and even companies from other sectors started to offer financial services as a complement to their portfolio.
On the scenario of strong competition, it's essential to:
Offer an excellent experience;
Rapidly adapt and
Launch new products and services to stand out while keeping the reliance of an Itaú product.
Starting with an assessment of products and services offered by Itaú from client perspective, opportunity hypothesis were raised to increase adherence, satisfaction and desire for all Itaú products. Considering its consistency, speed and simplicity of usage, 4 solutions were developed for 3 service channels: smartphone, tablet and smartwatch applications, forming an homogeneous ecosystem. The Double Diamond was followed throughout the project.
Desk Research
Gathered data that deserves to be highlighted:
Criteria most used to chose a bank: data security, easy/digital access and better rates.
Today, Pix is the most used banking product, followed by debit card and credit card.
6 out of 10 banking transactions are made via mobile devices.
In 2018, approximately 20% of Itaú clients were digital account holders.
Many clients search for financial education and knowledge about investments.
Clients are worried about the increase in bank fraud.
Primary Research
To obtain primary data, a form with open and closed questions was shared on social medias and used as script for guerrilla interview with clients outside Itaú branches. Main results and insights:
100% of interviewees uses the smartphone app and it's the most used channel by 90%.
60% access some channel at least once a day.
Most clients would like to handle everything digitally, without he need to go to a branch.
Some respondents mentioned the app takes too long to load.
20% would like to have more benefits when purchasing tickets and that it could be easier to use existing ones.
Some respondents mentioned the app takes too long to load.
20% would like to have more benefits when purchasing tickets and that it could be easier to use existing ones.
15% mentioned it's easier to make investments through other banks.
Persona
From all collected data, a user persona was developed to better understand the client's needs and challenges that will be affected by the solutions.
With the persona, it was possible to create the following tools to further understand how to provide a good experience to customers.
Empathy Map
User Journey Map
Needs Statement
Idea Prioritization Matrix
With these tools at hand and focusing on the pain points identified in the user journey map, Big Ideas was used to generate ideas, which were placed in the idea prioritization matrix, considering their viability and user impact.
Wireframe
From this evaluation, it was possible to create the first low-fidelity prototypes. It was started with a few pen and paper sketchs and then proceeded to build it on Figma. Research data indicates the client's preference to use mobile devices so the Mobile First approach was followed thinking about smartphone, tablet and smartwatch.
1- Manager contact button on top home page which directs to all contact options.
2- Investment central with information for different levels of knowledge, including podcasts.
3- Easy credit card limit alteration.
4- Benefits central with in-app purchase.
Usability Tests
With the interactive wireframe, the first round of usability tests with 5 users. They were all performed on the same device with observation to take notes.
Backlog
Analysing the results, a backlog was created to consider the changes that need to be made when developing the high-fidelity prototype.
Style Guide
Followed as per Itaú's directions. Since they didn't provide information regarding the font, Arial was chosen due to its similarities with the original font.
Prototype
Following the backlog and applying the styles, the high-fidelity prototype was created. The goal was to keep its simplicity with the least possible number of steps. To improve the user experience, microinteractions were applied on different components.
Responsive Design
To finish the project, a responsive design approach with screens for smartphone, tablet and smartwatch.
Conclusion
It was possible to build a cohesive ecosystem that meets Itaú's user's needs while also being able to attract new clients in this new reality with different new competitors inside the Brazilian financial market.
It was challenging to carry out such an extensive project with only one person. I am sure that it would have benefitted by being created by a larger team to ensure various points of view and less time spent.
