A digital solution that empowers customers across over three markets to efficiently manage their international financial operations from a single, intuitive platform.

Industry
Finance

Role
UX & Service Designer

Contribution
Conducting design research
Defining new concepts
Creating wireframes and prototypes
Mapping service blueprints

Innovating Multinational Financial Operations Through Intuitive Digital Solutions

Back in 2019, the existing platform of a Global Leading Bank presented significant challenges to its multinational customers, creating hurdles in efficiently managing their international financial operations. The prevailing bank’s platform presented issues related to usability and accessibility, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Our primary objective was to establish a unified, user-friendly digital solution, empowering customers across 3+ markets to effortlessly manage tasks like consulting positions, making payments, and conducting currency exchanges on a global scale.

A new Streamlined Financial Solution for 20.000 Multinational Groups

Our target audience included multinational companies with a parent company and a number of subsidiaries in various geographies, totalling around 20,000 multinational groups. These companies faced the daunting task of managing accounts and financial activities across different locations and subsidiaries.

As a Service and Interaction Designer, I was part of a design team of twelve professionals from two consultancy companies.

My responsibilities included:

Conducting comprehensive design research
Formulating new concepts based on research findings
Creating wireframes and prototypes
Designing service blueprints
Collaborating with a diverse team of designers, content strategists, product managers, and stakeholders

From concept to implementation: A three-year journey

I on boarded the project when it was already in progress. My focus was on improving cash management experiences, which involved designing processes for payments, international transactions, multiple payments, and virtual accounts.

In the next phase, I would work in two more core work streams: service activation, and company and users administration. The project had been underway since late 2019 and would continue until mid-2022.

Agile Methodology for Research and Concept Development

We adopted an Agile methodology, working in two-week sprints to contribute both to design research and concept design. My key activities during the design research phase involved secondary research, interviews, user testing, and synthesising results to inform our design direction.

For concept design, I leveraged insights from design research and business requirements to develop new experiences.

Here’s a sneek peek into my design process for the new experience of International Payments:

Dealing with financial operations, especially in the context of global companies working across different regions, is a complex matter. It's tied to protocols, legal regulations, and technical constraints that need to be fully grasped to create a meaningful and workable experience. So, I had several discussions with various stakeholders to get a clear picture of how they envisioned the future user experience. These conversations were crucial for me to truly understand the challenge at hand.

To start, I began creating visual flows and diagrams to map out the processes. This helped me align with the business team and make sure I was on the right track, while also assessing the practicality of my ideas. Once I got the green light, I proceeded to gather specific requirements regarding how content should be presented and what user actions were expected. I aimed for clear and detailed information on the screen, along with the additional actions users should be able to take.

From there, I moved on to crafting basic wireframes that served as a foundation for discussions during regular meetings with diverse stakeholders. This group included the product owner, engineers, marketing folks, and fellow designers. These collaborative sessions were great for in-depth talks and making iterative improvements. Once we all felt good about the proposed user experience, I teamed up with a senior designer to organise a user testing session to put the concept to the test.

Based on the results of the user testing, we made refinements and tweaks to fine-tune the concept. Then, it was handed over to the visual designers for some final polishing and to apply the design system.

A Challenging Problem: Redefining the Awareness & Contracting Experience

One significant challenge I had to face in this project was redefining the Awareness and Contracting Experience, a phase critical for seamless customer onboarding. Initially, the client suggested a three-screen digital onboarding method for the parent company to accept terms and select subsidiaries from a fixed list. Yet, I sensed that this approach lacked transparency, overlooked the vital role of bank representatives, and might not fully address the needs of the bank's customers.

In discussions with stakeholders, I expressed my concerns and championed a more comprehensive onboarding experience. My suggestion was to begin by visualizing the ideal service journey before diving into creating the three screens.

We then planned new design research to understand the existing contracting experience and envision new digital processes. A series of interviews with 6 clients, 6 bankers, and 2 sales representatives validated the role of bankers and unearthed key insights:

#1 Full digital experience but keeping the human essence

Clients value digital convenience alongside the personalized expertise of bank representatives for tailored recommendations.

“I count on my bank representative to filter
the information and recommend products
that fit to my business.” — Customer

#2 Strategies are global, but daily decisions are local

Subsidiaries play a pivotal role in service activation, connecting overarching global strategies to localised decisions. Subsidiaries need to understand the implications and benefits of a service and how this service impacts their financial management and the whole group.

“Not always we are who contact to our
subsidiaries, sometimes they call us to ask for
some advice for local products and services” — Customer

#3 Mass communication does not mean generalisation

Tailoring messages between standardized and personalized approaches captures and maintains customer attention effectively.

“I'll accept every decision that the parent
company make, but it doesn't mean that I
don’t want to know why and when they affect to
my work.” — Customer

Further analysis highlighted issues stemming from enterprise hierarchies, including outdated data and resource limitations. In this context, the role of bankers, sales departments, and support centers grew even more significant.

While the proposed three-screen experience seemed efficient, it risked displaying incorrect company information and failed to involve crucial stakeholders like bank representatives.

Leveraging insights from interviews, co-creation sessions, and analogous services analysis we shaped a blueprint to be used by the client as a guide for future actions. The new Awareness & Contracting experience would bring new perspectives to customers.

Allowing to:

Experience the product firsthand.
Be guided in a seamless experience.
Have a glance at the new functionalities.
Have a contracting experience step by step.
Contact their representative if necessary.
Be supported by a dedicated team

The stages

Awareness
Users become informed about products, goods, and services, a crucial step in enabling informed decision-making.

Interest, Intention, and Decision
A freemium version of the platform allowed users to test its features before committing.

Configuration
Upon selecting the service, users would configure their accounts. While the system provided a selection of subsidiaries, users had the flexibility to manually add subsidiaries to ensure accuracy.

Usage
After setup, users gained comprehensive visibility of their accounts and could effectively manage their financial operations.

User and Internal Perspectives

We created a user flow that mapped touchpoints such as bank representatives, call centers, virtual assistants, newsletters, emails, landing pages, and events to each step of the user journey. This comprehensive approach addressed users' informational needs and potential pain points.

Internally, we collaborated with various departments, including the sales department and back office. This partnership ensured that the envisioned experience aligned with internal processes. Key activities such as selecting target multinationals, verifying multinational hierarchies, obtaining signatures from parents and subsidiaries, and engaging bank representatives were all outlined in the internal process.

Conversion and Outcomes

An illustrative curve was created to guide internal tracking and continuous evaluation, providing a visual representation of the anticipated journey from awareness to successful service activation, facilitating ongoing refinement and optimization.

The Impact & Lessons Learned

In summary, the redesigned Awareness and Contracting Experience introduced a more comprehensive and transparent process for customer onboarding. By challenging assumptions and advocating for a holistic approach, we paved the path for a successful platform launch in 2022.

My client gained deep insights into the customer journey, leading to a wider service onboarding strategy. The outcomes we generated informed crucial decisions, like forming a dedicated marketing team and involving bank representatives to enhance customer engagement.

After my involvement concluded in June 2021, the team continued their efforts, spending the following year refining the visual design and functional aspects during the platform's development. Although I wasn't directly involved in this phase, it was gratifying to witness much of my initial work come to life.

By the end of 2022, the new platform was globally launched. It's important to note that the fundamental structure of the main service had already been established during my tenure on the project.

Today, the usage of this new platform has extended to 20,000 multinational groups, effectively streamlining their international financial operations. This progress further solidifies the bank's position as a global leader in financial services.