Despite the success of their banking app, our client, Standard bank, grappled with an outdated help centre, leading to customer inconvenience with long queues and less-than-ideal call experiences. To prioritise customer satisfaction, we initiated a visionary project to modernise self-service across various channels
Launched in September 2020, the Help Centre has been continuously assisting customers since its inception.
Duration:
July 2019 - February 2020
Role:
Product Designer, later promoted to Design Lead
Location:
Onsite in Johannesburg and remote collaboration from India
The project was driven by the need to foster deeper digital engagement and provide synergistic value to the bank and its customers through effective, personalized communication. The main goals were
Improve Customer experience
Streamline the help centre to enhance user satisfaction and reduce inefficiencies.
Boost Digital adoption
Increase the usage of digital banking services among Standard Bank customers.
Build Trust & loyalty
Enhance customer trust and loyalty through efficient and reliable digital services.
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
Exploring global best practices, diving into Help Experiences across Tech, Retail, Food, Health & More
Contextual
Contextual
Personalised
Conversational
Conversational
CUSTOMER RESEARCH
Through interviews, surveys, and data analysis, we delved into customer's banking behaviours, preferences, and challenges.
Only 9% of Standard Bank account customers used digital banking services
But WHY?
?
?
?
How could we help?
?
?
?
Challenges in team dynamics led to a notable delay in the execution phase, compressing our delivery timeline from 3 months to just 1
But is project journey a Fairytale?
CHALLANGES
HOW I HELPED
A visit to the client's site helped me address challenges and gain a deeper understanding of their requirements.
I identified key focus areas and systematically addressed them, constantly testing and conducting feedback sessions to ensure their validity.
Geographical separation led to miscommunication between the two teams, causing disparities in understanding the project's vision, leading to multiple design iterations that did not align with the project's objectives
I developed 3 states for the help assistant, with a friendly tone of voice and soothing visual cues. Collaborating with the motion designer, we crafted an animation featuring subtle movements that provide feedback on actions, solidifying its reassuring presence.
Building Brand Trust
FINAL DESIGN
A Digital Assistant which is always there to help!
I formulated a search logic with personalised, intelligent & dynamic search results
Creating Search Logic
How can we ensure users quickly find exactly what they need through an improved search experience?
CHALLANGE 3
FINAL DESIGN
To cater to customers seeking immediate assistance during unforeseen circumstances, we introduced Quick Action links designed to provide rapid help and support.
Quick help for unexpected events
CHALLANGE 4
64% of customers worry about fraud, while 21% believe they are potential targets for cyberattacks
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
IMPACT
The data we collected provided clear evidence of the success, with a substantial number of customers relying on it for their queries.
While brainstorming, we also came up with the idea of a live 'guide me' feature – a real-time, step-by-step assistance tool within the app for customers. However, this concept was technically challenging to implement in the app's native environment and was put on hold, tagged as 'maybe in a few years'.
An amazing idea that didn't see the light of day
An amazing idea that didn't see the light of day
ITERATIONS
After hundreds of interactions with high-level executives and the in-house design team, comprehensive office-wide showcases, rounds of user testing sessions, both in-person and online exercises for testing our concepts, we created thousands of options and iterations for each category. Few of them I've shown below
MY LEARNINGS
I've garnered invaluable insights from this project. While we successfully met our deadlines, the perpetual pressure and stress we endured highlighted the true essence of a design leader's role. It's not merely about meeting deadlines or pleasing clients; team spirit matters just as much. When we attain this synergy, the team's emotional alchemy can work wonders.
As a design lead, crafting exceptional solutions within constraints is vital, but nurturing a positive and passionate team spirit is equally crucial.
Informed by market and customer insights, the team formulated the project's guiding principles as follows
Some of the features we identified
CHALLANGE 1
Approaches for Assistant & Spotlight
The team was crafting iterations for the spotlight area without established branding, much like shooting arrows in the dark.
I identified two approaches for the help assistant, out of which the second approach was selected for further exploration.
Approaches for Assistant & Spotlight
The team was crafting iterations for the spotlight area without established branding, much like shooting arrows in the dark.
CHALLANGE 1
I identified two approaches for the help assistant, out of which the second approach was selected for further exploration.
CHALLANGE 2
To assist customers according to their preferences, we introduced a versatile help guide featuring various content formats (How-to videos, step-by-step images, FAQs).
However, creating a non-confusing, intuitive design for multiple content types on a single screen was a significant challenge.
HELP (HOW-TO) GUIDES - UI
Help card created by me
DETAILED PAGES
Initially, we opened separate pages for each category, which added unnecessary steps and caused confusion in navigation.
To streamline this, I consolidated them, creating unified access points on a single screen.
FINAL DESIGN
Our team engaged in brainstorming sessions, throwing ideas on the wall and mapped out various solutions and features. Each session brought us closer to a cohesive set of solutions for every problem we aimed to solve.
Workshops & EVEN MORE WORKSHOPS
IDEATION
Some of the features we identified
DESIGN DIRECTION
Informed by market and customer insights, the team formulated the project's guiding principles as follows
Once we pinpointed the key features, our next steps involved developing the IA followed by crafting some initial prototypes. Given the existence of an established design system, we proceeded to create high-fidelity prototypes for a more detailed representation.
EXECUTION
Once we pinpointed the key features, our next steps involved developing the IA followed by crafting some initial prototypes. Given the existence of an established design system, we proceeded to create high-fidelity prototypes for a more detailed representation.
