Harmony Bank

Harmony Bank is a banking website that offers user-friendly, secure and advanced financial solutions. During this project I’m focusing on account creation flow.

My role

UX research, Prototyping, User testing, UI Design, UX Design

Timeline

April 2023 – July 2023

Tools

Adobe Xd, Miro

Problem

Many banking websites have limited ways to open a new account and don’t provide an option to create an account from home, using selfie and ID verification.

Goal

My goal is to create an account creation flow that incorporates selfie and ID verification while prioritizing a user-friendly and error-preventing registration form.

User research

In order to define personas, users’ pain points and create problem statements
I conducted a foundational research using interviewing method.

The study included 10 participants – 5 males and 5 females between the ages 18-50, including one person with a visual impairment.

I also created an online questionnaire that resulted in 7 answers from people from different countries.

Key considerations:

understanding the processes and emotions that people experience when they want to create an account on the bank’s website.
identifying common user behaviors and experiences with creating an account on the bank’s website.
findinding and understanding user pain points when creating an account on the bank’s website.

Pain points

Complexity

Some users think that their bank’s website navigation is too complicated and not intuitive.

Limited navigation

No option to go back to the homepage from the registration page, and poor navigation around the registration form.

Uncertainty

Users find complicated registration forms frustrating and discouraging.

Competitive audit

The goal of the competitive audit was to evaluate the user experience, features, and functionality of four direct competitors in order to come up with essential features. To do so, I compared the website homepage and account creation options of four direct competitors and created an aggregated report.

ING Bank Śląski

Bank Millennium

mBank

Santander Bank Polska

Their strengths

Broad range of offered services
Comprehensive and useful website and mobile app
Ability to create account online, including selfie authentication on mobile apps
Good descriptiveness

Their weaknesses

Impossible to open account online on website (Millennium)
No chat or only after login (ING, mBank)
Impossible to go back to homepage from the registration page (ING, Millennium, Santander)

Opportunities

Two-factor authentication for account creation on website with no app needed
Accessible registration process navigation (Back to Homepage link), possibility to go to previous registration steps

Personas

After analyzing the data gathered from user interviews, I identified two main characteristics of potential users and created two sets of personas. These personas help to illustrate users’ requirements and challenges, offering valuable insights into their customer-related concerns.

Patryk

Age:
Education:
Hometown:
Occupation:

29
BA in Economics
Warsaw, Poland
Data analyst

I use online banking everyday and I require high standard.

Goals

Technologically advanced solutions
Efficient processes
Intuitive navigation
Clear naming and layout
Mobile accessibility

Frustrations

Technical glitches
Some categories’ names are not clear and I have to click to see what’s there
Limited self-service options

Problem statement

Patryk is a tech savvy data analyst who needs streamlined and technologically advanced solutions because he wants technology to assist him in everyday payments.

Yvonne

Age:
Education:
Hometown:
Occupation:

44
BA in Finance
Nashville, USA
Chief accountant

As an accountant with a big family  I run my family’s finances and
I have high requirements for my bank’s facilities.

Goals

Easy and intuitive navigation
Accessible website and app including bigger fonts
Security and privacy

Frustrations

Some options are available only on website version
Lenghty and complicated process
Unclear instructions and confusing terminology

Problem statement

Yvonne is a chief accountant who needs online banking that offers a user-friendly, secure and advanced financial solutions because she wants to feel confident in her ability to manage her finances effectively.

User journey map

Goal: Opening bank account using online authentication.

User flow

Prototype

Low fidelity wireframes

My goal when creating digital wireframes for a homescreen was to come up with a design that is accessible, readable, clear, and promotes creating a new personal account.

In order to address the users’ goals and expectations, I created registration process screens using several usability heuristics, such as visibility of system status, user control and freedom, consistency and standards, error prevention, or recognition.

After creating the main pages for desktop size, I proceeded with sketching and creating screens for tablet and mobile sizes.

High fidelity prototype

The primary user flow centers around the process of creating a new bank account. The registration process includes six steps in a fixed order, but users can go back to the previous step to check or edit data.

Link to the prototype in Adobe Xd

Usability testing

Usability testing findings

First round of usability study with users helped me recognize 3 issues that the users encountered during the registration process.

Users needed more proof that their data is secure.

Some users didn’t understand how to proceed with the authentication and wanted examples.

Some users thought they have to choose between ID and selfie authentication.

Impact

I really liked the examples on the authentication page.

I felt confident during the registration process.

UI Design

Color palette & Typography

I chose the sans-serif typeface Montserrat to emphasize readability and guarantee an elegant appearance for the website.

Considering the target audience and sector, my aim was to create a website  that conveys a professional yet fresh aesthetic. Taking these aspects into account,
I selected a shade of blue, which represents trust, loyalty, and wisdom.