Case Study -- Improving FinTech with UX and Service Design

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Sony Bank is one of the largest online banking service in Japan, owned by the financial business branch of international conglomerate and tech giant Sony. With no physical branches or ATMs, user experience is of particularly importance to Sony Bank customers and service personnel.

We worked with the Sony Bank team to improve both their service delivery and UX design. Based on the challenges presented, we conducted usability research, design sprint planning and execution, prototype creation and user testing.

CHALLENGE

In order to trade financial products online, it is necessary for users to do things like:

• Enter user information
• Confirm risk tolerance

— And more. The total number of steps for users to follow while using financial products can multiply quickly. However, it is a process that cannot be omitted and must be carefully guarded due to legal requirements.

These mandatory processes can be complicated by issues like:

• Incorrect input
• Users being unable to understand directions and giving up

These issues were occurring frequently for Sony Bank, and were undesirable for both the bank and their users. In order to find ways to improve the situation, we launched an improvement project centered around Design Sprints.
In designing this project, we kept these points in mind:

• Facilitating smooth consensus building among cross-functional client-side project members
• Listening to user feedback and reflecting it in our work

PROCESS

Our process included four primary steps: pre-workshop, usability surveys, running a design sprint, and user testing.

1. Pre-Workshop

Before conducting the usability survey and design sprint, we held a pre-workshop to help each participant envision:

• User persona
• The online banking user journey-- actions users take from account opening to first transaction

2. Usability Survey

We asked four subjects to use Sony Bank's current service, and verified a hypothesis for an issue occuring in the steps from initial login to first transaction.

3. Design Sprint

We created and facilitated a Design Sprint focused on the user experience of Sony Bank customers from the time they first wish to trade financial products to their first transaction. Based on the results of the usability survey mentioned above, we divided the Sony Bank into two groups and held a workshop to explore new methods for foreign currency transactions.

The main steps in the Design Sprint were:

• Visualizing the future
• Empathizing with the user
• Ideation
• Prototyping

4. User Testing

Eight subjects tried out the prototype and gave feedback.

RESULT

• After making improvements to the prototype based on user feedback, the solution that was co-created during the Design Sprint was presented to upper management at Sony Bank.
• The fact-based proposals created with user research findings were implemented immediately to improve the product for the client.
• The Sony team concluded that Design Sprints were an effective method for reflecting the user's point of view and enabling participants from different departments to create solutions together in a short period of time.

Producer / Service Designer : Ryuji Kimura
Project Manager / Service Designer : Natsuki Nagai