DBS Bank is a leading bank in Asia with a focus in innovation and digitalisation. Its DBS Omni (new name: Card+) is a pioneering digital services for credit card users in Asia. It was one of the most popular app of its kind in Singapore, and the first of its kind when first launched in Hong Kong in 2016. The app provides an one-stop shop for customers to perform a wide range of credit card related service, from basic balance/reward checking to credit card limit management.
Against the backdrop of rapid Fintech development, this project critically assessed and revamped the UX & UIs of the app, taking into account customers’ needs and pain points for identifying the future-proof banking services.
Understanding the business requirements was the prerequisite for customising the best research plan. Having guided the business/product owners to identify their requirements by asking 5 key questions, we defined the research objectives.
Upon setting clear objectives, we then mapped the suitable research methods - quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Based on the scope and questions we had (behavioural/attitudinal), we adopted qualitative methods for this project to further iterate the customers' pain points. The detailed methodology (e.g. sample selection and size) would also be optimised based on time and other resource constraints.
We conducted usability testing with 9 existing Omni app users and 6 non-DBS users - having also non-users helped us tap customer acquisition insights.
Users were asked to share their experiences/habits on the use of credit apps and go through the proposed flows using the prototypes.
Usability issues emanated from the process were categorized as critical, major or minor, according to the impact on user experience, as defined below:
Critical - Prevented completion of the task
Major - Caused significant delay and confusion to completion
Minor - Caused slight hiccups
An one-hour user interview involved 10+ hours of preparation, so a robust research plan made the efforts count. With holistic consideration in research set-up design and sample selection, and by asking precise and concise questions, we could push the envelope of the research impact. It could go even further by engaging other stakeholders to observe the interview and post-interview process.
By engaging other stakeholders, the whole team’s understanding could be aligned. Different team players could all visualise customers' needs, and contributed different expert insights. This brought synergy in generating new business ideas.
"By observing the user research in person, the team can witness how our valued customers enjoy or hate using our products and features. This experience is so different from looking at the excel and figures."
- Department Head of Unsecured Loan
We crystallized 15 hours of interviews into 2 personas to provide a succinct and concise picture to facilitate UX/UIs designs, and from a macro perspective, the business positioning of the app.
The results were passed to the design and product team for further follow-up. There were two types of follow-up actions: "low-hanging fruits" for immediate refinements before the upcoming app update; and "escalation" for bringing up to the business and product team for further in-depth studies.
For issues requiring escalation, they usually required further resource and inputs from multiple internal stakeholders. They would be flagged to the senior management, so that these outstanding major UX issues would be factored in when considering the high-level product roadmap.
