Just Banking
Voice Activated Mobile Banking Application Case Study
Overview
I noticed that most mobile banking apps have less than a three star rating in the Apple App Store. I was curious why that was and conducted a case study. Through my research, I found that users were usually away from home or in their cars when using mobile banking apps and had difficulties performing small tasks such as making payments or checking account balances. My mobile banking application is a concept based on customer needs of easy hands free mobile banking.
Hypothesis
If users can easily check balances, pay bills, deposit checks, transfer money and locate nearby banks and ATMs, overall mobile banking activity will increase significantly.
Business Goal
Banking companies to attract and keep customers
Competitors
Bank of America ★★★
Pros: Snap photos of checks and deposit them easily and instantly. Account Alerts. Check balances, pay bills, transfer money, locate ATMs and banks.
Cons: Design and structure is counterintuitive
Simple ★★★★
Simple ★★★★
Pros: Great customer service. Easy to use and understand.
Cons: Not the best for managing money.
Mint ★★★★
Mint ★★★★
Pros: Great UI elements and infographics. Easy to add accounts, budget and seamlessly updates financial data.
Cons: Doesn't offer features aside from managing money.
* ratings based on reviews from apple store
Research
I ran a qualatative survey with a total of four questions that would tell me a story of a user's experience before, after, and during using mobile banking serivces.
I ran a qualatative survey with a total of four questions that would tell me a story of a user's experience before, after, and during using mobile banking serivces.
Fifty-one people took my survey. Out of the people who use mobile banking services, most people last used these services at home, work, or in their car. Surprisingly, a good amount of people were using mobile banking services in their car. When asked What caused them to use these services, the majority responded to check their balance. Other responses included depositing a check, making a transfer, pay bills, or locate the nearest ATM.
View my survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8TC2NG3
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8TC2NG3
I recorded all my feedback on Post It notes to visualize commonalities and findings
Persona
Victoria Skinner
Age: 25
From: NYC
Profession: Creative Coordinator at a Software Start-Up
Goal: Easily manage company expenses
Victoria is a young professional new to New York City. She commutes from Brooklyn to Chelsea where she works for one of the largest software companies in the city. When she is not busy managing company expenses, she is busy trying to keep track of her own personal finances. Victoria has a daily commute of thirty minutes to work, which is valuable personal time she spends on her mobile device.
End Goals:
1. Needs to be able to quickly check her balances and perform other bank tasks during her commute
2. Wants to feel she’s in control
3. Wants something easy to use
End Experience Goals:
1. Wants to spend less time performing tasks on her mobile device in her free time
2. Wants to feel organized and less stressed over controlling personal finances
3. Needs to be able to make payments on time wherever she is in order to manage saving and spending
Paper Prototype and User Testing
I created a paper prototype of my mobile banking app.
Participants
All users were regular mobile users, in professional-type jobs, two female and one male. Only one participant did not use mobile banking services. Two were regular mobile banking users who generally use these services outside of the home or office. The application should target all of these users in order to keep banking customers and attract new ones.
Findings
1. All users felt the prototype was easy to use and understand
2. Only one participant valued the voice activation immediately over just tapping through the screens and used this all the way through the test
3. Two out of three users were hesitant to use the voice activation feature, but found it easy to use after navigating through the first few screens
"Normally when I use voice activation, like Suri - she gets my commands wrong," - Participant
Participant of my usability test
User tapping and speaking banking command
Clip of my usability test using a paper prototype
After recording my findings from my paper prototype and usability test, I decided to go with the concept of creating my app based solely on voice activation. Users were initially hesitant to use this, while one user strongly recommended it. This would be innovative and set my banking app apart from the other competitors. Using voice activation, if done correctly can provide the easiest way for users to complete banking tasks, and I believe the best user experience.
User Testing 2
Three people participated in my second usability test using my online prototype through Invision app. All three participants are full time professionals who use mobile banking services. I asked participants to click through the prototype as if they were using voice commands.
Findings
1. Two out of three participants were hesitant about using the voice activation, and weren’t sure how to initially use the prototype.
2. All three found the app to be clean and simple, easy to use and convenient.
3. Two out of three participants preferred seeing a confirmation screen after performing a bank action, however they still were unsure of their personal security after performing various bank options.
The Final Prototype
My wireframes are prototyped using Invision App
View My final prototype
Find ATM wireframes
Summary
Just Banking is a unique mobile application that takes banking to the next level. This app is forward thinking with voice activation and an intuitive interface that allows busy users to perform banking tasks in the most efficient way.
