Research Goals:

Define any audiences that may be utilizing the platform.

Discover features offered by competitors 

Learn what customers' expectations are in the banking area. 

Learn how people track their expenses and budget their money. How does that affect their ability to save? 

Methodologies:

Secondary research - Review trends for similar apps 

Competitive analysis - Research other competitive apps/websites for features offered and user flows 

Surveys and interview - Answer what features are most desired and what is needed/wished for by potential users. 

Participants:

Adults who are wanting to better their savings habits. They will be people of various incomes and backgrounds. 

Timeline: 

Secondary research  

Competitive analysis 

Surveys  

Interviews

I started with reviewing different types of financial apps from money sharing apps to investment apps. I looked for growing trends and reviewed articles on what type of services and programs users look for when picking a bank or credit union. Then after that I conducted the surveys to get a deeper dive into how people think about their finances and what type of services they deem more important. Based on those results I will determine if interviews will be necessary for any unanswered questions I might have to really define the problem.  

It is said to have a minimum of 4 months worth of bills to a year’s worth of your salary saved up either in your savings or in other forms like stocks. While the millennial generation does have a good idea of the concept of saving, with around 70% actively saving, the majority of those millennials don't actually have anywhere near the amount they should have.  Millennials have had less time to save than older generations, they have also had to cope with significant financial stress. The reality is that this generation has faced a lot of financial setbacks and challenges, including massive amounts of student loan debt and the Great Recession right when many were entering the workforce. The oldest millennials, who are turning 40, graduated into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Millennials have needed to learn financial resilience because they have largely been debt-burdened throughout their adult lives.

I conducted this survey with 30 participants. The majority of the participants were between the ages of 25-59. From this survey I found that most of my participants rely on their bank to help them track their expenses with the majority using an app. While some organize their finances by reviewing multiple bank accounts others like to visualize their budget with mental or physical lists. I found that over half of the participants are currently putting money aside for multiple reasons with half thinking that saving is difficult. The vast majority use multiple accounts to help them save with a few people mentioning that they do so because they like to remove the temptation to help them budget. 

When it comes to their banks, even though the majority of people rely on their banks to help them save and budget, most don't actually like their banking experience or think that their bank helps with the savings process. The only thing they really like about their banks is that they are able to do most things online and with the app. The only features mentioned that they like besides the app was the round up feature and money back programs. 

What that all tells me is that people are wanting their bank to help them save. From my competitor analysis research I found that most banks do have a feature to help people save but my surveys are telling me that people don't know those features are there. That places value on making sure my feature stands out and is accessible in places that users are already spending their time in. With people preferring to budget and stay organized with lists that tell me this is the right feature and places an importance on making sure they can separate their goals and block out funds meant for future expenses. Also since the only features mentioned were the round up feature and the money back programs that tells me that those are features that users are going to be expecting and should be in the design as well.

For user testing I thought it was important to do in person tests to be able to observe how the user interacted with the feature. I wanted to discover if there is any pain points of the feature that needed adjustments to discover possible improvements. I needed to know if a user was able to discover the feature and know how to use it.

Test Objective:

To view users interaction with the mobile app

To discover any pain points that a user might have or experience while using the app

Identify areas of improvement.

Test Subject:

Prototype of the Desert Financial Credit Union mobile app 

Methodology:

In person testing : Users on their personal phone testing a Figma prototype 

Participants:

Age range : 25-40

Amount of participants : 3-5

Participants will be users who actively use their personal banking apps.

Recruiting:

Personal network 

Recruiting of previous participants

Usability goal:

Someone using the app will be able to clearly access the feature. 

New users will understand the feature and are able to fully use it.

Procedure script:

Hello, my name is Gillian. I have created a feature for the Desert Financial Credit Union mobile app. This feature is an addition to the savings account to help improve users' savings habits.  I will ask you to perform a few tasks. While you perform those tastes I will be observing and taking notes. Please feel free to express any emotions and share your thoughts as you go. Do you have any questions?

Scenario:

You and your friends want to take a trip to Hawaii. You are excited to go but need to make sure you can save enough money in time to go. How do you think your Desert Financial Credit Union savings account will help you save? 

Tasks:

Create Vault task:

Create a vault for your upcoming trip to Hawaii including a beach themed image, $2,000 goal amount and a goal date of august 1st 2021. 

Transaction task:

Add funds in the amount of $1,000 from your checking account to the Hawaii Trip vault.

Edit Vault task:

Go back into the Hawaii vault and edit it to turn on the lock vault feature. 

Transaction task:

Create a vault for your kitchen remodel and only give it a name.

Make a transfer from your savings account to your Kitchen Remodel vault in the amount of $1,000 

Question:

How much money do you have left in your savings account?

What is a vault?

How will the round up feature help reach your goal?

What does it mean to lock a vault?

True or false. You can schedule an automatic payment to a vault. 

True or false. You must have a goal amount and date in mind to create a vault.

Is there anything else you would like to add about this feature?