South State Bank
UX/UI Case Study
Project Brief
SouthState Bank (SSB) based in South Carolina, USA are a subsidiary of South State Corporation with over 300 branches across several southern states. With an ever growing customer base and an increase in new accounts over the past few years, SSB identified an opportunity to enhance the customer experience and create a new business value proposition. With the help of fintech company TerafinaInc, a “Product Selector” experience was proposed in order to streamline the process of online applications and allow customers to apply for multiple accounts at once. A number of key factors needed to be considered during this integration, not least including the effect it would have on the current customer journey.
Design Process
Discover
Define
Ideate
Design
Test
Competitor Analysis
A number of competitors were researched in order to gain an understanding of how they efficiently utilised similar tools. Terafina implemented similar products with numerous other financial solution providers however SSB required a more tailored solution to ensure customer needs were being met. CX journeys were compared and analysed to determine the most user friendly approach.
User Persona
User personas were created in order to develop an understanding of typical user goals and pain points. This helped to identify issues that some competitors had seemingly overlooked and gave us an opportunity to develop and test new problem solving concepts.
Empathy Map
An empathy mapping session was put together in order to be able to effectively advocate for the typical user and how they might feel towards the value proposition. Using research and talking to target audience members who have used online banking before, we were able to discover their feelings and thoughts at critical points within the customer journey. This also provided a greater insight into customer needs and allowed us to prioritise key elements to enhance the customer experience.
User Flow
Following presentations with the stakeholders and meetings with the wider team, we were able to align the business goals with customer requirements which allowed us to progress to the user flow development stage. A number of entry points were identified, each of which altered the user flow slightly. It was imperative that the user experience remained consistent through each flow as the same customer could essentially reach different entry points at different times.
In order to ensure business values were being addressed, two separate user flows were required - one for a customers applying for a single product and one for customers applying for multiple products at once. After further presentations with stakeholders and the dev team, numerous iterations were made according to feasibility and business constraints.
Wireframes (Lo-Fi to Hi-Fi)
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4
Iteration 5
User Testing
Once initial wireframes had been approved by both stakeholders and the dev team, the next course of action was to validate the user experience. There were a number of key points within the journey that could be misinterpreted due to language/design so it was critical to be able to understand if, how and why users would be able to successfully navigate to the application form. A set of tasks were designed for users to experience and critique key processes within the user journey. The aim was to uncover friction points or causes for confusion and understand whether or not users were interpreting the designs in the intended manner.
Results were divided between quantitive and qualitative data and compiled into a presentation for stakeholders. Direct participant quotes were also included to provide insight into user experiences. Participants were encouraged to be expressive regarding pain points and elaborate where possible. Recommendations were provided based on data and user feedback.
Designs
