Business
Banks Caring More About UX Service Design in 2022
What is UX Service Design? How is it Related to Banks?
UX service design encompasses the comprehensive user experience of a service, as well as the design of how that service is delivered to customers. It also focuses on mapping all instances where customers that use your service come into contact with your company – analyzing the motivations and feelings of your users at these contact points is crucial to developing a service that optimizes the interaction between customers and service providers.
In short? Service design is about strategy.
These are the main vital points of contact a user may have with your service:
- Initial contact
- Engagement
- Post-consumption feedback
So how is UX service design related to banks? Well, the entire banking process is a service itself. The moment a customer walks into a bank his user experience has begun. Taking a number, waiting in line, and talking to employees are all part of that experience. These are just some of the contact points that need to be planned out to create the best possible customer experience.
Meeting customer needs with a banking UX service design
Those working in the financial sector may very well ask themselves: why should a banking service be designed?
Mainly because customer expectations have changed alongside market regulation requirements, not to mention technological advancements provide the opportunity to make the banking experience much more transparent and user-friendly for customers.
More and more traditional banks incorporate service innovations, which only serves to exacerbate the competition. That alone is reason enough for companies working in the financial sector – it’s not just about reaching a competitive edge, it’s about keeping up.
All banks must make this decision themselves: are they prepared to be proactive and take the next step to be market leaders? How can they offer even better services that meet or succeed expectations? These are all steps required for long-term survival and growth in the financial sector.
According to Ergomania UX service design agency – a company located in Budapest – banks need to focus on the following steps in order to keep up with the current market trends:
- Building a customer-centric business model
- Implementing a more personalized banking UX service design
- Communicating trust, empathy, and commitment toward customers
- Optimizing resource allocation
- Simplification of business and operating models
- Acquiring customer information advantage
- Stimulating internal innovation
- Risk management
What are the most popular banking service UX service design trends?
According to a survey conducted by PwC on the financial sector, 3 main banking service design trends have come into focus since the beginning of the 2020s:
- Customer-centric perspectives and frictionless user journeys
- Integrating real-time, intelligent data through A.I. and cognitive computing
- Open banking solutions
Interestingly enough, according to the research conducted by the member of the Big 4, 61% of the banks that participated in the survey said a customer-centric business model is “very important”, but only a meager 17% said they could actually implement it in practice.
How the pandemic affected digital banking service design
It should come as no surprise that COVID also had a role in the changes that have occurred in banking service design. Almost all sectors of the global economy have been affected one way or another by the changes and restrictions brought by the pandemic.
In the case of the banking sector, this resulted in a smaller window of opening hours, not to mention banks could only receive only a few customers at a time because of social distancing requirements. All this placed a much bigger strain on the digital channels of banks since more and more people opted to handle their finances online or via mobile banking apps.
However, this increase in demand should also be seen as an opportunity. People now have much more trust in digital channels than they had before, meaning investments in UX service design are much more likely to pay off in the banking sector.
The cherry on top: the WHO supports contactless payments as they have a much smaller environmental footprint compared to the traditional banking model.
How can a bank plan the best possible service design? Tips from a UX agency
According to Ergomania UX agency, this is what banks should focus on in order to create an excellent, customer-centric service:
- Having a mobile banking app isn’t enough in itself. If it’s complicated to use, it will probably drive customers away. Always keep user experience in mind, whether it’s in a technical setting like your bank’s digital channels, or the attitude and availability of customer service.
- Focus on the end value you want to provide customers and develop your services accordingly.
- Observe other financial solutions from other sectors, such as Apple’s credit card or Facebook Messenger microtransactions.
- Convert your research data into personalized offers.
- Shift focus from short-term gains of selling to customers to long-term customer retention. What can you provide your users that will encourage them to keep coming back to you?
