Intellix Mobile Application
The Problem
Intellix Mobile is the Capital One (C1) mobile application for Commercial Customers. The bank was going through a period where we were trying to re-engage customers who had lost touch with the digital offerings and had reverted to outdated ways of doing business. Long phone conversations with their C1 advisors, sending hard paper documentation through fax and snail mail, requiring personal visits in order to make everyday transactions, all had started to become the norm once again.
Customers were finding the existing digital tools too complex, too difficult to access and they found themselves requiring a lot of support just to be able to perform simple tasks. Their answer was to revert to old, familiar habits. In an age where mobile applications are the standard for everyday banking transactions, Intellix Mobile was not.
The Goals
As part of this effort we sought to understand why existing digital experiences were no longer effective, why we were not doing enough to address the customer’s needs and expectations.
We wanted to better understand our customers’ needs and processes, the tasks customers need to complete using our tools and as a consequence identify issues, potential road blocks and opportunities for improvement.
Additionally, we needed to look internally and analyze the way in which our teams worked, studying our own process so that we could work together to create valuable experiences for our users.
The Team
One of the big advantages of this initiative was the way the team was structured.
As the lead designer for the Commercial Bank mobile experience I had the opportunity to own the entire design process, from research and discovery, to conceptualization, to execution and testing.
I was fortunate to work extremely closely with a team of engineers for both Android and iOS platforms. The technical team consisted of 3 iOS developers, 3 Android developers and 1 Backend engineer.
Additionally, we worked together with 2 Product Mangers who each owned a piece of the product, one for each platform.
Later in the project I was able to bring in a second Designer who collaborated with me during the Detail Design phase of the process.
The Process
We sought to create the ideal design process that would allow us to understand the problem, empathize with the audience, maximize our resources and generate tangible solutions.
As with every effort there are always adjustments that had to be made as we dove deeper into the work. Having said that, the circles above represent the 4 stages of the process we established.
Research & Familiarization
The first step was to craft a research plan that would allow us to understand the current state of the experience and the way customers interacted with it.
Early in the process I realized that we could not do this without understanding how the team worked in the past and how we had arrived to the current experience ourselves.
In addition to creating an external research plan based on Client Interviews and Workshops, surveys and process walkthroughs. I developed an internal phase consisting of small team workshops & activities, associate interviews, design exercises and a big design documentation audit.
Initial Findings
One of the big reasons why the product had not been able to make headway was the way incremental features within the application had been addressed in the past. Customer experience was not being prioritized over the number of releases, and more urgently we needed to address the way in which design and engineering communicated design. The existing processes and documentation caused confusion, delayed and hindered the ability to address known issues and future improvements.
The inability to replicate Web based experiences in the mobile application was a main factor that deterred users from using Intellix mobile. Users did not have a quick/at hand way of performing their main daily tasks, and were hesitant to go through the trouble of using a cumbersome web experience. As tasks got harder to perform on the web, customers preferred to revert to their outdated processes in order to get them done.
Addressing Initial Challenges
A new process was created in order to streamline communication between different roles within the team.
New documentation formats (wireframes and visual concepts).
Reducing the reliance on excessive annotations by creating more robust prototypes.
Creating interactive system/flow charts that connected directly to prototypes in order to provide easier access to screens and flow structure.
Centralizing assets and design specs in one universal source, making them easier to find and understand.
Implementing a cadence of rapid feedback sessions.
Design Plan
We identified and prioritized the existing issues within the application, in addition to the features that we deemed necessary to implement, in order to create the ideal experience for our users.
Address existing issues such as viewing transactional information and account details, information reliability, authentication delays, speed and performance.
Identifying most desired web features that can be offered through the app.
Assess the current state of the application's visual and interaction design.
Interface Design
After gaining a better understanding of the most desired features and the way they could work within the application, we created a plan to gradually implement each one as part of a different release, in addition to the constant improvements to existing features.
Login simplification for improved performance and speed.
Loading information patterns for improved performance and speed.
Authentication Token access (MFA).
Internal money transfers.
Transactional approvals.
Alternative Authentication methods (Face ID, Fingerprint).
Password change, forget password.
Locked out user.
Innovation Design
As part of the process we were able to spend some time thinking about potential future improvements that we could make, outside of the expected everyday features.
One of the most interesting concepts I was able to propose was implementing an AI element to the application. The idea was to leverage the existing Chat Bot (created by a team on the consumer side of the bank) and create a Speech Enabled Experience option for the application.
This effort would be aimed at addressing accessibility issues, which a sector of our users with disabilities, experience.
Outcome & Future Planning
As we implemented new features and addressed existing issues, we started to see a change in the usage pattern. Application downloads and user logins went up 50% within the first 6 months, and associate calls were also reduced within the first 2 quarters after implementation.
We developed a testing plan that allowed us to track feature performance and continue making improvements to the application, and in the future provide a baseline for Website improvements as well.
We crafted a plan aimed at identifying the areas where design updates were needed in order to refresh the app and align it with the Commercial Bank Design language that was being developed, an effort in which I was also able to simultaneously participate.
As part of the OMNI team, I contributed to both mobile and desktop efforts. However, I was given the opportunity to lead the Mobile Design patterns phase (Interaction and Visual), given my role within the Intellix product.