We all interact with companies based on the same principle: when we have a need, we spend money to receive a good or service. With banks, the same principle applies.
Up until now, we visit a bank branch to open an account, get a loan or deposit money, however since the internet came into the picture, the way we perceive, relate and interact with banks (and most companies) has changed dramatically.
Why Do We Need Banks?
At the core, we use banks to store values, move monet and access credit. Those have been the fundamental reasons for banks to exist when they were created almost 5 centuries ago.
Bank stages:
Bank 1.0 The first bank is created to serve the Medici family
Bank 2.0 ATM and self service
Bank 3.0 replicate offline services using the Internet
However, now and in the immediate future, the bank 4.0 will move into a fourth stage which could ressemble a branchless bank in which the services are integrated into our everyday lives through seamless technologies.
Given this scenario banks face a design challenge to put the user at the core of each step.
Do We Have A “First Principle Design” Or Do We Have A “Design By Analogy” Challenge?
A first principle design is about restarting from scratch, going to a white canvas or filling an empty bowl. The car, iPhone and plane were created on this principle.
On the other hand, companies can move forward by using Design by Analogy, which means delivering incremental improvements using technology.
In the banking industry, challenger banks decided to skip one of the main assets of incumbent banks -physical branches- and apply a first principle approach that creates an always-on bank that lives in “any” internet connected device.
Diversely, incumbent or traditional banks have decided to use a design by analogy approach, which takes its immense user base, to incrementally improve its services and core competencies through technology.
They do this by:
Putting the user at the heart of each experience
Removing all frictions, even when scaling
Using data for contextual advice and always available customized insights
One of the first approaches for a bank is to stop thinking about products and start thinking about solutions: solutions address problems and -as long as the problem is not fully solved- solutions will continuously evolve. This mindset change is the first step into a new direction.
Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping, from a customer first approach, starts with a question that will create guidelines to the future state.
"How do I help my customers save more money?" Is a good example to illustrate this.
This simple -yet powerful question- will trigger the beginning of the rapid prototyping cycle with a hypothesis that needs validation, while decreasing the risks associated with a new approach.
When the rapid prototyping cycle begins, multidisciplinary teams will come into action: Digital Experience, Product, External partners and Design – Change will play a role in the transformation.
All the teams involved will have clear roles, timelines and tools to work with in order to deliver an effective solution. The most important thing into this process is the ongoing nature of rapid prototyping, from the first release to a handful of clients, until the final product release to the mass market. The iterations and improvements will never stop.
With a limited budget and clear goals, some UK banks has released many prototypes that have deliver successful in-person tests, saved millions in project debt and deliver millions in book revenue. And part of the key is to balance 3 elements that are equally important
Once you have this in place and a rapid prototyping mentality, the agile and customer centric mentality starts to permeate the organization based on results and increasing customer satisfaction.
However, rapid prototyping is just one of the many approaches used by banks to achieve an experience-led transformation.
Service Design: reimagine experiences through a multi-disciplinary lens
Platform modernization: transform experience platforms with an agile, flexible and scalable architecture
Digital Experience innovation: end to end experiences that burst silos and create meaningful order to address user pain points.
Just like the analogy of the frog on the boiling water, banks and companies can wait for disruption to happen and become extinct or, they can apply experience principles to become digital, embedded brands.
Behavioral patterns for the new generations demand always-on, frictionless experiences.
