Big Question

Do people actually want to talk about money and financial health with their banker?

CLIENT

Umpqua Bank

ROLE

UX Designer

TEAMMATES

Chelsea Vandiver, Lisa Boumstein-Smalley, Anton Legoo, Melanie Baczynski

Project Context

Umpqua Bank is a leading regional bank built on trust and local values. After investing in an on-call banker program called Go-To, they quickly realized that the bankers were acting as tech support. Looking to define the value these bankers could bring, Umpqua came to Ziba eager for a way to leverage this valuable man power.

Discovery Phase

We kicked off by inviting stakeholders and the C-level team to come to our workshop space to understand the types of services and offerings they were dreaming about or that were currently being developed

What's going on with Go-To?

Despite investing a lot in the acquisition and setting up a team of real live local bankers to respond to message requests, Go-To wasn’t being adopted.

  1. Go To was underperforming and hadn’t quite captured the ‘special something’ that made customers love and trust Umpqua.

  2. Umpqua had invested in a lot of human power to support Go To, how could those bankers support customers in new and different ways?

We went to the offices of the Go-To bankers to see how their daily operations went and held group interviews to better understand where they saw themselves helping the most. We also conducted secondary research, investigating and using the products that Umpqua’s competitors were developing and launching. We used these sessions to generate concepts about ways Go-To could be used. But the real question was- do people even want this?

Qualitative Phase

We next conducted qualitative interviews with people across the financial spectrum, from families living paycheck to paycheck to entrepreneurs who had built a steady life for themselves.

We first asked participants to fill out a ‘money map’ for us to help up understand their mental models around money and how they controlled (or didn’t control) their finances. This led to an often emotional conversation about what money means to them and their families.

First participants sorted through 9 value propositions for a new service offering from their financial institution. Participants then talked about what they were drawn to about each card and what they hoped would be a part of that service.

Activity 1: Value Proposition Sort

Once a participant selected 1-2 value props, we then gave them a corresponding deck of cards with relevant features. Once again, participants down selected to features they felt would add value to their banking.

Activity 2: Feature Card Sort

We learned that people desperately wanted to talk about money and they saw Umpqua as a trusted partner in financial wellness.

We also uncovered two different approaches to money management, those who wanted mindfulness and hands-on engagement with their finances and those who wanted to set up an autonomous system with safety measures in place

What We Heard

What could a complete ‘digital human banking’ experience look like?

We quickly realized that the Go-To app on it’s own was not going to solve any of the issues that Umpqua was seeing- but it was a powerful tool when looked at within a larger eco-system. We worked with the Umpqua team to redefine the project, so instead of suggesting changes to the Go-To app, we would investigate ways to support and grow the digital structure they were already investing in. 

Co-creating for who, what, when

With our participants, we built out their ideal banking service, tracking who they wanted to work with and in what format. We placed Go-To at the center of this system to get a better understanding of the roles and purposes of Digital banking vs In-person branches.

Concept Development

“Even if I never used it, I love knowing that I had my digital banker in my pocket. It makes me feel much more secure as I go about my day-to-day.”

There is value in digital tools to build trust in a bank and their offering, even if never used. Digital support tools can be the reason that someone selects a certain bank over another.

“I don’t need a chatbot, if I am reaching out to the bank there is a real issue that needs real help.”

People choose regional banks in the hope that they will be easier to work with. Putting human power front-and-center is essential.

Prototyping a complete experience

Taking our top concepts and methods from co-creation, we rapidly prototyped a mix of digital experiences, in-person collaborative tools, communication strategies, and even a financial goal setting session. We brought in actual banking customers to simulate the experience of a financial wellness session and goal setting.

Prototyped experiences

Dashboard w/ customizable blocks

Goal setting worksession

“I want a friendly, smart coach. Not another financial advisor in a suit. This is exactly the right mix, I feel like Renee has my back and would never steer me wrong.”

Goal tracking tools & celebrations

Final Validation

The Ideal Journey