Optimize Users’ Experience for Financial App

An App Design Concepts-UX 

In the world of app design, there are fundamental concepts that deeply shaping a designer’s workflow and requirements. Some of them are UX (user experience design), UI (user interface design), IA (information architecture), and IxD (Interaction design).  

However, this post will only focus on illustrating the criteria to create a user-friendly app with UX. 

UX—User Experience App Design (UXD, UED or XD) “is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.” Unlike user interface design, UX is all about streamlining our customers’ experience, greatly simplify and optimize their usage so that there would be a high loyalty rate and favorable word-of-mouth. 

10 Criteria for a User-friendly App Design for Financial Institution.  

Customer Understanding  

Hold your horse!  

Before diving into the actual task, you need to set your goal on the right path. What would your clients need in a financial application? Different apps have their own use, so the way people interact with them varies from browsing focus, visual focus or for a financial app the answers may be: security, efficient, fast and trustworthy.

Be logical when carrying out your market research, the most decisive phase is defining the problems and the objectives of the research. However, don’t just pull those things out of the air! A perfect list of research objectives is a suitable combination of your company needs, and the customers want which can be cultivated from focus group research.  

For example, you want to digitalize your company banking process by creating an app, and during a focus group meeting with clients, you figured out that many of the clients express strong concern about the cybersecurity problem. What is the objective of your research in this case?  

You might want to know how serious this concern is, which types of login method that customers feel most secured, or what are their opinions about your competitors’ security methods.  

Now you are all set to begin with the app design process. 

Clear the Path! 

You are a trader who just finds out a profitable buying point which happens in exactly 30 seconds. Upon signing in, which of these buttons, would you crave to see? 

Transaction history doesn’t make any sense! 

In that situation, the app should lead you right toward the goal after logging in, which is ideally two levels of action, with three levels at most.  

What is the lesson we learn here?  

Every app is designed with its foremost essential use. And that use should be right there, at your clients’ fingertips. Especially for financial app design, managing finance is somewhat a tedious task, so don’t force your customers to make any actions that they considered unnecessary or not their primary goal when they reach out to you.  

But, how to plan your app design to tackle this problem?  

Many companies come to the solution of analyzing users’ behaviors. Taking this task up to another level, you can further personalize every customer’s experience, which is really easy; just asking questions related to “who are you? And on what purpose you use this app?” when a customer registers.

For example, if one of your clients respond that her only purpose of using your app is to make a purchase, then the payment method or anything related that would speed up her purchase process should be available right on the first screen after locking in. 

Streamline the Financial Management with a User-friendly App Design 

It’s important to help the uses wonder around your app clearly know where they are, and how they can reach another destination with the least effort. They shouldn’t have to do too much scrolling, zooming, or be forced to side scroll to see content on each page. Keep in mind that your users are here to manage their assets, make an investment, and purchase, so the less complex the steps toward their goals are, the better it is.  

Firstly, be formal with the app design. There are a certain procedure, steps, and symbols that are considered a standard globally. For example, the X button means to exit, or the blank space is where you need to fill out. Don’t go and create your own communication method.  

Secondly, label clear action buttons. The button should state these actions specifically, avoid ambiguous expressions, or misleading ones. And then there is the fact that we are talking about financial app design. What would your customer feel as if your app is trying to deceive them for money? People are highly protective to their assets, so they would undoubtedly choose another service over a distrusted application.  

Also, it’s also a bonus if you use big enough (not gigantic) command button, which would be considerate for people with big thumb or eyesight problems.  

And last but not least, be consistent through the pages. Everything from color, symbols, action phrase to button location should not be changed so that it can give users an association with the temporary notion. Thus, help them navigate around with ease. 

Consider multiple holds 

There are mainly three types of smartphone hold, which depending on many influence factors like the situation and condition the app is used. 

For easy understanding, we can give each one a name (from left to right): Convenience-Browsing-Chatting.  

True to their name, each of them occurs more frequent in given situations. Considering a financial app, Convenience and Browsing might be more likely to happen. However, to be one hundred percent sure, you need to discover the real number in the marketing research phase.  

So, how will the truth assist your company app design process?  

Let’s consider this; designers must figure out the interior layout of your app. If the layout elements placed effectively in the flavor of the most dominance holding way, it would further increase your users’ satisfaction, making the experience effortless. Although this is a minor feature, you should not take it for granted. In terms of financial app design, it is a very thin line between ultimate efficient and a mistap that would cost a million dollar.      

Be Fast and be Efficient 

Junky information, unoptimized image, and video, complicated internal app design are the things that would eat up bandwidth, drain the battery and slow down the loading speed. Be mindful to avoid all of them since your user doesn’t want to wait a whole decade to finally make their transactions.  

Here are some useful tips from our experts regarding how to boost up the speed and efficiency with simple app design: 

• Create a reusable graphic for different tasks within the app. 

• Optimize fonts, images, and video. 
• Use simple but effective graphic. 

• Consider the colors in your app since each of them has their own energy consumption rate: 

Be Helpful 

Financial apps usually complex because one, the processes are complicated by nature and two, the users want to be extremely sure about what to do for the sake of their money.  

So, assistance is a must. Whether it comes in the form of live chat, chatbot or users’ manual, all are appreciated. However, for the last resort, provide a hotline number or mail for further questions. 

Don’t Forget: Testing, Feedback and Improve  

The app you get after the app design workflow above is just a prototype, the raw product, so don’t rush to pump it out the market. In the testing stage, the app should be tested in realistic market settings (a certain region or small community that is similar or a part of your real target market), and the participants must be your target customers, or else the project would be meaningless. Test marketing will help your company experience with marketing your app, gain deeper insights, and fix all the errors that may not be realized before.  

Nowadays, more and more company choose the solution of Agile software development which can adapt to your internal experience app design.  

Conclusion:  

All the above can be condensed into one word: “Customer-oriented”. Whatever your financial app design is about, you must always include your target customer in the equation and create a phenomenal experience for them.  

Here, at Envzone, with great knowledge and deep understanding of the market’s requirements, we put our mission to satisfy clients at the top priority.  

Contact us to optimize your customer experience with sharp app design, scheme, and layout. 

Related post: From Idea to Reality: Banking App In Denver