ATM projects (2017)
The context
There was a new requirement for design thinking to be brought to the physical channels of the bank, and that included the ATMs.
We (my UI designer and I) started out on specified hotfixes and small projects, but eventually, we were able to show enough value that we led research and did user testing for various bigger projects (new features and concepts).
The process
The research focuses were:
Whether it was a good idea for ATMs to accept coins
The usability impact of a new look & feel of ATM
screens
How the Branch and ATM relationship works, and get feedback on the user experience at ATMs
Understanding competitors for a Person-to-person payment feature
We spent 3 days in various bank branches around the city, talking to people at ATMs, branch managers and staff.
The findings were really interesting and they directly fed into the design of the features going forward. E.g. Showing the “available notes” more clearly improved transparency and was better for communication.
You can see the results of the research in detail here:
My contribution
I led the research and design for the various projects relating to ATM. My biggest achievement in the space was working with a notoriously stubborn channel owner and showing the value of design thinking. He went from being very set in his ways to being more open-minded.
I was able to convince him (and his team) that a little research up front can save a lot of effort down the road, as seen with the Coin Deposit feature exploration.
I also mapped out the information architecture of the whole ATM structure for the first time ever in the bank’s history which helped with all the projects.
A lot of my focus was on understanding the user needs and mapping out flows.
What I enjoyed
Learning about a new channel (ATM)
Proving that user-centred design has value to skeptics
Being able to do research in situ and understand the broader business and user needs deeply
What I struggled with
“Having to fight” in the first place for design’s existence
Weak feedback (“I don’t like it” as opposed to “It doesn’t work because of XYZ)
The old boys club style of the department
Tools I used
User research & testing
Information architecture
User flows
Wireframes