Peer to Peer app (2016 - 2017)
The context:
As part of exploring solutions to the bank's acquisition problem, an app idea was born out of a hackathon.
The idea was simple - build a wallet and peer-to-peer payment app that can onboard users to be able to send and receive money easily.
The progress
While I enjoyed the project, I really had a hard time with the business/product management side.
After I moved to another project (budget constraints), the app morphed into a mini-banking app with a deceitful onboarding experience.
But, the identity of the team is still that of a "sandbox" team where new features and services are developed for use elsewhere in the bank - which is a massive achievement.
My contribution
During my time on the team, I changed a few things:
Better defined sprints - design, as well as development - where only strategic changes could be made mid-sprint (they had been struggling with sticking to the sprint plan because of constantly receiving new requests.)
Managed both design squads - in India as well as South Africa. Introduced daily check-ins for better team alignment and task allocation.
Introduced and ran regular user testing - both for usability as well as product adoption.
Re-worked all the existing task flows to be quicker, more efficient, and more elegant.
Introduced a better way to prioritise the feature requests from business and our product owner so that we weren't designing and building "just to keep busy."
Collaborated with the engineering team on each feature - before design - to better understand the technical constraints, so that we didn't waste time on unfeasible solutions.
Re-imagined the app (the team, in fact) to become a "sandbox" team that develops features and services that the rest of the teams in the bank need, rather than a stand-alone app.
What I enjoyed:
Frequent user testing & interaction.
Big picture as well as detailed design.
“Owning” the design of the entire product, rather than a slice of it.
What I struggled with:
Infrequent releases and badly practiced sprint cycles.
Legacy systems made it difficult to create excellent experiences.
Lack of business and product strategy.
Stubborn product management - unjustified attachment to the idea, refusal to listen to research.
Tools I used:
User research & testing
User journeys & process flows
Information architecture
Wireframes & Prototypes
Storyboards