A FinTech startup was looking to design their suite of applications. I was brought in as TWG’s first researcher to co-define this product.

overview

Company & Industry  TWG, FinTech client

Position Contract User Researcher

Project Timeline  April to June 2017

Location  Remote and physical project based in Toronto, Canada

Having Agency in Research

As far as digital agencies go, TWG is a powerhouse of talent and culture in Toronto. My role as a contract researcher was to design and conduct qualitative UX research sprints to inform digital products and marketing strategy. As the first dedicated researcher at TWG, I contributed to enriching TWG’s research process by introducing academic rigour to an already strong design process, and facilitating deeper, more actionable user insights.

The client in question was a financial institution with a suite of new products and services that needed a digital companion to these offerings. The client wanted to better understand how they can narrow down their primary audience, what sets them apart, and how to design and market to this audience.

I was responsible for designing and executing three research plans, two Exploratory studies, and one Evaluative usability study. In collaboration with highly talented PM’s, designers, and software engineers, we made some magic together to produce a native app and responsive marketing website. You can read all about the project below.

The Challenge

• Support a new entrant FinTech client in their launch of products and services

• Design a digital product to act as a primary point of access for customers

• Define a go to market strategy for early adopters and core target markets

• Carry out unbiased and independent research to test assumptions

• Conduct Experiential studies to understand Canadians’ relationships with their financial products and institutions

The Approach

Research goals

• Understand how people choose and use their financial products and services, including self-reported purchasing behaviours and attitudes

• Inquire into how they develop relationships with financial institutions

• Discover any relationships between self-reported behavioural and attitudinal data points that emerged

Methods and recruitment

• Conducted semi-structured interviews with aspects of the jobs-to-be-done framework, focusing on creating an inviting space where participants felt comfortable discussing personal financial matters

• Spoke with 16 Canadians from diverse socio-economic, racial, professional, and geographic backgrounds

The Results

• Identified 3 major behavioural and attitudinal personas that described why each selects the financial products and services they use, and how they use them

• Unveiled 6 key insights describing overarching user behaviours and attitudes

• Together with the project team, produced 3 design principles that provided ongoing direction for the design of native mobile apps and web properties

• Conducted subsequent Evaluative usability study to test design prototypes, resulting in further usability and content insights that impacted designs

• The clients extended our engagement to complete an additional Experiential study to better understand how to market to the desired target personas, resulting in further insights that impacted the design of the marketing website

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Personas

3
Design Principles

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Key Insights

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More Studies

Impact

This series of client engagements at TWG were some of my favourites in my time as a UX researcher. I was closely collaborating with highly skilled PM’s, designers, and software engineers, which I’ve since learned is the sweet spot where I thrive as a researcher. I now look for this collaborative approach when taking on new projects.

While their design practice already included some research activities, I helped foster additional rigour in the tools and processed that enabled more nuanced research findings and insights. TWG went on to build a dedicated research team built on the foundations of our engagements together, and now tout their research activities as a staple in their product definition and solution evaluation processes for client projects (otherwise known as Sprint Zero).

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