KBC Invest allows KBC clients to keep track of their investment portfolio. With KBC-Invest, a KBC client gets a real time overview of their portfolio, while they previously had to wait for a printed report, and a consultation of their relationship manager. By using KBC Invest and keeping an eye on their portfolio, clients can proactively reach out to their account manager, and conduct transactions if desired.
User ResearchI conducted usability evaluations to test new features and functionality.
IdeationI generated new ideas for product features and improvements by means of co-creation sessions and user interviews.
WireframingTo communicate both with business stakeholders and developers, I created wireframes and supervised the visual design.
Agile DevelopmentI supported the developers by delivering specs and UI components, and maintaining a style guide.
Clients with an investment portfolio didn’t have a real-time overview of their portfolio, only a paper report that was handed out quarterly by their relationship manager. With the development of KBC Touch for day-to-day online banking, and replacing the existing online platform, investment clients could not be left behind. For these clients, KBC wanted to offer a digital platform that is easy to use as well, and that would encourage a more proactive approach in communication to their account manager.
The first thing we did was establish the target audience we would be designing for. Personas were already present, so we used these to determine their needs and characteristics. We also mapped the customer journey of these personas, to identify the steps they go through when deciding to invest, or purchase additional securities.
Since there were multiple apps and services in the investing domain, we also had to determine which apps and channels would cater to the needs of the existing personas. We did this by plotting the relevant personas and the channels they currently used on a matrix. Based on their current requirements we could also plot where KBC Invest would be a useful service.
The original persona matrix
The start of the customer journey
To gather in-depth user requirements, we conducted a co-creation workshop with a small group of clients. In the first part of the workshop we provided the clients with some discussion topics, and had designers moderate these discussions. The discussions handled topics such as financial transactions, important decision making parameters, and contact with the relationship manager. In the second part of the workshop, users were allowed to generate some ideas and sketches, moderated by a designer. To wrap it up, we presented the users with some first ideas and concepts, and let them review those.
With the user requirements clear, we had a good idea of which information we wanted to display. We chose to make a dashboard that gives a brief overview of portfolio return, financial news, and a direct link to the relationship manager’s contact details. The dashboard featured widgets, linking to deeper information in the app. The user can easily navigate through all information, applying a drill-down principle, where we breakdown the main portfolio in smaller asset classes, and again in product details with rich information.
With the release of KBC Invest, we gave both clients with an investment portfolio and their asset managers a more interactive, and up-to-date view on their portfolio's composition and performance. The local branches and account managers indicated their clients reached out more proactively, and recorded more transactions (and received more transaction fees) thanks to the up-to-date information in the app. Clients indicated that they appreciated the digital real-time overview, which allowed them to look more thoroughly to their portfolio, and anticipate faster on market opportunities, increasing their portfolio performance.
The negative critique about the app came from the account managers, who were not all eager to adopt the app in favour of the analog trimestral portfolio report. This was partially because the account managers did not receive any formal training or explanation about the app, and missed a lot of functionality and data that they deemed important for their trimestral evaluations with their clients. The biggest mistake we made was not involving the relationship managers in the design process, and as a result we did not cater to their needs and workflow.