A fully automated wealth management service that designs a custom investment mix to get a person’s desired return at a safer and lower risk than usual market options.
Objective
The platform enables customers to evaluate their current financial standing and set investment goals (savings for education, retirement, car purchase).
Using the various interactive capabilities of the service (co-browsing, video chat), users connect with a financial consultant and receive individual recommendations on reaching their goals.
Apart from this, the platform enables customers to follow received recommendations by investing funds, opening a pension savings account, making a deposit or signing an insurance contract.
Value proposition
There is a distinct relationship between the Value Proposition and a successful MVP (Minimum Viable Product). To measure the success of the MVP, the value proposition will give clear focus to what needs to be achieved, with whom and how to measure it.
What needs are the MVP addressing?
- Creating the need to take financial responsibility for retirement.
- The need for trustworthy non-invasive AI based online financial guide.
What is the solution to fulfilling these needs?
- A simple and secure online platform with multiple financial tools to establish a financial roadmap for an individual by linking and maintaining income and expense accounts, as well as making online investments.
Who are these users experiencing these needs?
- Young professionals with no financial experience or investments.
- Young professionals with limited financial experience and investments.
- Older professionals with active investments.
What metrics will be used to measure the success of satisfying these needs?
- Number of users that sign up via the online application process.
- Number of users that signed up but didn’t link bank / investment accounts.
- Number of active users divided into time frames 3, 6, 12 months, 2 years, etc.
- Number of users that aborted after committing to the investment?
User insights survey
The 10 participants for the Insights Survey were divided into 3 age groups and distributed by gender as equally as possible. According to Norman Nielsen, with 5 users for a usability study, you almost always get close to the user testing's maximum benefit-cost ratio. However this Insights Survey is focused on user insights and I opted to utilise the maximum amount of participants available for the free version of Optimal Workshop. This application provides UX methodologies for surveys, card sorting, etc.
Outcomes
The Insights Survey aims to get a better understanding of the user’s financial relationship with credibility, trust, commitment & experience based on the predominant use of technology. Establishing the younger user’s lack of experience & knowledge in the financial sector, the Online Financial Advisor can bridge the gap and offer a more tailored and explanatory experience. Due to Online Financial Advisor being a fairly new financial tool in South Africa and not many users having had experience with one, it’s difficult to get feedback on the specific tool. It is, thus, helpful to rather tap into the user’s experience with basic online application forms and their perception when adding it into a financial context. Understanding what makes the user trust & commit online, together with which factors are invasive and makes the user feel uncomfortable will ultimately guide the flow of the online application to ensure higher sign ups.
Questions
This survey focusses on the probability of users making a financial investment via an online application form and the factors that influence decision making during this process.
1. What is your age?
2. Are you male or female?
3. Do you currently have any financial investments?
(Such as retirement annuity, life insurance, etc.)
4. If your previous answer is yes, please indicate how you acquired these investments.
(You can select more than one option if you have more than one investment)
- Telephonic with a broker
- Personally at the bank or investment house
- Online through your bank or investment house
- Through the company you work for
5. If you’re interested in making a new financial investment, would you consider applying for it online?
6. If your previous answer is no, please indicate why you would not consider applying for financial investments online.
- I don’t trust online security with my finances. (credibility)
- I don’t know enough about financial investments to do it by myself. (knowledge)
- I’m worried that I’ll commit to an investment and not be able to change it afterwards. (commitment)
- I’m worried about the fine print.(unknown / credibility / commitment)
- I would prefer to discuss my options personally with a professional. (human interaction / knowledge)
7. What would make you feel that an online application is safe and credible?
- The application is on a website of a well known brand or institution.
- The application is on a website that’s affiliated with well known brands or institutions.
- The application is accompanied by logos of credibility and / or financial awards.
8. Do you feel uncomfortable when an online application asks to enter your personal details i.e. name, email, ID, etc. from the get go?
9. If your previous answer is yes, please indicate during which step in the online application process would you feel
comfortable disclosing personal information.
- During the 2nd step of the online application.
- Only during the last step of the online application.
- Not applicable. My answer was NO.
10. Do you have any comments or feedback regarding your personal experience or preference on making financial
investments via an online application form?
Results
1. Credibility
80% = branding / well known institutions
40% = affiliates with well known institutions
20% = credible logos
Conclusion:
- Make all branding, trust logos & iconography clear to ensure the user the online application is credible and safe.
2. Commitment
60% = will commit and apply online
20% = wants human interaction
10% = concerns about security
10% = don’t have enough knowledge
Conclusion:
- Make sure the content is written in a conversational but professional tone.
- Offer the user the option for human interaction at any time during the process with a chatbot.
- Offer the user the option to converse with a human advisor during the setup of the financial roadmap.
- Security has been addressed in the previous step.
3. Trust
60% = Last step
20% = 2nd step
20% = No preference
Conclusion:
- Most users are reluctant to enter very personal information during the first step, especially if it’s their first financial encounter online.
- The large amount of scams make users wary of providing personal information.
- First gain the user's trust, then ask for personal details.
4. Experience
70% = Current investments
70% = Done with human interaction
20% = Done online
30% = NO experience
Conclusion:
- Most of the users have previous experience with investments, although it is mostly with human interaction.
- Provide sufficient content for the inexperienced investor.
- First time investors will feel more comfortable if they know there’s an option to interact with an advisor during the process.
User Flow
Working with a consultant
The consultant and the customer work together to assess their opportunities and risks, define goals and lay out the overall strategy. The consultant suggests the best methods of achieving financial goals and the most appropriate instruments for the job.
Requirement
I simplified the work with the platform and divided it into several steps — the user is not overloaded with details, fills out forms in small increments, and understands the next steps.
USER INTERFACE DESIGN
Website Mobile Version
User Story
Imagine that a bunch of people visit our website. These are mostly in their mid-30s and have either:
1. Clicked through from a facebook ad that promises an easy way to figure out how you should invest your money
2. Clicked through from a google search result for ‘how to plan my investments’
3. Referred by a friend to check out our site because ‘I invest my money there as well’
UI and Visual Design
Choosing the right font - Used old style serif font to give the sense of trust and experience
Choosing the right Color - A mix of Amber and earthy violet to give sense of wealth with warmth
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