Service Platform Usability Evaluation
Athena Advisory
Financial Management Platform
This study utilizes unmoderated usability testing to identify pain points in Athena Advisory's recently launched financial service platform, with the goal of improving user experience and assessing the clarity of the platform's design and content.
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Work for
Athena Advisory
Team
Myself
Role
UX Researcher
Duration
2 months
(Sep-Nov, 2022)
Overview
Athena Advisory is a startup financial advisory firm that provides automated approaches that help optimize customers' financial life. To improve the user experience of its service platform and gauge if the current design and content are understandable and straightforward for users, this study uses unmoderated usability testing to uncover user pain points that need to be addressed, which are shared through a detailed test report and user personas. Overall, the results found the most important and interesting parts are Investment Portfolio, Net Worth, and Credit Score. To improve user experience, the profile-setting process needs to be shortened and streamlined; the dashboard should show more customized content and provide more explanations for infographics and financial terminology.
Usability Test Plan
12 Unmoderated test sessions were conducted via a user testing website - UserBrain
3 different parts of the service were tested:
Profile Setting
Dashboard
Exploring
Recommendations
Target audience
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Younger people aged from 18 to 34
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AND have any job
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AND interested in getting financial advice
Guiding Questions
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Is the content easy to understand? Which parts confuse them and will need more explanations or to be redesigned?
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Would it be too much content for users?
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What are the most important and interesting parts?
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What content do they desire to see but we don’t have now?​
Implementation Process
Next Steps
Conduct further user research to understand our target users
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User interviews, survey and secondary research
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Create more personas based on the interview results
Conduct an A/B usability testing with a competitor’s website
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Find out the most representative peer website through competitive analysis
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​Test and see what we can learn from others
Redesign the website based on test results & user research
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Simplify and shorten the process of setting a profile
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Create a prototype with complete options to reflect the reality of users filling out their profile information
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Prioritize the display of dynamic cards that the user cares about the most & redesign the confusing infographics with detailed descriptions
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Refer to findings from further research
Key Takeaways
Affinity Mapping
I used Affinity Mapping to organize and categorize data from usability testing and user feedback. In addition to clustering the data based on common themes and patterns, I also use Affinity Mapping to categorize the data according to what participants like, wish, and wonder about the website. By organizing the data in this way, I can easily identify areas that users find appealing, areas where they would like to see improvement, and areas where they have questions or concerns. This approach provides a more detailed understanding of the user's perspective and helps me to tailor the design to their specific needs and preferences.
What I've learned from this project
The importance of conducting usability testing on target users
Conducting usability testing on target users is an essential step in designing a service platform. In the case of this financial advisory platform that was about to be published, the stakeholder had not conducted any UX research before the project. When I planned the usability testing, the target users were identified as "younger people who have a job and are interested in getting financial advice." However, upon analyzing the unmoderated usability testing video recordings, it became clear that the content provided by this platform did not align with the interests and needs of the target users. For instance, the participants showed little interest in 401K, retirement plans, and social security tax, but were more focused on making investments and saving money. One participant even suggested linking their cryptocurrency account to the platform, indicating that credit scores were not a priority. These findings emphasize the importance of conducting usability testing on target users during the design phase of a service platform.
Risks of recruitment based on financial incentives for usability testing
This project taught me that recruiting participants who represent the target users is crucial when conducting usability testing for a financial platform. In this project, I recruited participants from an online user testing website, which was the most convenient option according to the stakeholder. However, after analyzing the data from this testing, I realized that people signing up for the testing are primarily motivated by financial rewards rather than a genuine interest in testing the product. This recruitment approach can misrepresent the actual target users for a financial platform that targets people willing to pay to manage their finances. Testing the wrong targets can result in findings that do not accurately reflect the intended target audience's behaviors, needs, and preferences. Therefore, to obtain accurate usability testing results, it is essential to use targeted recruitment strategies focusing on individuals who match the characteristics of the intended target users.
Prioritizing Customization in Financial Management Services
Through this experience, I've learned that financial management is a complex and personalized service, with each user having different needs, preferences, and priorities. Therefore, it is essential to provide a highly customizable and flexible interface and functions that allow users to decide what information they want to see on the dashboard. However, it is also crucial to ensure that the UX design and user flow remain excellent, even with customization. If the interface is too rigid and provides information that users do not find relevant, they may quickly lose interest. Thus, to create an effective financial platform, designers must strike a balance between flexibility and usability, allowing users to tailor their experience while still providing a cohesive and engaging UX design.
Thank You!
Hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did creating it. (๑´ã…‚`๑)