Applied Service Design to Improve Fintech
Principal UX Designer at Capital One
Product teams in various parts of the company were creating customer service tools quickly without considering how it could impact all service channels. Putting customers first clashed with this approach. Team collaboration would prove to significantly influences the customer's experience downstream.
In my role as Principal UX Designer at Capital One, I co-led a significant service design initiative to enhance the overall Consumer Bank Customer Service Associate experience. This project was meticulously crafted and executed through in-depth ethnographic studies, 1:1 interviews with service associates, comprehensive stakeholder interviews, and hands-on workshops.
My proficiency in synthesizing vast amounts of qualitative data and insights allowed me to distill key patterns and observations that underscored the core of the Customer Service Associate journey. By delving into these findings, I could effectively inform a robust 1-3 year product strategy that was not only grounded in user-centric design principles but also aligned with the strategic goals of the organization.
This experience showcases my adeptness in leveraging a spectrum of research methodologies to unearth valuable insights, shape compelling narratives, and drive strategic decision-making processes that elevate the overall user experience landscape.
Ethnographic Research
This ethnographic study involved visiting three call centers, NUMBER bank branches, and NUMER Capital One Cafes in eight cities across the US.
During each visit, my team observed Customer Service Associates helping bank customers in different ways. We noticed common problems customers faced, what made them most frustrated, and also saw some positive experiences. This was also proved that associates were using many tools at once to help customers quickly and effectively. This detailed study gave us important insights into the customer service experience. By studying these patterns and issues, I was able to suggest ways to improve the customer experience in these important touch points.
Additionally, 5-7 associate interviews took place at each location to get deeper insights into the customer servicing process. Various process issues were identified, showing where workflow inefficiencies and bottlenecks occurred. Interviews also uncovered various work-arounds that associates implemented to make difficult tools work in the moment.
The study not only revealed process weaknesses but also showcased the service associates' resourcefulness in overcoming these challenges. By recognizing the implemented solutions to breakdowns, valuable insights were gained into the team's problem-solving abilities under pressure.
Stakeholder Interviews & Workshops
In conjunction with the ethnographic research efforts, stakeholder interviews occurred within various divisions of the Consumer Bank organization.
Strategic Guidance
One track of stakeholder interviews was aimed at gathering essential feedback and insights regarding both short-term initiatives and long-term strategic directions. By engaging with key stakeholders, my team and I sought to align our research findings with the overarching business strategies and priorities of the Consumer Bank organizations.
Tool and System Assessment
Additionally, a set of workshops included comprehensively mapping out the existing associates tools and systems used to address customer inquiries. Through these discussions, we aimed to gain a profound understanding of the technological infrastructure supporting day-to-day operations and customer service delivery within the organization.
This dual-track approach to stakeholder interviews allowed us to capture a holistic view of the Consumer Bank's operational dynamics, from strategic imperatives down to the practical tools empowering front-line staff.
My role:
Created ethnographic research plan, budget, and proposal
Determined which key cities to visit
Coordinated site visits, scheduled interviews and workshops
Established a Slack communication channel for stakeholders and partners to “ride along” for updates during the project
Scheduled monthly stakeholder share-outs with a dedicated Q&A session
Dedicated interview note-taker in order to perform data synthesis in real-time, dramatically reducing the time needed to create a final report