Everytime I buy a Metrocard or Path card in NYC, I’m amazed at the fantastic customer experience of this financial transaction. Think about it: It’s always crowded, I’m always in a rush and there’s always a big scary impatient New Yorker behind me, staring. Yet, I can complete the transaction in under 30 seconds. Think about the number of persona’s this interface had to be designed for (Great Aunt Bertha, Gus, “Bubba”, and so on) ! Everyone has to buy their pass from one of these machines and most people seem to get their transaction completed in under a minute. And there is no Flash tutorial either that I have to “skip intro”! (I actually looked). So, why do I enjoy these 30 seconds? Because I enjoy using a well designed system that followed the KIQAS principal: Keep It Quick and Simple.
This is also a secret of success with designing financial application experiences.
If you combine both parts (the Quick and the Simple), you see that for the user it’s also about “performance experience”. How quickly they can accomplish what they need to, and then either explore other things or leave the application? When designing a user experience for financial services applications, we must keep this principal in mind. Think of the goals of why someone is using your application in first place. Then make those goals quick and easy to accomplish (and reliable). Being trained in Financial Services Application delivery over the years (trained means both rewarded and punished) has taught me over and over to keep those principals in mind. If you achieve those goals you dramatically improve the user experience and the usefulness of your application.
One of the most important online applications you use is your banking or brokerage application. This is the entity you trust with your money and to help you plan your financial goals. Do their applications follow these principals?
A better question is: If you personally could design the experience you want what would you ask for? Hey, you’re the customer, ask.
Let us know. In my follow up posts, I will present examples of applications that follow these principals and provide a great user experience.