Treasury Gateway Admin
A redesign of Zion Bancorp's internal client management system to improve client.
How I started
Fundamental to managing clients across Zions Bancorp’s eight subsidiary financial institutions, Treasury Gateway Admin (TG Admin) had a noticeably outdated interface, non-intuitive workflows, and poor error feedback. Despite this, users logged in everyday to oversee tasks ranging from profile management to security token creation. As a result, users adapted to TG Admin’s many challenges and created workarounds, achieving relatively high satisfaction.
As a researcher and designer, I was approached by the project manager to implement a new feature, oversee the migration of TG Admin to the Liferay platform, and to reevaluate the interface. I identified areas for improving the overall user experience and integrating new functionality, with a focus on reducing the reliance on workarounds. Furthermore, given the frequency of use and the large user base, I sought to minimize user change anxiety as much as possible. By addressing these crucial improvements within TG Admin, my aim was to enhance the Bancorp’s ability to meet the needs of its clients.
DURATION
10 two-week sprints
METHODS
User research
Rapid usability testing
Wireframing
Prototyping
MY ROLE
Sole Researcher & Designer
TOOLS
Adobe XD
Teams
WCAG AAA Compliant Design
At a glance
PROBLEM
Users find it difficult to navigate TG Admin and invest valuable time learning how to circumvent its challenges. As a result, the efficiency of client management suffers and impacts Zion Bancorp's ability to meet client's needs.
INSIGHTS
Users are comfortable with the current product and have invested so much time into learning workarounds that they are anxious to learn a new system.
SOLUTION
A client management system that saves users time and ultimately improves Bancorp client satisfaction by prioritizing:
- Learnability
- Error feedback & prevention
- Change management
Let's look at the details
My methodology
To start off research, I thoroughly familiarized myself with the product to develop a preliminary understanding of potential user experience issues. I recruited a dedicated cohort of daily users, ensuring their availability for frequent interviews and testing sessions. Leveraging insights gathered from user research, I defined the problem, actionable improvement strategies, and potential solutions. Throughout the design process, I maintained an iterative approach, regularly engaging with my user cohort to refine and validate the implemented ideas.
Below you can see the details for each of these steps.
USER INTERVIEWS
HEURISTICS
Why do heuristics?
By conducting a heuristic analysis prior to user research, I was able to compare my anticipated challenges and actual user feedback–giving myself the opportunity to identify and challenge my preconceptions and biases. Ultimately, my goals were to gain a thorough understanding of the whole product, pinpoint usability challenges, and identify critical areas for enhancements.
There's a lot of opportunity!
Issues
Recommendations
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PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT
What's the goal of this study?
While the PM asked to add functionality, oversee the transition to Liferay, and to improve the general user experience, I found it difficult to put together the pieces of how users were using TG Admin in real-life scenarios. I wanted to speak to users so that I could learn the specific contexts in which the product was being used.
By conducting an in-depth study, not only would I learn users' successes, frustrations, and desires, but also how TG Admin fit into users' lives.
The ideal group
- At least one user from each subsidiary bank
- Full representation from the 3 divisions that handle client requests
- Diverse range of time spent working with TG Admin
- Diverse range of computer literacy
The ideal user
- Uses TG Admin daily
- Employed by the Bancorp for at least 6 months
- Availability to participate in the study during the work day
Other considerations
Because we had recently launched a client-facing banking product, client management employees were incredibly busy during this time. For this reason, I wasn't able to recruit as broadly as I would've liked. I reached out to division managers to recommend users who would be willing and available to participate.
Recruitment results
Genders: Female (8/10), Male (2/10)
Affiliates: Amegy (3/10), Vectra (1/10), CB&T (1/10), NBAZ (2/10), Zions (2/10), CBO (1/10)
Divisions: Tech (3/10), Product Implementation (3/10), Customer Service (4/10)
TG Admin Usage: Daily (10/10)
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USER INTERVIEW
I conducted 30-minute user interviews sessions remotely on Teams. I sought not only to gain insights into the needs and pain points of our users but also to establish a rapport and foster a sense of trust and collaboration with each participant.
I wanted to learn
- Users' likes and dislikes
- Users' client management habits
- Users' comfortability navigating TG Admin
- Users' comfortability navigating as a new user
- If there is interest in User Impersonation
I discovered that
Users like that TG Admin 'does its job' and are interested in User Impersonation
But users could use a management system with a modern look, improved accessibility, and better learnability.
View User Interview Research Report
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USABILITY TESTING
I conducted 30-minute usability testing sessions with the same users remotely on Teams. First, I asked users about areas of potential opportunity that were not the primary focus of the previous user interview. Then, I asked users to share their screens and walk me through their most common client requests. Through this study, I contextualized insights in real-time scenarios and uncovered problems and areas of opportunity that were missed in the interviews.
I wanted to further investigate
- New user habits
- User change anxiety
And I wanted to observe
- Users' actual comfortability navigating TG Admin
- How different client requests affect users' goals in TG Admin
- Any missed frustrations/areas of opportunity
What I found out
1. Habits as and tips for new users prove that time is wasted due to poor learnability
2. Users dislike change and expect changes to be familiar unless accompanied by built-in guidance
3. Users want seamless UI, intuitive layouts, and fewer redundant profiles
View Usability Testing Research Report
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PROBLEM & SOLUTION
Let’s distill the problem:
Users invest valuable time learning how to circumvent TG Admin's challenges, and they find changes to the system intimidating. As a result, the efficiency of client management suffers and impacts Zion Bancorp's ability to meet client's needs.
Defining a solution:
If I create a product that prioritizes learnability, error feedback/prevention, and change management, users will save time with minimal anxiety, and Zions Bancorp client satisfaction will improve.
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SKETCHING
What I was envisioning
I focused on maintaining most of the structure that users were used to while also elevating the experience to decrease areas of friction.
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The solution
Learnability
High-use buttons moved within eyesight and consistent UI throughout
Error Feedback
Color-coded and clearly-worded success and error messages
Error Prevention
Confirmation windows before completing irreversible actions
Change Management
A feeling that ultimately stays true to the original product