Credit Union Public Website Platform

The User Problem Defined

A large portion of Canadian credit unions' public web sites are based on an aging content management technology stack. The credit unions needed a modern and responsive online presence that incorporates new features, drives new membership, is extensively brand-able, works seamlessly on all platforms and at the same time is easier for the credit unions to manage and update.

The Forge project is a scalable multi-tenant solution to modernize the design and features of public facing sites, satisfying the needs of the smallest local credit unions and up to the very largest in the country.

Observations

We learned from our users that they noticed the dated look of the existing web presence, and it was impacting perception of credit unions in the market. Younger users especially noticed the dated style and features. Notably, the existing product was not responsive for mobile devices so most credit unions had either a separate dedicated mobile presence or none at all.

The Design Process

This was a green-field project, giving us the opportunity to re-think everything about the public site platform.

We met with stakeholders to discuss the needs of the credit unions and their perceptions of their customers' needs.

Extensive competitor research was conducted to evaluate the current landscape of financial business public sites.

Research information was gathered from primary and secondary sources. This was used create a large number of personas to cover user-types from a variety of different credit unions, geographies, and customer journeys.

From early concept designs I created clickable prototypes for use in demos, thought experiments and usability testing.

As team lead I spoke for C1 in design meetings with the design agency. I worked with the credit unions and the agency to create a new set of seven user personas based on the credit unions customer profiles and user data.

I worked with product teams to evaluate proposals with a critical eye to ensure that Canadian users' needs were being considered (the agency was not Canadian), and reply with workable solutions.

I lead and performed extensive usability testing in four cities across the country to validate assumptions and test new design ideas.

Challenges Overcome

Usability testing revealed that certain design choices that were intended to improve and differentiate our product turned out to not resonate with users. For example, a “Quick Actions” floating menu button located at the top right of the content area was intended to be the primary interaction point for users, surfacing the top few most common actions. Despite being high contrast and in the users’ field of focus, the CTA was largely ignored by all user groups. As a result of testing focus was put back on the main navigation menu, and ensuring that the menu was clear.

Other findings included movement of several links from the very top of the page to the footer, based on observation of users looking for such links.

Results

The credit union public sites are resources for marketing, product information, and ultimately business growth. The goal of the public site is to attract and acquire new members and grow the credit union businesses. Since launch, the new Forge platform has been very popular and is now being adopted across the country. Feedback from recent usability testing and surveys has been overwhelmingly positive.