CASE

Optimising the user experience of the CardsPal app

How iterative feedback helped Standard Chartered Bank test and develop its CardsPal app.

Man with glasses holding smartphone while looking at his payment card
Man with glasses holding smartphone while looking at his payment card

How it started

Traditionally, finding credit card deals has been difficult. People had to hunt on separate websites, or they only found out right before they paid. A few years ago, new regulations made it easier to aggregate banks’ products and services in one single app. Financial services provider Standard Chartered took this opportunity to develop CardsPal, an app that aggregates all credit card deals. To test and further develop this app, they needed a fast and efficient solution.

 

How we inspired change

First, we conducted research in both Hong Kong and Singapore to better understand CardsPal’s target group. Next, we set up a short-term community with those target users, and asked them to download and use a beta version of the app.

As they were completing certain tasks while recording their screen, we could observe how people were using the app. The users also shared videos in the community with instant feedback for the designers.

Next to that, we moderated consumer discussions on the community and organized  one-on-one interviews – using the ‘UX Think-aloud’ protocol – to explore user needs and get deeper insights in their frictions and tensions.

 

How it lives on

When we showed consumers an early beta version of the app, we receive a mixed response. However, based on these insights and after several iterations, Standard Chartered was able to launch CardsPal with an improved user experience.

  • People were concerned about providing their card information. Now, the app reassures they don’t need to submit any personal details.
  • Those living far from shopping centres were disappointed when they saw empty ’Near Me’ list. Now, they can expand the radius to show more deals.
  • People told us the previous ‘Favourites’ feature wasn’t easy to get to. It’s now easily accessible in the bottom navigation bar.
  • People newer to credit cards wanted to better understand the benefits of each card. Now, they can do that via the ‘Compare cards’ feature.

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