Direct Express
A clear and concise banking
experience for some of the country’s most financially vulnerable individuals needing both government assistance in banking, as well as technological and financial guidance
The Problem
The Direct Express platform that millions of individuals relied on for government assistance was extremely dated and created frustrations for both users as well as the organization.
A complete re-design of the platform structurally, aesthetically, and technologically was warranted to better enforce accessibility, education, awareness, and action towards user’s finances.
Old Platform
Each aspect of the platform was inspected and considered for a 0 to 1 redesign. This not only included the overall style and information architecture, but also opportunities for optimizing all current financial features and adding net new items as well.
Data Collection
Through extensive strategically designed surveys we conducted a wide reaching collection of data from Direct Express’ current customers to empathize with their needs and understand paint points
Market Research
By assessing the competitive landscape of personal banking and government assistance products, we were able to identify gaps to both differentiate and optimize our product from the status quo.
User Interviews
Face to face interviews were also conducted with a diverse selection of representative Direct Express users to more intimately understand current and evolving user needs. These individuals ranged from retired social security beneficiaries to disabled veterans needing government assistance.
Additionally this overview allowed us to further familiarize ourselves with past and current design trends within this niche both structurally and stylistically to serve a contemporary user.
Analysis
User Data
With hundreds of responses through a quantitative research, we structured a deck with all of our findings illustrated through data visuals highlighting particular insights reveal through analysis of our users response data.
User Interviews
By recording and taking thorough notes from our interviews we were able to create user personas and structured our insights based on a number of factors including pain points, satisfaction, consistency across users, feature-specific flows, use case contexts, and more.
Market Analysis
With a collection of relevant existing products and design trends we were able to identify a benchmark from which we can improve upon as well as find a niche in positioning how our product will better serve our specific personas.
Insights
consistent confusion in finding and enacting crucial financial and debit card actions
work flows including onboarding and accessing government benefits are poorly sequenced and communicated
a desire for financial education, both for general terms and concepts, as well as specific information about Direct Express
an overload of customer support calls for the business and long wait times for the users
a non-cohesive system to manage multiple accounts for individuals representing other beneficiaries such as parents or groups
money movement is made more difficult due to a lack of attention toward ATM, Rent, and Bill payment features
Design Solution
A full re-design of Direct Express’ current product in both web and app, the establishment of a supplementary administrative portal, the addition of net new financial features to monitor and manage one’s money, and a design system built from the ground up to create and continue to grow the platform.
Features
Each feature both new and old was independently addressed through thorough research, collaborative ideation, initial wire framing, high-fidelity prototyping, engineer consultation, user testing, and iterating. Through this process we addressed improvements to work flows through our data and tech capabilities for individual features as well as improvements to the overall information architecture bringing them together as a cohesion whole.
Home Dashboard
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Spending Summary
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ATM Locator
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Design System
A complete product re-design also warranted a new design system built from the ground up since there was no system to reference in the first place. We established the new aesthetic through style variables in color, type, and component forms. The system also served as a document for all technological specifications, functional behaviors, and design guidelines for Engineering to consult upon handoff.
This particular system also warranted much consideration of compliance to brand, ADA, and government standards to be applied throughout our designs.
User Testing
Throughout the design process we worked in “batches” that each went through both user testing and engineering consulting upon the completion of prototypes that bring the user through critical work flows within the product. Based on feedback we would iterate our work and assess new design decisions from the users perspective, the client’s business goals, and our engineering capabilities.
Iterative Work
Alternative variations to the structure of core features were made to better reflect the user’s frame of mind when navigating the product
Customer support through chat, contact info, and FAQs were reassessed for its role and accessibility to users every day tasks
Attention to the hierarchy of immediately accessibly actions were reconsidered based on user preferences
Consider the implications and spatial awareness of a dynamic content area for onboarding tasks both completed and not
