1. Data Visualization
Humans tend to struggle with processing numerical information, especially when it comes to comparing or performing complex calculations. That is why presenting that information in a visual and easily understandable form is very important. Data visualization has been widely used in reporting and analysis. And it has a lot of potential for applications in deposits, loans, investments, and other financial activities.
Effective data visualization alters the balance between perception and cognition to maximize the brain's capabilities.
Quick Perception: Visual information is processed quickly by the visual cortex, allowing users to receive information easily and quickly.
Cognitive Load Reduction: Visualization helps to lessen the burden on conscious thinking, enabling users to focus on decision-making rather than analyzing complex data.
Traditional methods of presenting and receiving data require conscious thought for most stages. Data visualization shifts the balance towards utilizing more visual perception, leveraging our eyes’ capabilities whenever possible.
2. Develop a tool, not an ad-stuffed page.
Unless the sole purpose of the product is marketing, there will be a range of other user needs to satisfy. While placing ads on a product may provide some benefits, overwhelming customers with irrelevant messages through a financial product can have negative impacts.
Even if your product has a high level of trust, many users remain skeptical about new features. In unfamiliar digital environments, they often do not want to feel confused and less visible regarding their useful information.
It is crucial to focus on core value and navigability to address user needs; the product should display everything the user considers important. Marketing messages should be subtle to help enhance the user experience.
A tool that empowers users and prioritizes them will be more effective in improving customer retention and increasing sales.
3. Provide relevant and personalized content
When buying new clothes, one of the first criteria people consider is their fit. The same goes for financial products. Personalization allows the system to identify users as a specific customer group or individual while providing appropriate content and functionality for that user.
For example: In asset management, there is a wealth of information about performance and risk of an investment that can be tailored to an individual's assets. There is so much detailed information that people hardly have enough time to understand it all. Moreover, no two customers are the same.
Products should act like a personal assistant, extracting and presenting important information concisely, making it easy for users to access without being overwhelmed by information. From there, users can choose whether to explore further or not—this is just a starting point from which they can explore more of your other products.
4. Create a smooth product onboarding process for customers
To deliver a perfect experience from the first time, it is important to introduce the service fitting the customer. Users need to clearly understand the value the product provides right from the start.
Achieve their short-term and long-term goals
Understand the value of your product
Improve customer retention and minimize dropout rates.
When people hear the term "feature onboarding," they often think of a series of initial forms describing the application's functions and collecting basic user information. However, onboarding is not merely presenting features but also connecting users to the product's value quickly and effectively.
To understand your users, identify who they are and how best to communicate with them. Instead of focusing solely on product-market fit, learn the specific needs of users and develop products that suit them.
Those who have invested or borrowed through digital platforms are familiar with the smooth onboarding process of products. Financial companies invest heavily in this, as customers using financial services tend to add high value. Therefore, businesses will significantly benefit by focusing on effectively and appropriately introducing services to customers.
5. Make customers feel special
Gold, Platinum, and other elite cards primarily provide a sense of exclusivity for their holders rather than actual value. In decades past, such exclusivity was limited to a group of wealth management clients, but it is now spreading to banking, retail, and many other fields. The goals of special customer programs are not solely to show appreciation but also to retain customers and encourage them to return for regular service usage.
Don't get me wrong—I am not encouraging you to trick your customers but to make them feel special. The aim of special customer programs is not just to reward customers but also to retain them. You want users to return and make the product a part of their daily lives, and you can achieve this by regularly rewarding them. Offering incentives that clearly demonstrate the users' benefits encourages them to use your services daily.
With today's technology, creating personalized experiences for each customer has become easier. Small adjustments in service can create a sense of premium and exclusivity, making customers feel valued and encouraging them to continue using the product.
6. Design to enhance security
Consumers desire an easy and familiar mobile payment experience while demanding high levels of transparency, honesty, and data security. With the increase in takeover methods, digital financial attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making security a top priority for both users and financial institutions.
To maximize security, banks should implement multiple security measures beyond traditional password authentication, such as biometrics and gesture patterns. Biometrics are hard to spoof and provide quick access with high security, enhancing the user experience without sacrificing usability.
Additionally, when designing digital passwords, consider the following methods:
Include an auto-lock function after multiple failed attempts.
When creating passwords, ensure the font size is large and easy to read.
Keep passwords hidden while they are being entered.
Allow a login timeout option after about 1 to 5 minutes of inactivity on the account.
Do not accept easily guessable passwords like 0000, 1111, 1234, …
7. Leverage all capabilities of devices and new technologies.
The increasing popularity of mobile is having a significant impact on the development of Fintech technology. With growing pressure to achieve profitability alongside the rise of emerging startups, most businesses will look for ways to optimize their current operations.
In recent years, AI has become an essential part of the Fintech industry, and its popularity is on the rise. Key areas of AI usage include data collection and management, personal spending habit analysis, as well as protecting and facilitating transactions. The ability to offer customers personalized experiences and perfectly fitting products will soon become a significant competitive advantage in the Fintech market.
Technologies like eKYC allow banks to verify customers online automatically and comply with regulations. Moreover, chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming popular, helping users conduct transactions more easily. AR and VR technology also opens new opportunities for customer interaction, creating unique experiences in financial services.
8. Communicate and respond clearly to users at all times.
Users should know where they are and what is happening at all times. For every action, appropriate feedback is necessary, and people can read it within a reasonable timeframe. Don’t make your users guess. Let them know what their actions have led them to.
Uncertainty causes anxiety, so it should be avoided as much as possible. Anxiety increases when processing financial transactions, orders, and similar things.
Whenever users interact with a system, they need to know whether that interaction is successful or not. Current status notifications allow users to feel more control over the system, take the appropriate actions to achieve their goals, and ultimately build trust in the brand.
As a designer, your task is to make users feel secure when interacting in your application space. Communication boosts trust, one of the crucial factors influencing customer retention. When the system seems to be withholding information from users or making unilateral decisions, users begin to lose trust and no longer feel the relationship with the business is equal.
Users need to clearly understand their status and progress in every interaction with the system. Timely feedback helps them understand whether their actions are successful or not, reducing anxiety, especially when conducting financial transactions. Uncertainty can cause anxiety, so clearly reporting the current state will help users feel more in control and build trust with the brand. As a designer, you must create a safe and transparent environment for users. Clear communication not only strengthens trust but also retains customers. When the system does not provide sufficient information or seems to be hiding information, users will feel distrustful and no longer see their relationship with the business as equal.
9. Communicate in the users' language
In the field of financial technology (Fintech), effective communication with users is crucial since customers are not industry experts. To help them understand your products and services, use simple and accessible language. Avoid complex technical jargon, as most users are unfamiliar with it.
Besides using understandable language, you also need to pay attention to tone and communication style. Many Fintech products often have a tone that is too serious, which can create a gap between the brand and customers. Choose a friendly and approachable way of communication to build better connections, making customers feel comfortable and more trusting when using your services.
Another common issue with how Fintech products communicate with users is tone and voice. For various reasons, it is often perceived as too serious, formal, or boring. This depends on the overall brand personality and values. Perhaps people envision banks as serious institutions where everyone wears suits.
This may work for traditional and long-established private organizations, but as times change, even these banks are transforming their messages as their customers become more diverse. In the realm of personal finance, such seriousness indeed creates a boundary between customers and your brand.
1. Data Visualization
Humans tend to struggle with processing numerical information, especially when it comes to comparing or performing complex calculations. That is why presenting that information in a visual and easily understandable form is very important. Data visualization has been widely used in reporting and analysis. And it has a lot of potential for applications in deposits, loans, investments, and other financial activities.
Effective data visualization alters the balance between perception and cognition to maximize the brain's capabilities.
Quick Perception: Visual information is processed quickly by the visual cortex, allowing users to receive information easily and quickly.
Cognitive Load Reduction: Visualization helps to lessen the burden on conscious thinking, enabling users to focus on decision-making rather than analyzing complex data.
Traditional methods of presenting and receiving data require conscious thought for most stages. Data visualization shifts the balance towards utilizing more visual perception, leveraging our eyes’ capabilities whenever possible.
2. Develop a tool, not an ad-stuffed page.
Unless the sole purpose of the product is marketing, there will be a range of other user needs to satisfy. While placing ads on a product may provide some benefits, overwhelming customers with irrelevant messages through a financial product can have negative impacts.
Even if your product has a high level of trust, many users remain skeptical about new features. In unfamiliar digital environments, they often do not want to feel confused and less visible regarding their useful information.
It is crucial to focus on core value and navigability to address user needs; the product should display everything the user considers important. Marketing messages should be subtle to help enhance the user experience.
A tool that empowers users and prioritizes them will be more effective in improving customer retention and increasing sales.
3. Provide relevant and personalized content
When buying new clothes, one of the first criteria people consider is their fit. The same goes for financial products. Personalization allows the system to identify users as a specific customer group or individual while providing appropriate content and functionality for that user.
For example: In asset management, there is a wealth of information about performance and risk of an investment that can be tailored to an individual's assets. There is so much detailed information that people hardly have enough time to understand it all. Moreover, no two customers are the same.
Products should act like a personal assistant, extracting and presenting important information concisely, making it easy for users to access without being overwhelmed by information. From there, users can choose whether to explore further or not—this is just a starting point from which they can explore more of your other products.
4. Create a smooth product onboarding process for customers
To deliver a perfect experience from the first time, it is important to introduce the service fitting the customer. Users need to clearly understand the value the product provides right from the start.
Achieve their short-term and long-term goals
Understand the value of your product
Improve customer retention and minimize dropout rates.
When people hear the term "feature onboarding," they often think of a series of initial forms describing the application's functions and collecting basic user information. However, onboarding is not merely presenting features but also connecting users to the product's value quickly and effectively.
To understand your users, identify who they are and how best to communicate with them. Instead of focusing solely on product-market fit, learn the specific needs of users and develop products that suit them.
Those who have invested or borrowed through digital platforms are familiar with the smooth onboarding process of products. Financial companies invest heavily in this, as customers using financial services tend to add high value. Therefore, businesses will significantly benefit by focusing on effectively and appropriately introducing services to customers.
5. Make customers feel special
Gold, Platinum, and other elite cards primarily provide a sense of exclusivity for their holders rather than actual value. In decades past, such exclusivity was limited to a group of wealth management clients, but it is now spreading to banking, retail, and many other fields. The goals of special customer programs are not solely to show appreciation but also to retain customers and encourage them to return for regular service usage.
Don't get me wrong—I am not encouraging you to trick your customers but to make them feel special. The aim of special customer programs is not just to reward customers but also to retain them. You want users to return and make the product a part of their daily lives, and you can achieve this by regularly rewarding them. Offering incentives that clearly demonstrate the users' benefits encourages them to use your services daily.
With today's technology, creating personalized experiences for each customer has become easier. Small adjustments in service can create a sense of premium and exclusivity, making customers feel valued and encouraging them to continue using the product.
6. Design to enhance security
Consumers desire an easy and familiar mobile payment experience while demanding high levels of transparency, honesty, and data security. With the increase in takeover methods, digital financial attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making security a top priority for both users and financial institutions.
To maximize security, banks should implement multiple security measures beyond traditional password authentication, such as biometrics and gesture patterns. Biometrics are hard to spoof and provide quick access with high security, enhancing the user experience without sacrificing usability.
Additionally, when designing digital passwords, consider the following methods:
Include an auto-lock function after multiple failed attempts.
When creating passwords, ensure the font size is large and easy to read.
Keep passwords hidden while they are being entered.
Allow a login timeout option after about 1 to 5 minutes of inactivity on the account.
Do not accept easily guessable passwords like 0000, 1111, 1234, …
7. Leverage all capabilities of devices and new technologies.
The increasing popularity of mobile is having a significant impact on the development of Fintech technology. With growing pressure to achieve profitability alongside the rise of emerging startups, most businesses will look for ways to optimize their current operations.
In recent years, AI has become an essential part of the Fintech industry, and its popularity is on the rise. Key areas of AI usage include data collection and management, personal spending habit analysis, as well as protecting and facilitating transactions. The ability to offer customers personalized experiences and perfectly fitting products will soon become a significant competitive advantage in the Fintech market.
Technologies like eKYC allow banks to verify customers online automatically and comply with regulations. Moreover, chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming popular, helping users conduct transactions more easily. AR and VR technology also opens new opportunities for customer interaction, creating unique experiences in financial services.
8. Communicate and respond clearly to users at all times.
Users should know where they are and what is happening at all times. For every action, appropriate feedback is necessary, and people can read it within a reasonable timeframe. Don’t make your users guess. Let them know what their actions have led them to.
Uncertainty causes anxiety, so it should be avoided as much as possible. Anxiety increases when processing financial transactions, orders, and similar things.
Whenever users interact with a system, they need to know whether that interaction is successful or not. Current status notifications allow users to feel more control over the system, take the appropriate actions to achieve their goals, and ultimately build trust in the brand.
As a designer, your task is to make users feel secure when interacting in your application space. Communication boosts trust, one of the crucial factors influencing customer retention. When the system seems to be withholding information from users or making unilateral decisions, users begin to lose trust and no longer feel the relationship with the business is equal.
Users need to clearly understand their status and progress in every interaction with the system. Timely feedback helps them understand whether their actions are successful or not, reducing anxiety, especially when conducting financial transactions. Uncertainty can cause anxiety, so clearly reporting the current state will help users feel more in control and build trust with the brand. As a designer, you must create a safe and transparent environment for users. Clear communication not only strengthens trust but also retains customers. When the system does not provide sufficient information or seems to be hiding information, users will feel distrustful and no longer see their relationship with the business as equal.
9. Communicate in the users' language
In the field of financial technology (Fintech), effective communication with users is crucial since customers are not industry experts. To help them understand your products and services, use simple and accessible language. Avoid complex technical jargon, as most users are unfamiliar with it.
Besides using understandable language, you also need to pay attention to tone and communication style. Many Fintech products often have a tone that is too serious, which can create a gap between the brand and customers. Choose a friendly and approachable way of communication to build better connections, making customers feel comfortable and more trusting when using your services.
Another common issue with how Fintech products communicate with users is tone and voice. For various reasons, it is often perceived as too serious, formal, or boring. This depends on the overall brand personality and values. Perhaps people envision banks as serious institutions where everyone wears suits.
This may work for traditional and long-established private organizations, but as times change, even these banks are transforming their messages as their customers become more diverse. In the realm of personal finance, such seriousness indeed creates a boundary between customers and your brand.
Hello 👋 With a passion for designing digital products, focusing on user research, optimizing experiences, and building effective interfaces. Here, I share knowledge from real-world projects, ideas, and my stories in the field of UX/UI - Product Design 📚 I hope the articles will provide practical insights, supporting you in your work and product development journey ✨✨✨
Nguyen Tan Toan
Product Designer
Product Designer
