Barclays: Assist

Summary

Skills Applied

User Research, Strategy, UX design, UI Design, Information Architecture, Branding, Project Management, Motion & Video

Duration

6 weeks

The ask

Barclays seeks innovative digital solutions that address the banking needs of neurodivergent individuals. Develop an intuitive, user-friendly app or tool to improve financial management. Consider digital-first solutions that bridge the gap between digital and real-world experiences. Focus on a specific area or encompass a range of neurodivergent issues. Overcome customer barriers and demonstrate how your idea can make a difference.

Problem

Money management and personal finances are major causes for stress and lead users to ignore or deprioritize their finances, even more so if the user is neurodivergent.

Neurodivergent individuals may face difficulties when using banking apps due to various reasons, such as complex interfaces, overwhelming information, and difficulties with managing finances.

Opportunity

How might we make banking a bit easier by providing tools and support to help neurodivergent users to manage their money better and, as a result, improve their quality of life?

Solution

Barclays Assist: a New companion app by Barclays that makes personal finance less intimidating and more approachable for not only neurodivergent users but anyone who might need help with personal finance.

Project Background & Key insights

60% of people with ADHD indicated feeling anxious when thinking about their personal finances, and the majority of them believe it has a direct cost implication due to its impact on day-to-day money management.

Through our interviews and surveys we gathered some key pain points:

  • Users lack all the information they need to be completely successful in managing their personal finances.
  • Learning about money management feels like a gargantuan, impossible task.
  • Lacking focus when accessing their banking apps because getting distracted by a different task/notification/update.
  • Most understand the concept and importance of budgeting but find it difficult to implement into their daily lives.
  • There is a struggle to conceptualize money amongst many users, making it hard to develop healthy financial habits.

How does it work?

The features

Assist will have 2 primary features to start off with to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed that many users go through when using banking apps.

Assist Envelope Budgeting

The Envelope Budget feature that enables users to create virtual factions (envelopes) within their primary account. These envelopes can be assigned to various expenditure categories, and any purchases made through the account will be automatically routed to the appropriate envelope, facilitating effortless budgeting. If a user lacks sufficient funds in a particular envelope, they will be sent a push notification asking them to authorize the purchase from a different envelope, so that they can be aware of their spending habits and changes in their budget.
View the Prototype

Assist Classroom

The classroom feature will offer users video learning modules consisting of brief videos that educate them on personal finance, provide tips and tricks for effective management, and inform them about other Barclays products that could improve their financial status.
View the Prototype

Growing with the user

Assist sets itself apart from other banking apps by evolving in functionality alongside the user's growing proficiency in personal finance and banking. The app assesses a user's level of banking and finance experience during onboarding and tailors its user interface accordingly to provide the most optimal experience for the user's proficiency level: Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert. While users can modify these settings at any time, following Assist's recommendations is suggested for optimal results.

UI levels

Onboarding

View the Prototype

Other work

Brand Identity

We designed Assist to feel welcoming and inclusive by using a joyful yet soothing color palette, easily readable sans serif fonts, and engaging illustrations.

Product introduction video

The Process

What I did

I played an important role in the strategy, concepting, and design phases of this project. Our goal was to address the pain points of digital banking for neurodivergent users by redesigning and improving the user experience for less experienced users and supporting their growth.

In the design phase, I contributed hi-fidelity designs for the onboarding process and wireframes and information architecture for Assist's features. In addition to the UI design, I was involved in creating graphics and animations for our final D&AD entry.

Process Artifacts

Calendly
LinkedIn
Email
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