Designing Mobile Financial Service for Bangladesh
Leading UX for a Mobile Financial Service in Bangladesh, I transformed a bank's outdated system into a modern platform serving 10M+ users and 100,000 agents, bringing accessible banking to millions through user-centric design for customers, agents, and distributors.
Year (Duration)
2020-2021 (6 months)
My Contribution
Executing the UX process & Design
My Role
UX Lead (consultant)
Key Actions
User Research, UX Design, Workshop facilitation
Challenges
In post-COVID Bangladesh, a leading bank's USSD-based mobile banking system was becoming obsolete as Mobile Financial Services (MFS) gained popularity. The bank needed to create a new platform to compete in this emerging market.
To design a mobile financial system providing superior experiences for Bangladesh's 160 million population
To capture market share in a competitive field. The platform had to serve customers, agents, and distribution officers effectively.
To help the the bank’s product development culture towards user-centered design
Kickoff
To establish a strong foundation for our project and create alignment across teams unfamiliar with UX practices, I facilitated a series of strategic workshops that helped transform our approach.
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I conducted an interactive workshop introducing the principles of user-centered design, using real-world examples from successful fintech products. This helped stakeholders understand the value of putting users first and the importance of iterative design in creating successful digital products.
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Through collaborative exercises including the Impact Ladder framework, we defined both our long-term vision of financial inclusion and our immediate goals of market penetration. This alignment exercise helped teams understand how their individual contributions connected to larger project outcomes.
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Using ecosystem mapping techniques, we identified and analyzed our three distinct user groups - customers, agents, and distribution officers. This exercise helped teams understand the unique needs, challenges, and opportunities for each user type, leading to more targeted solution strategies.
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The workshops culminated in crafting our core "How Might We" statement, which helped focus our efforts on creating a mobile financial system that would provide seamless experiences while gaining market share in a competitive landscape. This framing exercise transformed a complex problem into actionable design opportunities.
User Research: Understanding Our Three Key User Groups
Our mobile financial system needed to serve three distinct user groups, each with unique needs and challenges. I led a comprehensive research initiative to understand these interconnected users
Customer Research
I conducted unstructured interviews with 8 customers from diverse backgrounds. The informal nature of these conversations allowed us to explore deeper insights about their:
Daily financial behaviors and pain points
Experience with existing mobile financial services
Trust factors in digital transactions
Technology comfort levels and learning curves
Agent Network Study
Through semi-structured interviews with 5 MFS agents, we maintained focus while allowing flexibility to uncover unexpected insights. These interviews revealed:
Daily operational challenges in managing cash flow
Customer service patterns and common issues
Business growth aspirations and obstacles
Existing tools and systems usage
DSO Operations Analysis
Using contextual interviews with 2 Distribution Supervising Officers in their work environment, we gained rich insights into:
Real-world cash distribution workflows
Agent network management processes
Key responsibilities and decision-making patterns
Communication and coordination needs
Our Findings from Research
Through a structured synthesis process using Affinity Mapping in Miro, we distilled our user interviews into five critical needs:
Quick access to task-specific information
Intuitive first-time navigation with memorable workflows
Smooth interactions for user satisfaction
Modern, prestigious interface design
Competitive pricing
Complementing these insights, our team's Competitive and SWOT analyses helped position our solution strategically in the mobile financial services market.
Through task analysis of our three user groups, we created an intuitive Information Architecture that simplified complex financial operations. We prioritized frequent actions like money transfers and cash management, ensuring critical functions were accessible within 2-3 taps. This structured approach improved task completion rates in early testing.
Sketches and Wireframes
Our design process progressed from quick sketches to detailed wireframes, prioritizing intuitive financial workflows. Through rapid iterations and early user testing, we refined the interface to ensure critical functions were easily accessible while maintaining simplicity in complex transactions.
Designing the Solution
Our final solution delivered three interconnected apps - customer, agent, and DSO - each optimized for its specific user group. The design emphasized simplicity and performance, featuring intuitive navigation, clear visual hierarchy, and robust functionality. Built on a consistent design system, the platform effectively handled complex financial operations while maintaining ease of use.
Streamlined Onboarding
We reimagined onboarding by breaking down complex verification steps into a progressive, user-friendly flow. This approach balanced regulatory requirements with user experience, significantly reducing drop-off rates.
Comprehensive Transaction Management
We designed an intuitive transaction history interface with smart filtering and monthly summaries, enabling users to easily track their financial activities.
Multi-Wallet System to Optimize Transaction Costs
Our award-winning multi-wallet system optimized transaction costs while keeping essential tools easily accessible. Strategic placement of offers and rewards further enhanced the user experience, leading to UPAY's recognition for fintech innovation.
Contextual Notifications and More…
Our integrated notification system balanced essential alerts with promotional content, while organizing secondary features in an easily accessible menu structure.
Agent & DSO Applications
Our Agent app simplifies cash-to-digital operations with a research-driven interface, optimizing daily transaction workflows.
We developed a DSO platform featuring real-time mapping and streamlined settlement processes, optimizing distribution officers' daily operations.
Testing & Iterations
We conducted thorough usability testing with 20 participants across our three user groups - customers, agents, and DSOs. Through qualitative analysis of their interactions, we identified key usability issues and opportunities for improvement, leading to crucial design refinements before launch.
Interactive High Fidelity Prototype
Our high-fidelity prototypes (made with ProtoPie) brought the final design to life across all three apps, enabling thorough testing of visual design and interactions.
Impact & the Future of UPAY
Leading UPAY's UX design journey taught me how impactful well-researched design can be in fintech. Our approach earned us the 2021 Fintech Innovation Award and helped us reach 10M+ active users with a network of 100,000 agents in just one year.
For UPAY's continued success, UPAY should focus on three key strategic directions:
Expand into untapped rural markets using our agent network's strength
Introduce AI-powered fraud detection for enhanced security
Launch merchant integration tools to capture the growing e-commerce market
These initiatives, combined with our user-centered approach, will help UPAY maintain its innovation leadership while furthering financial inclusion in Bangladesh.