Chase Mobile QuickDeposit
®
DETAILS
QuickDeposit® is one of the core features of the Chase Mobile app. With over 50 million users across the country, the feature is relied upon, and is designed, to provide customers with an enhanced and problem-free experience when making mobile deposits.
ROLE
Lead UX designer
Visual design
Interaction design
UX/UI
User research
Affinity mapping​
TOOLS
Design thinking
Affinity mapping
Sketch
InVision
Protoyping
TIMELINE
4 months
​11.2018 – 2.2019
The Challenge
QuickDeposit® customers who use Android phones were frustrated because the app would consistently capture the image incorrectly, to the point that the OCR could not recognize the important information on the check. This was causing enormous frustration for the users and subsequent abandonment from the feature.
This became an opportunity to broaden the scope, re-examine the entire UI and look at how we might improve the overall experience for our customers.
The Process
My team used the “double diamond” approach to effectively look at the problem. We wanted to understand what the issues were that our customers were facing — that created frustration and ultimately eroded trust in the feature and the bank. By conducting a usability study and analysis of the feedback, we would then have solid evidence to guide what we should focus on to make the experience a better one.
DISCOVER
Usability Study
The team conducted a 2-day usability study to collect qualitative data from both customers and non-customers, to uncover their overall experience of the current feature — areas that worked as well as to uncover pain points. We could then use this feedback to inform and prioritize the improvements that were needed the most.
Criteria
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10 participants
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Mix of new and existing users of mobile deposit, customers with disabilities, Personal Banking as well as Business Banking customers
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22–75 years old
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$35k–$250k+ household income
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80% of participants – users of a mobile check deposit at least once
Method
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60 minute 1-on-1 on-site usability study, focused on using the existing mobile app
Analysis
Affinity clustering to identify
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Common issues
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Behaviors
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Themes
Usability Study Task
Participants were invited to our testing lab and, using a provided device, tasked with depositing a check into a checking account using the Chase Mobile app, starting from the signed-in dashboard on through to the end of successfully completing the task. They were asked to review each step and provide feedback as to what made sense, what was difficult to understand and what, if any, improvements they would make.
QuickDeposit flow tested (legacy app)
Image: Conducting in-person usability testing, followed by affinity mapping to uncover common themes
DEFINE
Prioritized Themes
From the usability research, we used affinity mapping to group all feedback and observations into 12 common themes. Of those groupings, we then took the 5 that could provide the most lift to the feature, requiring a small-to-medium technical effort to deploy within the least amount of time.
Entry Points
Discovery via Quick Actions was overwhelmingly successful. A few found the “•••” menu to make sense.
Technical defects
90–100% of participants experienced trouble with Auto Capture mode — timing out too quickly or asking for a darker background.
Confusing messaging
Messaging was confusing, too lengthy, or simply wasn’t provided or read.
(eg: Instructional, error messaging).
Interaction patterns
50% of participants found it cumbersome to have to key in the decimal point when inputting the dollar amount.
Image capture calibration
An ongoing mis-alignment issue within the software severely impacted performance, causing user frustration and abandonment.
DESIGN
The Solution
We found, through the user research, that there were a number of areas to make impactful improvements to the existing design. After post-analysis with stakeholders on what was feasible and viable, the result was a set of requirements agreed to by the Product owners, Design, and Tech teams.
Design Requirements
Keep it Simple
Some users are new to the idea of using an app to move their money. Removal of complexity promotes trust and helps adoption of technology.
Make it Intuitive
Users don’t want to have to overthink a process to successfully complete a task. Allowing them convenience and speed is a key performance metric.
Reduce Confusion
Verbose wording and unnecessary content length can be overwhelming and cause mistakes. Strive for succinct, on-brand messaging.
Make it Accessible
Accessibility and usability are mutually exclusive — compliance in the former will ensure success for the latter. UI controls and messaging should pass WCAG 2.0 AA standards.
Optimize
As an image-capture feature, the design should utilize screen real estate thoughtfully with consideration to touchscreen interaction.
Make it Useable
The experience relies on technical feasibility. Ensure that the design considers the abilities and limitations of the engineering.
Over the course of 3 months, I met with both the third party vendor, MiTek, who owns the imaging software, and the internal engineering team who integrates it into the app. Partnership and alignment conversations were key for design and engineering to understand technical limitations, API configurations, branding rules and other complexities. Those conversations provided the pathways to good solutions, not only for the mis-alignment defect, but also for elegance in the UI design. The technical solutions we arrived at for an innovative MVP pushed beyond what the product team thought was feasible.
I also collaborated with our team’s content strategist and our A11y expert to tackle such issues as cognitive anxiety for some of our ADA customers caused by the “timing out” behavior of the Auto-capture mode. We also found ways to clearly present the many possible real-time messages that dynamically show to the user.
My delivered designs included a full eco-system of use case scenario flows (e.g. happy path, messaging triggers, error scenarios), as well as the visual design specs that consider all elements included in the final design’s component system.
Image: Visual design spec for the image capture interface. Includes states and interaction behavior annotations.
The Result
The redesigned mobile check deposit feature was built with the benefit of clear insights grounded in usability research to determine the best path towards innovating a much better user experience. Addressing the customer problems identified and validated, our team implemented new designs that supported a more intuitive capture mode interface, while complying with company brand standards, accessibility regulations, and improving seamless integration eliminating technical performance issues.
Demo