UX research sprint: how do people access fintech products in Mexico?
There’s no doubt Mexico has become a leader in Latin American fintech given its largely informal and cash dependent society, as well as growing start-up scene. Reporting from Nasdaq* shows “Mexico stands out as one of the countries most well-prepared for continuous technological disruption and financial regulation changes.” At the moment, there’s over 273 fintech ventures in operation in the country.
My task for the 10-hour UX research sprint below (in Spanish) was to gather information about the entry point for new and existing customers to a fintech company based in Mexico City. It operates nationally with a virtual credit card payment system, and is focused on offering small-scale loans to individual and business clients.
Step One: assessing the competition
I began my research process by looking at three Mexican companies which offer small to medium credit online or through a mobile app. I divided the analysis into information about the company (date founded, who are they & mission) as well as UI and UX elements (site design, UX design, social media presence.) Given the short sprint time, I thought it was essential to break down their landing pages into a sort of site map to understand what my final design should look like.
After looking at what the competition is including in their landing page during the generative research process, I noted the following priorities:
- The page must include information about the loans process, FAQs, call-to-action buttons and links to social media.
- The page won’t include defunct social media (e.g. Google+), more than six site map sub categories or more than two main colours, financial jargon.
- The page could include a chatbot and/or introduction video.
Step Two: listening to users
Fintech products are by no means completely novel, but they aren’t completely ingrained in daily routine either. In Mexico an estimated 44% of the adult population own no financial products. I conducted a media audit of app stores and social media to find out what people thought about the experience of using a credit lending app or website. Given more time, I would conduct my own user survey and extended interviews with users as well as fintech and banking customer experts.
The main pains which emerged from this part of the research process were the initial cost of signing up to a service, not being able to change the language on a mobile app and most importantly a lack of communication about being blocked by authorities during the process.
The gains I found were that people like being able to make payments from home (and save time doing so), they like that they don’t need a credit history necessarily to use fintech products and they can access all their cards from one place.
Following the user research, I created a user persona. “Analisa” is a 28-year-old small business owner in Mexico City who is looking for a product which will help combat her frustration of not being taken seriously as a young female businesswoman who is looking for more control over her daily routine. She doesn’t want to work for someone else but is anxious about her financial future.
Step Three: creating a journey
This first map shows Analisa’s feelings, motivations and actions during the current process of accessing a small-scale credit fintech product.
And this second map below shows a “happy path” for Analisa, or her ideal experience when accessing a fintech landing page.
Step Four: recommending a design
To conclude this UX research sprint, I came up with a list of recommendations which I would theoretically then pass onto the design or strategy team for discussion and implementation. I find it’s always important to tell a story when communicating between teams to get people on your side so to emphasise the importance of certain design choices for the user. Given more time and resources, I would have made my own style tile or guide and conducted evaluative testing to see if it would work in the real world.
So what do users want from a landing page for a small-scale credit lending business?
- A clear process: All the steps should be spelled out in order with icons from the credit request to payment processing.
- 24/7 contact: A frequently asked questions section as well as links to active social media networks, as well as a chatbot or a contact number which is always available to users.
- Strong values: Icons and text showing the benefits of using this particular product instead of the competition’s, as well as content showing it’s secure, showing sponsor icons or links or appearances in the media.
- A product or service trial: a form showing the amount and time possible for a loan to try the platform before sending a concrete request.
*https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/why-mexicos-fintech-sector-will-be-one-to-watch-in-2020-2019-11-18
Other sources:
https://www.kubofinanciero.com/Kubo/Portal/index.xhtml
https://www.mimoni.com/#/?_k=ww8av6
https://www.finder.com/mx/mimoni
https://appgrooves.com/app/broxel-by-servicios-broxel-sapi-de-cv
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/kubofinanciero.com
https://www.facebook.com/pg/mykueski/reviews/
https://www.accenture.com/nl-en/insight-banking-fintech-lending-europe
https://financialallianceforwomen.org/summit_panel/can-fintech-improve-banking-for-women/
https://www.accenture.com/nl-en/insight-banking-fintech-lending-europe
