AEON Credit Services App
Innovating the Digital Banking Experience
AEON Credit Service's refreshed app is a completely revised experience that simplifies high-impact, frequently used flows and enhances the interface to reflect more contemporary visuals and to help it stand out in the fledgling, yet competitive, digital banking space in Hong Kong. Alongside the app, we designed and built the online platform that works in conjunction with the app.
The Challenge
The AEON Credit Services app faced challenges with an outdated design and a complex user experience, limiting user engagement and hindering access to the company's suite of credit services. The goal was to modernize the app, making it visually appealing to a younger demographic while improving usability and streamlining access to credit services. Ultimately, the app needed to stand out in a competitive digital banking scene that had platforms targeting the same desired user base.
The Process
This was an incredibly challenging project that involved key stakeholders from the Hong Kong team as well as executives from AEON's parent company in Japan. I needed to navigate complex problem spaces and collaborate closely with cross-functional and cross-departmental teams in order to ensure alignment within the entire organization on the intended design direction.
Research and Discovery
We conducted in-depth user research to define AEON's current and desired user base, their consumer behaviors, in-app UX expectations as well as traffic data for the app's features. With that information, we formulated flows and pathways that were adjusted to reflect the needs and expectations of a more tech-savvy and digitally engaged audience. We also analyzed leading apps in the digital banking space, identifying design trends and UX features and extracted insights and strategies that were considered successful with our target demographic.
Strategy and Planning
With all the information we gathered, we mapped out and redesigned user flows to simplify access to the suite of credit services, ensuring a seamless journey from account creation to utilizing credit offerings. At the same time, we established modern visual design guidelines, enhancing the established brand identity and directing it towards the more exciting and youthful brand identity presented in their main locations in Japan. We incorporated vibrant color schemes, contemporary typography, and engaging graphics and interactions to appeal to a younger audience while maintaining a professional and trustworthy image.
Design and Development
With all the key components in place, we set about designing the app. We streamlined and reorganized the information architecture to prioritize essential features, simplifying navigation for users to access key services effortlessly. We carefully mapped out over 100 unique end-to-end user flows, and created high-fidelity screens and mockups of over 600 pages and prototyped them to demonstrate and validate our designs to the key stakeholders during scheduled check-ins at the end of each sprint. We simplified the usability, surfaced more key features and added elements of gamification and interactivity in order to encourage users to explore different features of the app and various product offerings. We also made sure to prioritize accessibility; with the wide mix of intended users, it was important for us to be inclusive and accommodate users with varying levels of technological proficiency.
We worked closely in tandem with the development team to bring the app to life as we designed more of the product. As flows were finished, we conducted usability testing with the target demographic and existing customers to gather feedback on the redesigned app. We iterated on design elements based on user input to enhance overall user satisfaction.
Results and Positive Impacts
After an extensive development phase, the product was successfully launched. Immediately afterwards we attempted to accrue as much data as possible in order to observe the effects and impacts of the redesigned app:
- Increased User Engagement
We were able to achieve a 40% increase in user engagement within the first month post-launch - Increased User Engagement
Achieved a 40% increase in user engagement within the first month post-launch. - Simplified Access to Services
Streamlined access to AEON's suite of credit services, resulting in a 25% increase in utilization of services including the opening of credit cart accounts and loan applications - Target Demographic Capture
Successfully attracted the desired younger demographic, with 60% of new users falling within the target age range.
Conclusion
The AEON Credit Services project underscored the importance of user-centric design, adapting to evolving demographics and leveraging contemporary design trends to stand out in a burgeoning, competitive market. With a product of this scale, there was a greater emphasis on stakeholder management, collaborative alignment, and in-depth testing in order to make the 100+ unique user flows accommodate specific user needs and achieve business goals.
The resulting redesign not only modernized the platform but also positioned AEON as a major player in Hong Kong's vibrant digital banking space. We were able to generate more engagement, increased the use of their key credit and loan services with the simplified flows, and overall created a more positive digital experience for recurring users and incoming ones.
This project's scope and scale was one of my most challenging endeavors, which required me to utilize not only my design skills, but communicative and management abilities in order to get cross-collaborative teams spanning different fields, departments and countries together towards creating a successful product. I've grown a lot since the start of this project, and it's allowed me to gain a good level of confidence knowing I have the ability to tackle projects of this scale.
