BMOre

Product Overview

BMOre enhances banking for newcomers to Canada. Through research, we identified key challenges in understanding banking processes and accessing personalized support. Our solution, rooted in empathy, humanizes banking by offering clear information and tailored advice.

Problem Statement

To create innovative digital capabilities to better serve newcomers to Canada and their banking needs.

Product Discovery

Secondary Research

Our secondary research provided a better understanding of the banking industry's offerings for newcomers. We also learned about the demographics of the newcomers and understood the competitive landscape of existing banks.

Interviews

In the second phase of research, we started by interviewing 6 newcomers to Canada. The participants came from different backgrounds and had different purposes for coming, some came to study while others came for work.

Research Findings

What do people value?

What life stages do they go through?

The research pointed towards some key findings. We concluded that most of the people choose banks before making the move to Canada. When they choose banks they value the bank s credibility, reputation and customer service. In addition to that, we also discovered that people s banking needs change as they move to Canada and slowly get settled in.

Other than that our participants didn t have a lot to say...

But why?

Picture yourself planning to move to another country.

There are many emotions that come with this coming transition, you may feel lonely, unsure, overwhelmed, stressed, confused and you don t know what you don t know.

At this point, the last thing you want to do is research the Canadian Banking system.

So what are the problems?

The newcomer to Canada is confused and has too much going on.

How did we solve the problems?

User Flow

The research findings led us to craft the user flow.

Design Iterations

Low Fi Wireframes

In the low fidelity wireframes, we worked on making the information concise by tailoring the information based on the type of newcomer and their life stages here.

User Testing Round 1

User testing of low-fidelity wireframes involved 5 participants from various countries. They were asked to complete few tasks (for eg. Open a GIC Account as an international student) and provide feedback on features, navigation, and overall ease of use, helping to identify the pain points.

What did the users say?

Testing Results

Based on the feedback from the user testing, we concluded that

• There was a lack of understanding of banking terms.
• There were too many clicks and options for users which was making them confused about the right option.
• They also didn't get a feedback about the completion of a certain task which made them unsure about the successful completion.

Mid Fi Wireframes

In the next iteration of wireframes we reduced the number of screens a user needs to go through to get the desired result. We also included a Canadian Banking Basics Glossary’ describing the basic terms of Canadian Banking.

In order to make the newcomers feel welcomed, we also started to design an experience where the users can get a better understanding of their future neighbourhood. We provided them with a checklist of things they would need to setup in the first few days in Canada as well.

User Testing Round 2

In this round of testing we updated the test script to test the new features on 5 new participants to ensure that the these are relevant and effective for our target audience.

What did the users say?

Testing Results

Based on the feedback from the users we enhanced navigation and balanced banking information with supportive information for newcomers to Canada. This ensured they felt well informed, supported, and welcomed, improving their overall experience and making the platform more user friendly.

Design Outcome

We came up with BMOre. BMOre is connected to the existing BMO website. It hopes to guide the newcomers to Canada in their transition and help them feel welcomed, in turn attracting them to become a BMO customer.

Style Guide

We came up with BMOre. BMOre is connected to the existing BMO website. It hopes to guide the newcomers to Canada in their transition and help them feel welcomed, in turn attracting them to become a BMO customer.

User Testing Round 3

The final round of testing was conducted on a different set of 5 users on the high fidelity prototype.

What did the users say?

Future Considerations

WIn the time and resources we were given, we created the beginnings of BMOre. If we had more time then we would consider detailing the flows for various types of newcomers & the other stages of moving to Canada i.e. Just arrived and Settling in. This will increase the longevity of the product & help BMO grow with newcomers.