Vancity MyCredit
I strategized and designed a companion application for Vancity members to manage their credit and set goals to encourage credit building.
Awards and Recognition
Honourable Mention for the 2019 RGD Student Award for Strategic Design
Selected to present at the 2019 SFU FCAT Undergraduate Conference
Team
Kristina Kim
Elizabeth Lo
Macguire Rintoul
Isabelle Soares
Jordan Yep
Role
Lead UI Design
UX Design
Visual Design
Information Architecture
Duration
November 2018
Tools
Sketch
Figma
Keynote
Adobe Creative Suite
Project Objective
A companion application for Vancity members to manage their credit and set goals that encourage credit building, to better support their financial well-being.
This interface complies with Web Content Accessibility Guideline Standards AA 2.0
Problem
A study done by BMO showed that an estimated 56% of Canadians have never checked their credit score, and 31% don't know the steps to achieve a good score.
Opportunity
Vancity is a values-based and non-profit company. As Canada's largest credit union, they exist to help members and communities thrive.
“With 250,000 of them – close to half of our members – interacting with us almost entirely online or via our mobile app, we’re under pressure to deliver even more mobile and digital functionality.” -Vancity Annual Report 2017
Onboarding
Multiple Accounts
Members can link credit accounts from other financial institutions via MX Technologies to receive payment reminders, view balances, and see how the account influences their score.
Notifications
Credit Utilization
Everyone manages their finances differently. MyCredit recommends actions specific to each member’s habits rather than providing generic information.
Learn
Credit Explained
Learn explains the most important parts of credit, and shows members how their credit score is being influenced by their activity.
Goals
Actionable Tips
Curated information helps members reach their goal by giving them clear, achievable steps within a reasonable timeframe.
Notifications
Celebration
Celebrating accomplishments and recognizing members for their efforts encourages them along their credit building journey.
Business Dependencies
Borrowell
Borrowell is a vendor that provides credit scores of individuals to financial institutions.
MX Technologies
Designed a Money Desktop Platform specifically for credit unions to give members full financial visibility.
Central 1
As a service provider to Vancity and other credit unions, Central 1 will need to collect and manage additional data from members.
Additional Staff
Vancity or their digital partners will require additional managers, designers, and developers to maintain a second mobile app.
Measuring Success
Monthly Active Users
Members who have not only downloaded the app, but come back to use it regularly.
Higher Credit Scores
If policy permits, Vancity could monitor the credit scores of members who use the app.
Reviews
Customer satisfaction can be measured by reviews of the app.
Related works
Insights
Researching into credit scores in Canada, we discovered two main insights:
Fear of Checking
Customers with lower credit scores check their credit scores less frequently. -Credit Sesame
1 in 5 people believe that checking their credit score will lower it. -Financial Post
Low Urgency, Low Importance
Many customers do not feel the need to check until it is time to apply for a loan. -Loans Canada
Vancity Member Segments
MyCredit focuses on the Disappointed Applicant and working on credit building because we thought we can intervene most meaningfully there.
Successfully Maintains Multiple Credit Accounts
Members who have multiple credit accounts, are financially responsible, and have credit scores above 700, which Equifax considers good.
Disappointed Applicant
Members who have applied for loans but were not approved, or were not able to get the interest rate they wanted due to their credit score.
ever Applied for a Loan or Line of Credit
Members who have not yet needed to apply for a loan or line of credit, so they don’t know the details of how to maintain good credit.
Framing
Drawing from these insights, it led us to ask the question:
How might we provide guidance that reduces financial anxieties by encouraging members and providing tools to reach their goals?
Target Audience
Vancity MyCredit target members ages 18-45 because they are individuals who are most likely to be purchasing cars, paying off student loans, and thinking about mortgages.
Persona
This is our persona. She is a full-time veterinary technician who wants to buy a car, but isn't happy with the interest rate she qualified for.Some of her friction points are, because of her irregular work hours, she has a varying monthly income and it makes visiting an advisor difficult.
Journey Framework
In the current Vancity experience, information on their existing website is scattered, hard to find, and has no calls to action to keep members accountable.
MyCredit focuses on building credit and helping members follow through with the advice that Vancity already offers. It helps keep track of their score without taking them away from Vancity resources.
User Testing and Iterations
Through our three week process of design cycle, we went from grayscale wireframes to our final fidelity product.
In user testing and validations, we went in with three main assumptions. Although we had mostly positive feedback, we learned that we didn't explain what a credit score was in the onboarding.
Design Principles
These were the three guiding values for all our design decisions.
Be Personal
As a local credit union, Vancity is recognized for their personal service which should be consistent across all channels.
Be Clear
Use common language to guide members through understanding each step of their credit process.
Be Hopeful
Provide information upfront and always frame things positively when assisting members in improving their credit score.
