Chase - Add a Feature

Chase Bank

A "cumulative total" feature was introduced in the Chase banking app to give users a clearer, more intuitive understanding of their spending habits.

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

3 weeks

Overview

Most, if not all, of banking is done virtually today and nine in 10 adults ages 18-44 use a mobile device to manage their bank accounts. Consequently, banking apps such as Chase should be as transparent and intuitive as possible to help users with managing their money.

Problem

Chase Bank's credit card pages lack clarity, making it difficult for users to fully understand and track their spending habits.

Solution

Add a cumulative total feature that shows how each individual transaction affects the current total balance.

Market Research

Chase’s banking app was compared to three of its competitors’ to assess the different features offered across them—specifically ones that help users with their money management.

Key findings:
‍Chase is lacking in money management features and metrics compared to most of its competitors. Opportunities can be found in adding a cumulative total/updated balance feature to each transaction on the transactions overview and detail screens.

User Interviews

To build on these insights, I interviewed 5 users from the apps mentioned above, focusing on their experiences with mobile banking and budgeting.

People prioritize convenience and simplicity in their banking and budgeting apps.
Users prefer to have all the information and resources they need directly within their banking apps, without having to use external search engines. A cumulative total feature would be useful for tracking the impact of each transaction on the overall statement balance.

Persona & Experience Narrative

I developed a user persona and storyboard to capture key frustrations and needs in mobile banking, and visualize how the proposed feature could improve users' money management habits.

User Flow

A user flow was then put together for the task of viewing all transactions and looking into the transaction details for a charge from “Home Coffee Roasters".

Wireframes

Mobile banking involves screens so densely packed with information that my main objective was to add the feature without disrupting screens and layouts that users are already familiar with. The solution to this was to add the cumulative total as an additional line underneath the transaction total.

Full Low-fi Wireframes Full High-fi Wireframes

Testing

Usability testing was conducted on Maze with 5 users to see whether users find the added cumulative total feature helpful and intuitive where it’s placed amongst the existing design.

5/5 users successfully completed the task

task was straightforward, goal screen was easy to reach
design and placement of feature is helpful in seeing how spending adds up
users who are Chase Bank cardholders had positive feedback about how the feature is incorporated into the current design

Insights

Overall, users found the cumulative total feature to be a minor but helpful aid in being able to gauge their recent spending habits at a glance. Users appreciated that the feature was included without changing much of the existing design.

Minor suggestions were provided on bringing awareness to the new feature by adding a pop up screen introducing it and to darken the color of the font so that it’s more noticeable.