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Designing Up Banking

up.com.au

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Re: Designing Up Banking

#11

Post by wombatmobile »

skc wrote: post #3

That was a surprisingly fun read.

I thought it read like an ad for a bank and wondered why I was seeing it on HN.

Give it a chance, I said to myself, and kept reading to see if there was more to it. It seems to be a show and tell by someone who has designed a banking app, telling us the merits they perceive in every design decision they've made.

This bank looks a little better than the shitty old bank I bank with, but I'm not going to change.

Why?

It's not that I don't hate my lazy, arrogant, selfish, sexist, boorish old bank.

It's that I don't want or need an opportunity to nurture a relationship through frequent interactions, or to be more engaged with my money, or to encourage better financial literacy, or to check my balance more regularly.

I am already confident and connected to my finances.

What I really want is fewer people trying to sell me things I don't need or care about. Are these people those people? After 10 minutes of reading I wasn't sure, so I decided it would be easier to do nothing.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#12

Post by tomhoward »

twic wrote: post #6

> A moment that should feel significant and celebratory — you’ve literally just opened a bank account in under 3 minutes through your phone — feels clinical and unimpressive. But why? Is this really of any benefit? To who? This whole thing reads like a designer's daydream.

The benefit is (a) to the user, who has a better understanding of the product's utility and a more enjoyable experience when using it; and (b) to the business, as their users will use it more and tell others about it if they have a pleasing experience.

The human reward system is a real thing, and activating it can significantly improve the user's connection to the product, and increase their propensity to keep using it and to recommend it to others.

I know the author of this post - he worked for my startup 6-8 years ago. He's not a "daydreaming" designer; he thinks very deeply about both user needs/preferences and business outcomes.

It's the style of thinking that has long given Apple its design edge. Some dismiss it as frivolous, but that overlooks the real utility it provides.

Sure, not everyone responds to it; human cognition and emotion is diverse. But for the kind of user this product is aimed at, it works really well.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#13

Post by tomhoward »

wombatmobile wrote: post #11
skc wrote: post #3

That was a surprisingly fun read.

I thought it read like an ad for a bank and wondered why I was seeing it on HN. Give it a chance, I said to myself, and kept reading to see if there was more to it. It seems to be a show and tell by someone who has designed a banking app, telling us the merits they perceive in every design decision they've made. This bank looks a little better than the shitty old bank I bank with, but I'm not going to change. Why? It…

It's not for everyone. But as you can see in some comments here and on Twitter, the people who love it, really love it, which is not something you can say about the big old banks.

They know full well they're not going to win over people who are already established with a major bank.

So their very deliberate strategy is to appeal to young people, who are perhaps just getting a bank account for the first time or at least are not yet deeply entwined with a bank, and then hoping to keep them for long enough that they become high-value customers over the next 10-20 years.

So if you're not a young person and/or if you already have an attachment to a bank, you're not really in their target audience.

(Edited last line for clarity.)

Re: Designing Up Banking

#14

Post by eswat »

rvz wrote: post #5

Interesting read, but a growing trend in these apps is the overuse of animations, especially placing them in the sign up process and it gets in the way of the user's action. I want to sign up and use the app as fast as possible rather than wait for your slow animations and transitions to finish in order to show the "Next" button. I don't mind about the easter eggs as long as they don't interfere in why I'm using the…

Seems these animations are not really in the sign up process, rather at certain completion milestones. From the article:

> [We improved the Sign-up flow by] Removing anything extra like images, so you could move faster without distractions.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#15

Post by andi999 »

tomhoward wrote: post #13
wombatmobile wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it read like an ad for a bank and wondered why I was seeing it on HN. Give it a chance, I said to myself, and kept reading to see if there was more to it. It seems to be a show and tell by someone who has designed a banking app, telling us the merits they perceive in every design decision they've made. This bank looks a little better than the shitty old bank I bank with, but I'm not going to change. Why? It…

It's not for everyone. But as you can see in some comments here and on Twitter, the people who love it, really love it, which is not something you can say about the big old banks. They know full well they're not going to win over people who are already established with a major bank. So their very deliberate strategy is to appeal to young people, who are perhaps just getting a bank account for the first time or at lea…

"So if you're not a young person without an existing attachment to a bank, it's not really for you." This seem like a non-sequitor to me.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#16

Post by nojs »

I’ve been with Up for around 6 months and have been really impressed. The experience is an order of magnitude better than any of the big 4 and the direction they are going looks really promising (particularly the API). Their monthly email newsletter is also a fun read, I think they really get the tone right in their messaging.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#17

Post by tomhoward »

andi999 wrote: post #15
tomhoward wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not for everyone. But as you can see in some comments here and on Twitter, the people who love it, really love it, which is not something you can say about the big old banks. They know full well they're not going to win over people who are already established with a major bank. So their very deliberate strategy is to appeal to young people, who are perhaps just getting a bank account for the first time or at lea…

"So if you're not a young person without an existing attachment to a bank, it's not really for you." This seem like a non-sequitor to me.

I edited the last line in the hope of making it more clear, though I'm not sure what exactly made it a non-sequitur.

Every company/product has a target audience - i.e., a profile for the kind of person they're most trying to reach. By definition, it excludes a lot of people.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#18

Post by andi999 »

tomhoward wrote: post #17
andi999 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"So if you're not a young person without an existing attachment to a bank, it's not really for you." This seem like a non-sequitor to me.

I edited the last line in the hope of making it more clear, though I'm not sure what exactly made it a non-sequitur. Every company/product has a target audience - i.e., a profile for the kind of person they're most trying to reach. By definition, it excludes a lot of people.

If it were a social network, or dating site or disco I agree, age is a characterisc. For banking you need to use other characteristic than age, like 'low income, unsteady job likes/dislikes flashy interfaces' or whatever. And it doesnt mean that a few older ppl do not have the same needs. Large fractions of other agegroups might share the same characteristics you took from your target group. Of course if the targeting is 'is naive and cannot tell a bad deal from a good one' then I agree, experience with age probably spoils it.

Re: Designing Up Banking

#19

Post by declanjscott »

I'm with Up and they're the best bank I've ever been with.

They pump out features fast and often. Their API is the first I've seen in Aus. Their app is really nice to use and extremely useable.

Possibly my favourite app!

Re: Designing Up Banking

#20

Post by tomhoward »

andi999 wrote: post #18
tomhoward wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I edited the last line in the hope of making it more clear, though I'm not sure what exactly made it a non-sequitur. Every company/product has a target audience - i.e., a profile for the kind of person they're most trying to reach. By definition, it excludes a lot of people.

If it were a social network, or dating site or disco I agree, age is a characterisc. For banking you need to use other characteristic than age, like 'low income, unsteady job likes/dislikes flashy interfaces' or whatever. And it doesnt mean that a few older ppl do not have the same needs. Large fractions of other agegroups might share the same characteristics you took from your target group. Of course if the targetin…

Age is a valid characteristic for retail banking, as people generally only choose a retail bank once (or some other single digit number of times) in their life, and it is usually around the time they get their first job or first taste of financial independence - i.e., late teens. And if they're going to change, they'll be more likely to change if they're young and not so deeply attached to a bank through having a home loan, a retirement/investment fund, credit cards, personal loans etc.

Here's an interview with the co-founder/CEO explaining exactly why their strategy is to target under-35s, and how most of their new customers are aged 16-24:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C64e_9kgb-s&t=2389

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