Our User

Benchmarking

To determine if there are predefined patterns in banking applications, I decided to conduct a benchmarking analysis to see how they manage the flows mentioned earlier.

Through this comparison, I was able to investigate how our competitors address these needs and identify common practices in the sector. I observed that many interfaces are heavily oriented toward acquiring "new users." However, in my case, many users would be regular customers of El Corte Inglés who would have already handled their accounts in-store. Therefore, many would already possess their physical card before installing the application for the first time.

Definition

After this initial phase aimed at empathizing with the user and understanding the context, it is necessary to materialize these findings, integrating them with the business strategy and the value proposition for the customer.

Since El Corte Inglés aims to retain its customers and encourage purchases through financing, the main flows I decided to focus on are:

- Sign up and login
- Payment financing

Additionally, I chose to design an extra feature focused on discounts and bonuses for using the card, with the goal of strengthening customer loyalty.

Sign up and Login

Overall, I opted for a simple interface design that allows us to easily adapt it to other companies. Ideally, we would achieve this through a Design System; however, since we didn't have the time to create one, I decided to use components from Google's M3 Design System to ensure greater usability and accessibility.

As we discovered in the benchmarking, acquiring new customers is critical. One aspect I considered is that El Corte Inglés would likely want to register their customers directly in-store.

Therefore, I included the option "I have received my El Corte Inglés card" on the home screen to facilitate activation and access for new users.

DESIGN

Home

During my analysis, I realized that El Corte Inglés currently does not offer a space where customers can check their available credit limit for financing with their card.

I included a CTA just below to facilitate financing, which would help improve metrics related to customer loyalty.

Typically, customers find themselves having to wait in the store for financing authorization, only to discover, after a long wait, that their request has been denied. This creates a negative feeling for the customer.

To address this, I decided to add a clear visual indicator on the home screen showing the available credit for each card.

DESIGN

Cards

In the cards section, the user's current card is displayed along with the option to request an additional card, either as a backup or in case of theft or loss.

Additionally, I included the same functionality as the login and account creation screen, allowing users to activate their new card by scanning the QR code on the letter they receive with their card.

DESIGN

Financing

When clicking on the financing CTA from the homepage, users will be prompted to select the specific transaction from the past month that they want to finance.

After selecting the transaction to finance, choosing the number of months, and clicking "calculate," a summary of the terms will be displayed along with the action button "Finance Now."

To anticipate possible legal requirements, I have also included a link to all the contract terms at the bottom of the page.

DESIGN

Discounts

I also wanted to add value with a section dedicated to additional services that contribute to customer loyalty. For this reason, I included a space offering exclusive discounts for users.

As a starting point, I included categories such as clothing and benefits in travel and tourism. However, everything offered here will be personalized and relevant to the user, tailored based on an analysis of their shopping habits.

DESIGN

Management

As the final section, I included a part called "Management," which groups actions that, while not directly related to the client's strategic objectives, are essential to ensure that users have a complete and satisfactory experience.

Conclusions

Throughout the project, one of the greatest lessons learned was the importance of deeply understanding user needs before proceeding with design. Creating a proto-persona based on hypotheses helped guide the app's functionalities, although I recognized the limitation of not interacting directly with real users.

Choosing to use components from Google's M3 Design System proved to be a wise decision, facilitating coherence and accessibility in the interface without needing to invest time in developing a system from scratch. However, looking back, I could have explored the customization possibilities within the system more thoroughly to better adapt it to the specific needs of the project.

The benchmarking process was crucial for establishing a competitive framework and better understanding which functionalities should be prioritized. Despite this, in future projects, it would be beneficial to conduct this stage earlier to integrate the insights more effectively into the initial design phases.

Next steps

To continue refining my work and the application, I would prioritize:

- Planning testing sessions with real users to validate hypotheses and adjust the design based on concrete feedback.

- Although Google's components were useful, having a custom design system could offer greater flexibility and specificity for future projects.

- Maintaining continuous analysis of market trends and competitor updates to ensure our app always offers the best and most current solutions.

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