Contributing Writer: Jeff Buchanan, UI/UX Senior Designer
People don’t like to feel stupid, and financial products have a high potential to elicit feelings of anxiety, ignorance, and indecision for consumers.
As a UX design team, your goal is to first create a connection with potential buyers through non-judgmental empathy and understanding. Then, present your financial product transparently and authentically so that an informed customer understands what they’re getting, has no surprises, and ends with a positive experience that creates a repeat, long-term relationship.
On your journey to achieving this goal, here are a five common UX mistakes to avoid in fintech design.
#1 – Too Many Options
Mistake: Offering too many choices can overwhelm users, leading to decision paralysis and fear of making the wrong choice.
Solution: Streamline the customer purchase journey by prioritizing the most important actions that keep the customer in the purchase funnel. Use visual hierarchy techniques such as size, placement, and color to draw attention to important calls to action (CTAs). Hide conditional information and fields when they don’t apply to that customer. Minimize options to only the essentials. For instance, a study by Hick-Hyman Law found that increasing the number of choices delays decision-making and leads to frustration.
#2 – Information Overload
Mistake: Providing too much information at once can create information overload, making it hard for users to process and make decisions.
Solution: Apply the inverted pyramid rule: frontload the most valuable information and progressively provide more specific details. Provide links for customers to drill down into the information they choose to explore. This puts the customer in charge of accessing the information they want. According to a Nielsen Norman Group study, concise and scannable content improves usability and user satisfaction.
#3 – Industry Jargon
Mistake: Using industry-specific terms that are not common language can interfere with a customer’s decision-making process.
Solution: Look for opportunities to replace industry terms with common language. When it’s not possible, provide definition links or an FAQ for deeper explanations. For example, a study by the Simplification Centre found that simplifying language in financial documents significantly improves comprehension.
#4 – Deceptive Practices
Mistake: Trying to obscure less positive aspects of a contract or agreement with vague or unclear language can erode trust.
Solution: Present all information, including the uncomfortable aspects, in plain, easy-to-understand language. Transparency fosters trust, and according to a Harvard Business Review study, trust significantly impacts customer loyalty and retention.
#5 – Lack of Empathy
Mistake: Not considering the customer’s situation, such as their motivations, stress levels, and device usage, can lead to a disconnected experience.
Solution: Design your digital experience and content strategy with empathy. Understand whether your customers are likely to be rushed or stressed and whether they are using a desktop or mobile device. As of 2024, 60.67% of website traffic comes from mobile devices, according to an article by What’s the Big Data. This shift necessitates a responsive and mobile-first design approach.
Wrapping It Up
Avoiding these common UX mistakes can significantly enhance the user experience for financial products. Reducing options, minimizing information overload, using common language, maintaining transparency, and showing empathy can create a seamless and trustworthy user journey. This approach not only improves customer satisfaction but also fosters long-term loyalty and engagement.
Good UX design in fintech requires balancing business goals with user needs to help customers make smart, informed decisions. Understanding and addressing these common mistakes allows you to create a more effective and user-friendly platform that meets both your company’s and your customers’ objectives.
Bloom Analytics supports clients in developing customized websites, apps, and digital platforms for financial products. Learn more about how we can help you optimize your UI/UX design to boost customer loyalty and increase conversion.
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