Usability Testing | Virtual Assistant

Description

Due to the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on homeowners, financial institution Reliability Bank wanted to create a virtual assistant. By providing a more user-friendly approach, homeowners should be able to find financing and forbearance options, specifically for this institution’s-backed loans.

Many people are coming to Reliability Bank when they are in an emergency situation. They are often not in a good headspace. We really want this financial institution’s virtual assistant to speak to their needs. To empathize with our users; to better speak to their needs, and help them find what they are looking for.

What We Did

Persona Creation

We also need to give voice and presence to our users. To empathize with their pain points. See opportunities to support them.Using Mural. I put together three personas that the partner wanted to focus on: A renter who is facing eviction; a homeowner who is thinking of refinancing; and a homeowner who is looking to get out foreclosure. For user testing, setting up scenarios and questions that understand their unique circumstances. Note: Links to left of each persona draw upon interviews and quotes from people of these backgrounds and circumstances. Recent news stories are a great way to quickly design personas.

Using the personas, we developed a research interview guide to better frame questions and put interviewees in the right mindset.

Research Synthesis

Partnering with fellow design strategists, we collected feedback from interviewees and looked for common themes.

Key Insights

Personalize and customize expectations from users of the virtual assistant

We suggested using natural and conversational language and ask targeted questions at the beginning of the chat experience to identify user needs and goals. We also suggested providing additional conversation details to the servicer and live agent when users transfer.

Provide More Context for Questions

Try explaining the reasoning for the question before asking the question or rephrasing the question to provide some better context for the user.

Length of Content

We recommend breaking up content into chunks and sections in order to ensure readability.

Since deployment, the client had over 26,000 users who have asked over 60,000 questions. They incorporated the vast amount of interactions and feedback to improve the experience of homeowners, renters, and homebuyers. Renters make up 25% of all interactions with the Virtual Assistant. This will support user needs and the continuous improvement of the current product.