Mobile App Prototype: Transparent Data

Mobile App Prototype

Transparent Data Privacy

This is the first screen of the onboarding process for a mobile app. The app is titled Privacy Control Center and the text reads: Data helps us better serve you, but your privacy is important to us.

This is the second screen of the onboarding process for a mobile app. The app is titled Privacy Control Center and the text reads: Our encryption technology keeps data private at all times. We always ask for your consent,

This is the third screen of the onboarding process for a mobile app. The app is titled Privacy Control Center and the text reads: You control your data so you can choose what you share and see how your data is being used.

This is the fourth screen of the onboarding process for a mobile app. The app is titled Privacy Control Center and the text reads: This is the data we need to keep your account active: Account number, first name, last name, social security number, address, phone number. The data is being used by our following departments: mortgage, client relations, analytics.

Contract Project for One Creation

Role: UX Researcher

Background

One Creation is a data encryption platform utilized by financial clients to secure their customers' private data in compliance with laws and regulations.

My 3 person team had 3 weeks to:

Usability test a mobile app prototype
Identify 2 primary user types
Recommend changes to gain user traction with this first-of-its-kind product concept.

Summary

Trust-First Campaign Overview

Objective: Increase trust with customers by offering transparency and control over personal data.
Goal: Gain traction with users to collect high quality data.
How: Offer incentives to customers in exchange for sharing data.
Hypothesis: As data sharing increases, trust increases.

Research Aims

How do users feel about data privacy and what are their perceptions?
Will users share personal data in exchange for rewards?
Who are the 2 primary types of users?
How can we educate users to use the mobile app?

Research Findings

Users want to have more control over their data, but they are having trouble understanding and navigating the app.

Users are interested in being rewarded for sharing their data, but they questioned the trustworthiness of the mobile app prototype.

Design Changes

Simplified onboarding message by removing jargon
Changed placement of reward center to make it visible
Modified reward offer notification type to be less disruptive to users

Results

4 out of 5 users feel the app is taking data privacy in the right direction and would use it if offered.

Discover

How do consumers feel about data privacy?

Are today's users still concerned about their personal data?

I interviewed 5 users between the ages of 18-50 over Zoom and found:

Users do not feel they have control of their data, and it is something that they would like to change.
Users are more likely to share data when they know where and how it will be used.
Lack of transparency and suspicion of malintent made users reluctant to share data with a company.

Will users share data in exchange for rewards?

Our 5 user interview participants took the mobile app prototype for a spin while we moderated the test over zoom, asking comprehension questions and prompting them to complete tasks along the way.

All 5 users were interested in being rewarded, if the source was credible.

4 out of 5 users described the app using negative trust words such as "sketchy" or "scummy".

Discover

Define

The good news:

Users are interested in having more control over their data and being rewarded.

The bad news:

Users are having trouble understanding and navigating the app.

The reward offer pop-up and confusing trust score are causing them to question the trustworthiness of the app.

"What is this trust score? This offer seems suspicious."

2 Primary Types of Users

Privacy Actives

Wants:

Transparency over how personal data is used
Maximum detail about where data is going

Frustrations:

Feeling unable to control their data
Lack of transparency

"I don't like giving out my information, but I have to."

Privacy Passives

Wants:

Convenience
Rewards and perks
Big picture over small details

Frustrations:

Reading long privacy policies
Lack of clarity around rewards

"You want me to read all that?"

How can we better educate users to use the app and gain their trust?

Design Workshop Collaboration with Stakeholders

It was clear that an onboarding process was needed to educate users on the app's purpose and function.

I facilitated a design workshop with the chief product officer and 2 UX designers from One Creation to see if they agreed with our assessment.

Objective:

Ideate a simplified explanation of the app's purpose and function to educate new users.

With buy-in from our stakeholders in hand, we proceeded to begin working on the design changes.

Define

Design

Simplified Language

Problem:

4 out of 5 users did not understand what KYC means.

Research Findings:

Use of jargon and acronyms does not help user comprehension.

Solution:

Placed acronym in parentheses next to phrase.

Before

After

Changed Pop-up Offers

Problem:

4 out of 5 users responded negatively to the pop-up offers.

Research Findings:

Modal notifications are highly disruptive to users and should be used sparingly.

Solution:

Changed the offer pop-up to a banner notification on the dashboard.

Before

After

Eliminated Trust Score

Problem:

All 5 users were confused by the trust score.

Research Findings:

Users did not want to share data after seeing the trust score.

Solution:

Eliminated trust score and sought to gain trust by educating users with onboarding.

Before

After

Label the Reward Center

Problem:

4 out of 5 users could not find the reward center.

Research Findings:

Users thought the star icon was decorative and tried to use the nav bar to find the reward center.

Solution:

Added reward center to the dashboard.

Before

After

Design

Deliver

"I like the rewards, but I'm not really sure what OC tokens are."

Trust regained, but more clarity needed

A second moderated usability test was conducted with 5 users to test the effectiveness of the design changes.

The users no longer questioned the app's credibility, but they were still confused about some parts of the dashboard.

They didn't understand what the OC tokens were either so we made further changes to the final prototype.

Flexible Onboarding

Problem:

2 out of 5 users wanted to skip onboarding.

Research Findings:

Users wanted to be able to access the onboarding later.

Solution:

Added help icon

Second Prototype

Final Prototype

Map Improvements

Problems:

3 out of 5 users said:

The text on the map was too tiny.
They were confused by the search bar.
They were not sure if the data on the map was being shared with the bank.

Solutions:

Increased text size
Increased size of search bar and labeled it as "Filter"
Added bank icon to the departments

Second Prototype

Final Prototype

Added Reward Center

Problem:

4 out of 5 users did not understand what OC tokens were.

Research Findings:

Users want tangible rewards.

Solution:

Added reward center with example categories of possible rewards.

Final Prototype

Final Prototype Walkthrough

See Interactive Final Prototype

Next Steps

Continue to test and improve the map
Test the rewards center and experiment with how to best integrate it into the user flow
UX language overhaul for consistency and branding
Test with stakeholders in the banking industry...and beyond

Deliver

Prototype

Conclusion

Transparency over data usage is a step in the right direction

Contrary to the original hypothesis, an increase in shared data did not increase the user's trust in the app. In fact, the trust score caused a decrease in trust because it confused the users.

Transparency and clarity is key to increasing trust with users - from language choices to reward offerings to familiar designs.

It's ok to reinvent the wheel, but if no one can recognize that it's still a wheel, they will be reluctant to try it.

Beam Me Up Scotty ^

Conclusion