Case Study: Bank Feed Redesign

Project:
6 months (2022)
Accounting, Automation, Machine Learning
Activities:
UX Design, UX Research, Design System, Design Studios, Team Alignment
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Coda, Redash
Project Overview
Our team launched Bank Feed at the AppFolio Customer Conference 2022, empowering users to reconcile their bank accounts automatically and effortlessly with transactions synced from their financial institutions.

Following the launch, Bank Feed was challenged with significant negative feedback. I led the user research to understand key user pain points, facilitated workshop and design studio to ensure team alignment, and redesigned the page to enhance usability.
What is bank reconciliation?
Bank reconciliation is the process of ensuring the records in AppFolio match users' bank statements. This is usually performed monthly when statements are available, leading to a significant workload within a constrained timeframe. Bank Feed eliminates the need to manually download, print, and reconcile with bank statements.
Problem
"I think it could be awesome but feels like I'm just missing an explanation on how to use it and how the AI is helping me."
The MVP we launched in 2022 has two side-by-side columns, mirroring how users reconcile their accounts in real life. This design was preferred by beta testers but the overwhelming affordance confused new users.
When we demonstrated the page in person, users quickly grasped how it integrates into their existing workflows and the value it offers. However, our goal was to empower users to self-onboard the feature independently, reducing the need for customer support assistance.
Who are our users?
Users frequently struggle with reconciliation due to the time-consuming nature of fixing missing transactions and entry errors. The repetitive manual work under tight deadlines can be frustrating. They often seek the following:
  • Automate mundane tasks while retaining the ability to review
  • Prevent missing and erroneous transaction entries
  • Ensure the accuracy of their financial records
Streamlined feedback collection
We gathered feedback from events, in-app feedback, direct emails, escalations, and usability calls. To streamline the process, I created a centralized feedback hub in Coda, which helped my product manager and me process and tag the responses efficiently.

Our team closely monitored user challenges and captured their reactions after each release. These insights also surfaced a list of top pain points that informed us of the problems with the product at launch.
Alignment: Five Whys & design studio
With the huge list of pain points, it was difficult for our large team of ten to agree on our top priorities. To address this, I worked with UX researchers to facilitate a Five Whys workshop, which helped us pinpoint and prioritize the core issues. Afterward, I guided the team through a design studio to brainstorm ideas, which were transformed into prototypes for validation.

Our new designs aimed to accomplish the following:
  • Reduce the barrier to adoption
  • Highlight automations to avoid the perception of manual tasks
  • Promote transparency and build trust in the automation
Design validation with usability testing
We conducted 10 usability calls to validate whether our new designs resolved the identified problems. With the full page redesigned, tracking design decisions across features became challenging. I summarized the findings by feature and presented suggested priorities based on user impact and implementation effort.
Outcome
95% Quarter-over-Quarter Growth in Active User Rate
By implementing a progressive disclosure design, we significantly reduced the cognitive load lowering the adoption barrier.
Accounting Strategy:
Enhanced User Control
By highlighting the previously hidden automation feature, we set clear expectations for the automated processes. This approach helped build user trust and control over their financial records, aligning with our domain strategy.
reflection: Effective communication with Stakeholders
This project was our company's first experiment with merging two teams to boost output within a short timeframe. We had two product managers and two UX designers, along with twice the number of developers compared to our usual team setup. This setup created challenges in tracking all the detailed design decisions and keeping developers updated with new user insights.

Moreover, our designs were scrutinized by leadership due to Bank Feed's significant difference from the competitor product. I had to present the key differences in our user needs and workflows to justify our design decisions. These experiences improved my ability to communicate with stakeholders and enhanced my efficiency in documentation.