The Importance of User Personas in the Technology Selection Process

You’ve heard the term “personas” being used more and more in recent years, especially as the user experience and growing deposits continue to be a top priority for most banks and credit unions. After all, new account origination is the first step and first impression an applicant has with your institution. So what exactly are user personas, and how can you use them to help strategically prioritize, plan, and implement a new technology investment?

A user persona represents a fictional character designed to represent a user type that might use a product or service. They help businesses understand current and prospective accountholders’ needs, behaviors, and goals. However, many of your employees will be users too. Personas can also help you define who from your team should be involved in the evaluation and decision-making process. 

Why Are User Personas So Important?

• User personas help by focusing on specific needs and behaviors of different user segments and assist in creating more tailored and effective experiences.
• They help to prioritize features and functionalities that will have the most significant impact on the user, ensuring that resources are used efficiently.
• User personas guide the creation of user journeys and scenarios, ensuring that a product provides a seamless and satisfying experience, which can lead to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
• User personas help you identify pain points and opportunities to enhance the overall accountholder experience, making interactions smoother and more efficient.
• User personas help you understand the diverse needs, behaviors, and preferences of your customers or members. This understanding allows you to tailor services and products to meet specific applicant needs more effectively.

User Persona Focus: Your Applicants 

Let’s start with your applicants as our first example. It’s important to understand channel access in terms of the user experience. What type of product are they seeking? Are they existing or new? Are they targeted or searching online? Are they using online banking or the internet? Are they on a phone, tablet, or desktop?

Applicants may be new to banking or experienced, and their financial situation can vary widely. Some are seeking loans to support business growth or personal needs, while others are simply looking to open a deposit account to manage their savings. It’s important to align your institution’s goals with the user personas you want to target as you explore new technology.

Common applicant pain points to consider:

• Complex application processes that are confusing or time consuming.
• Delays in application processing that affect their plans.
• Difficulty understanding financial terminology, fees, and interest rates.
• Lack of personalized support, leading to frustration if issues or questions arise.

How new technology can help:

• Ensure you provide clear guidance on the steps and requirements for application.
• Include transparent information about fees, interest rates and repayment terms for loan applicants, or maintenance terms for deposit accounts.
• Offer assistance with necessary documentation to ensure the application is complete and accurate.
• Provide convenient access to support, either in person, online, or phone.

User Persona Focus: Your Employees

It’s also key to understand your internal users and how they will interact with the technology. Those can obviously vary widely, depending on individual roles. Are they in the branch or call center? Are they front-line lenders or back-office staff? Let’s explore a few examples.

Front-line staff

Common pain points experienced by front-line staff: 

• Navigating outdated or complex systems that slow down the account opening process.
• Dealing with applicants that are upset by delays, documentation issues, or unclear requirements.
• Managing the evolving regulatory landscape and ensuring every step of the process remains compliant.
• Frustration with poor communication or handoff between departments, especially between in-person and digital channels.

How new technology can help:

• Provide a seamless, familiar user experience whether working with the prospect in person or in the branch.
• Streamline digital origination workflows to minimize wait times and reduce manual errors.
• Use data to identify opportunities to add relevant products or services during the account opening process.
• Digitally collect, review, and verify documents.
• Enable collaboration tools that allow a seamless handoff between different team members, departments, or digital touchpoints.

Compliance/Risk

Common pain points experienced by compliance/risk staff: 

• Navigating constantly changing regulations that can create confusion and increase the risk of non-compliance.
• Frequent alerts of suspicious activities can overwhelm compliance teams, leading to backlogs and delays in investigation.
• Inconsistent or missing data from applicants, making it difficult to perform thorough compliance checks and risk assessments.
• Difficulty coordinating efforts between different departments that leads to delays in addressing compliance issues.

How technology can help:

• Adopt reliable systems that provide complete and verified applicant information to maintain adherence to AML, KYC, HMDA, and other regulatory requirements.
• Use systems that detect suspicious activities or anomalies in real time for swift investigation.
• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of your data to help facilitate timely regulatory reporting.
• Provide tools for seamless communication between departments to quickly address compliance or risk concerns.

Operations

Common pain points experienced by those serving in operations roles:

• Managing a high volume of documents and tasks within strict timelines can lead to process inefficiencies.
• Lack of clear communication between departments that can result in duplicated efforts, errors, or delays in the account origination process.
• Navigating complex regulatory requirements that lead to frequent adjustments in process, creating additional delays.

How technology can help:

• Implementing integrated data systems for tracking, processing, and analyzing account data to support compliance and identify areas for improvement.
• Workflows that streamline operational processes to make account origination more efficient and reduce bottlenecks.
• Effective tools that can help operations staff easily coordinate with other departments to ensure a seamless flow of information.

While each user persona’s day-to-day goals, responsibilities, interactions and pain points vary, you’ve likely noticed a common theme. The right technology can help you revolutionize your back-office processes and allow your staff to focus on what’s most important: your accountholders! 

Regardless of the type of system you’re looking to transform, identifying user personas can provide you with a solid foundation on which to make key decisions and serve as guiding factors in your technology selection process. Each user persona plays a distinct role in the workflow, so aligning their expected user experience with the overall look, feel, and functionality you implement is crucial.

Need help crafting your digital account opening strategy? Get in touch with a digital account opening expert today!