What motivated this project?

The registration process at smava ends with a feature encouraging customers to log into their bank accounts to instantly verify their financial information and access exclusive benefits. The first version of the implemented feature lacked optimizations for better communication and conversion. Customers felt we were stripping them down without us telling them why.

This feature offers both, customers and the business, great advantages. Customers can get far more accurate offers at better rates, with less paperwork as the banks will automatically verify the information from their bank account. The business can spend less on manual labour like calling people, advising them, or handling documents, while growing at the same time the number of self-service customers. This feature unlocks a big path of digitalization for us.

In the original implementation of the feature we relied on calling this feature a Tip, hoping customers would read the paragraphs and thus feel compelled to use their bank account login.

Testing visual communication changes

The first A/B test on this page introduced visual communication changes to the content surrounding the feature. We wanted to understand if making the feature more visually appealing and less verbose would increase the number of people logging in with their accounts.

The design was cleaned up with a new headline, a shorter paragraph, dividing the benefits in bullets, and adding an accordion at the bottom with additional information in case customers needed to know more. The radio buttons are also more prominent and in line with the style of the product.

We learned that more users clicked yes and had the intention to proceed with their bank accounts, however the final number of people actually doing it didn't increase enough to reach significance. There is potential, but we needed to dig deeper.

Side-by-side comparison of the tested designs. The redesign (right side) features conversion oriented elements like the icon list of benefits and a blue tag to highlight one of the radio buttons.

Afterwards, we ran a set of user tests on our platform. These tests confirmed that connecting to the bank account is too big of a commitment at this point in the customer journey, and we are not giving enough relevant information about this process to our users. We also learned that the login feature from our third-party provider has some additional steps we didn't know existed and needed to be considered.

I had also collected screenshots, videos, test results, and feedback about the feature from different sources. I cross-referenced our learnings to provide data- and knowledge-driven design solutions for the future tests, in addition to fundamental usability improvements.

Testing structural and flow changes

For the next test I completely redesigned the page. We agreed on smoothing out the experience for our users as well as pushing harder the bank login. With a design based on tabs, I placed users directly on the tab where the bank login would be displayed, and eliminated the unnecessary yes/no questions before showing the login fields – reducing the journey by three interactions.

Both tabs request an IBAN number from the customer, however in the bank login tab there's additional content to persuade customers. Once they have introduced the IBAN number, the tab content is swapped for the bank login fields and reassurance elements like trust badges and privacy oriented USPs.

With the new designs I highlighted the path we wanted our users to take by making it the default state of the screen and turning the background light green.

What happens next?

Our victory was bittersweet. We met our goal and then some! More people are logging in with their bank accounts than ever before, less advisors are needed for those customers, and our sales have increased, but we are losing a portion of our customers who aren't willing to take such a step just yet.

The biggest problem, however, is that we are walking a very dangerous line in terms of usability. We gave our users no way out of the logging process, essentially telling them do this or leave. Our next iteration of this feature introduces, among other changes, clear ways to skip the bank login while continuing the overall registration to our platform (and now I can sleep better at night).

• We are introducing an “escape” button for users locked in the login process; they can now skip it and go directly to their loan offers.
• We are changing the page's contents for before, during, and after the logging process to be more transparent with the users and guide them through.
• A big part of trust comes also from polished coherent visual communication. We customize further the third party login widget to fit more seamlessly with the brand.