Strategy

Uncover the Hidden Friction Costing You Millions

Every bank wants a seamless digital experience. They invest millions in technology and talent to build apps they believe are intuitive. So why do so many customers still get frustrated? We uncovered the reason isn't in the code; it's in the perspective.

This was the exact challenge facing a top-tier client, let’s call them DigiBank. Weeks before a major launch, their app was technically flawless, but pilot users called it "confusing." They faced a costly dilemma: launch an app users already struggled with, or delay based on expensive guesswork. Our mission was to pinpoint the exact sources of user friction and provide a clear, actionable blueprint to fix them before launch.

Beyond Guesswork: Our Framework for Uncovering Ground Truth

To solve a problem you can't see, you need a different way of looking. We architected a multi-layered diagnostic study with over forty of the bank's own corporate customers. This wasn't a focus group for opinions; it was a clinical observation of behavior, designed to provide the irrefutable evidence that analytics alone can't deliver.

Our three-layered approach reveals the "why" behind the data:

Simulate Reality, Not Hypotheticals: We don't ask what users would do. We create high-fidelity simulations and give them real-world tasks like 'Open a new savings account' or 'Transfer $50 to a friend.' This reveals the crucial difference between what people say and what they actually do when faced with a real interface.
Identify the Exact Moments of Friction: As users perform tasks, our expert researchers pinpoint every hesitation, mis-click, and sigh of frustration. These are the moments, invisible on app analytics, that precede a customer abandoning a task, or your brand. We capture the user’s thought process to understand the "why" behind every struggle.
Validate with Irrefutable Biometric Proof: This is where we go a crucial step further, moving from observation to objective proof. We use eye-tracking technology to see the app through your customers' eyes. Did they even notice the new feature? Did they read the critical error message? Eye-tracking removes all ambiguity, providing a visual record of the subconscious journey and revealing a level of truth that users themselves cannot articulate.

This combination: simulating reality, identifying friction, and validating with biometric data is how we move beyond what customers say, to prove what they actually do, turning deep user insights directly into business ROI.

Eye tracking for testing the mobile apps

The Disconnect Between 'Bank Logic' and 'Human Logic'

Our research delivered something far more valuable than a simple usability audit. It uncovered a fundamental disconnect between the bank's internal logic and their customers' real-world behavior. We found three invisible, high-risk issues baked into the app's design that revealed strategic gaps in personalization, cognitive processing, and ecosystem integration, gaps that could erode millions in potential revenue.

Finding #1: Cognitive Overload is Crippling User Journeys

It’s easy to assume what’s clear to us is clear to everyone. But in reality, that gap in perspective can make or break the user experience.

During this engagement, 47% of users failed to complete essential tasks on a sophisticated dashboard. The reason? Cognitive overload. Our eye-tracking analysis revealed the critical failure: the primary navigation bar was a complete "cold zone," receiving zero visual attention amidst the noise of alerts and widgets.

User testimony was unanimous: “There's too much going on. I didn't even see the menu.” This isn't a minor UI oversight; it's a fundamental breakdown in the user journey that signals deeper product-market fit issues.

Why It Matters

If users can’t find key features, engagement drops, support costs rise, and valuable development effort goes underused. In highly competitive sectors like fintech, seamless navigation is essential.

What We Recommended

Strengthen the visual hierarchy immediately with larger menu icons, higher contrast, and a distinct background for the navigation bar. This is a high-impact, low-effort fix that reduces user friction overnight.
Introduce AI-powered personalization to surface the user's most frequently used actions directly within the dashboard. By providing intelligent, contextual shortcuts, we reduce reliance on universal navigation and create a more efficient, intuitive user journey that drives engagement.

This isn't about a redesign. It's a strategic recalibration, ensuring a significant product investment is fully realized by making it intuitive and aligned with how people actually work.

Heatmap of the focus areas

Finding #2: Complexity Overwhelms, Not Empowers

A dashboard’s value is measured by a user’s ability to understand and act on it instantly, not by the volume of data it displays. Our research revealed that the platform’s presentation of critical financial information created significant cognitive friction, hindering users from achieving their core goals.

42% of users found the graphs difficult to comprehend. They reported non-intuitive color semantics (e.g., spend not being in red) and noted that the design prioritized aesthetics over clarity, requiring active effort to decipher rather than enabling at-a-glance understanding.

Furthermore, 45% of users, especially business owners, were stopped by unfamiliar jargon like “Working Capital” or “Cash Conversion Cycle” on the main dashboard. This language barrier completely negated the value of the insights being offered.

Why It Matters

When users are overwhelmed by data, confused by visuals, or blocked by jargon, engagement plummets. They revert to manual, familiar processes, and a tool designed to be indispensable becomes unused.

What We Recommended

Replace ambiguous visualizations with standard, purpose-built charts. Time-series data should use clear line charts with properly labeled axes, titles, and legends. Charts should be using semantically correct colors (e.g., red for spend) to intuitively reinforce meaning.
Augment technical terms with clear, plain-language labels and optional tooltips. This respects the expertise of financial users while making the platform accessible and actionable for all stakeholders.

Complex Dashboards

Finding #3: More Features Don’t Equal More Value

In an effort to increase engagement, the platform expanded beyond core banking to include features like news feeds and travel booking. However, user research revealed a significant disconnect: these additions were perceived not as valuable enhancements, but as unnecessary clutter that diluted the app’s primary purpose.

Over 77% of users considered non-banking features irrelevant. Many were surprised to discover options like travel booking or news within the app and expressed a strong preference for using dedicated platforms for those activities. As one user noted, “I don’t want to see news in a banking app; it’s not as comprehensive as other news outlets anyway.” The message was clear: users want a banking app that excels at banking.

Why It Matters

Feature bloat doesn’t just distract; it actively detracts from the user experience. It complicates navigation, overwhelms users, and undermines trust in the app’s focus. When users can’t quickly access what they need, engagement with even essential functions declines. Trying to be everything to everyone risks the app becoming a master of none.

What We Recommended

Minimize or remove non-core features like news and travel booking. This sharpens the user’s focus, streamlines the experience, and reinforces the app’s core value proposition.
Rather than complicating the app, shift toward strategic integrations that enhance financial productivity. An AI assistant, for example, can deliver high-value functions, like personalized insights and financial news summaries, seamlessly within the existing environment. This boosts productivity without sacrificing clarity.

By focusing on what users truly need and value, the app can transition from a scattered collection of features to a refined, purpose-driven tool that users trust and rely on.

Segments and News

Outcomes: From Insight to Impact

Following implementation, we replicated our diagnostic study to measure the exact impact of the changes. The before-and-after results demonstrate a dramatic leap in user experience, directly validating the strategic investment.

The UX Science Score: A Before-and-After Snapshot

Our proprietary framework measures five core touchpoints on a 0-100 scale. The improvement was significant, with the overall score moving from 57 to 86 out of 100 post-launch.

Touchpoint	Pre-Launch Score	Post-Launch Score	Change
Usefulness (helps users achieve goals)	58	88	+30
Usability (easy to learn and use)	45	86	+41
Clarity & Copy (clear, helpful language)	62	85	+23
Visual Design (aesthetically appealing)	78	89	+11
Delight (enjoyable to use)	40	80	+40
Overall UX Science Score	57/100	86/100

The UX Science Score is powerfully validated by complementary user data:

Net Promoter Score (NPS): 54 points, moving from detractors to passionate promoters.
Reduced Confusion: Eye-tracking data showed a 40% reduction in time spent on "confusion hotspots.”

This multi-method validation, combining our clinical UX Science Score with user sentiment (NPS) and behavioral data provides a clear, data-backed view of the ROI, leaving no doubt about the value of a user-centric approach.

Let's Solve Your UX Challenges Together

DigiBank’s journey reveals a critical truth: the biggest barriers to growth are often the ones nobody can name.

Our research doesn’t just listen to what users say, it uncovers the hidden friction, the missed cues, and the subconscious struggles that analytics alone can never reveal.

If your team is preparing a digital product launch—or struggling with adoption post-launch—we can run a tailor-made diagnostic in 2–4 weeks to uncover hidden friction and give you a blueprint for ROI.