Nordea First Card
Digital product development at First Card was hampered by siloed initiatives developed in separate teams, additionally there was room for improvement in the established ways of working. By prioritizing cross-competence collaboration and a user-centered design process, we delivered a seamless and value-driven customer experience across all First Card digital channels in the Nordics.
Team
1x Project lead/designer | 1x UI/UX designer (me) | 2x Back-end dev | 3x Front-end dev
My Role
I was involved in this journey as a Product Designer, working within an autonomous, cross-disciplinary team. My responsibilities spanned across various projects, spanning the entire journey from user research and ideation, to user validation, iteration and implementation.
Project Highlights (tl;dr)
—New & shiny First Card App:
We completely redesigned the First Card app, focusing on user needs and improving functionality. Through iterative design and user feedback, we delivered a user-friendly experience with easy access to settings & features.
—And a Website too!
Our team revamped the First Card website, giving it a new brand identity and prioritizing accessibility. This also led to the creation of First Card's design library.
—Brought Card Application to the 21st century:
By replacing the outdated paper-based application with a digital solution, we simplified the application process and received positive feedback from users and stakeholders, enhancing efficiency and meeting accessibility standards.
—Card Admin like a pro:
We developed a unified platform for card management, addressing user’s pain-points and incorporating new features identified through user research. This streamlined operations for businesses, particularly benefiting smaller enterprises.
“Together, we have managed to deliver across a vast range of initiatives under our new change agenda!”
Lars Jansson
Head of Commercial Cards Product Development at Transaction Banking, Nordea
Mobile app
The First Card app was struggling under the weight of outdated technology, lack of functionality and the pressures of modern regulatory demands. It was clear that a comprehensive redesign was necessary to future-proof and improve the app and align it with the updated brand and user expectations.
We had a lean design approach that involved prototyping early and often, going through multiple iterations, user validation sessions and internal discussions to produce a new design direction. The result was a new app with a fresh look and a simple user experience, with focus on what was important to the user; easy access to important information as well as the most frequently used features and settings.
"The new version of the First Card App has created great customer value."
Lisbeth Kjellberg
Senior Product Manager at Transaction Banking / Commercial Cards, Nordea
Website
We took on the task of giving First Card's website a makeover to ensure it met the needs of both customers and businesses. The refreshed design harmoniously blended elements from both the First Card and Nordea brands, meeting customer expectations.
Accessibility was a top priority throughout the process, ensuring that all users could easily navigate the site. This project also played a crucial role in creating First Card's design library, which set the stage for future improvements and innovations. As a result, it's now much easier for First Card product teams to efficiently create and implement new designs.
“Futurice optimized the platform and prepared our website for the future.”
Jens Venelbo Bendz
Senior Product Manager at Transaction Banking / Commercial Cards, Nordea
E-Application
Next, we took a look at First Card’s outdated paper-based card application process, which varied from country to country and put extra strain on Nordea's customer service team. Our goal was simple: to make things easier for both customers and service staff.
We designed and introduced a new web form, based on modified versions of the old paper forms, and added extra security measures by requiring customers to sign in with their bank IDs. We also made sure that the wording and structure of the forms were consistent across all products and countries. By listening to feedback from users and gradually rolling out the new digital application process country by country, we were able to refine the user experience.
The feedback from small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers has been overwhelmingly positive. They find the new application process much smoother, easier to understand, and less prone to mistakes. What's more, our solution has opened up possibilities for Nordea to improve their conversion rates. And importantly, the new web forms meet the latest European accessibility standards, ensuring that everyone can access them easily.
Admin tool
We identified that at First Card, users were grappling with various available tools to manage their credit cards, regardless of whether they were big or small businesses. To address this, we dove into user research, specifically targeting card administrators to understand their needs better.
Based on the findings in our user research, we developed a new tool that unites all the different Nordea tools they were using into one intuitive platform. We also incorporated additional features identified through our research, such as receipt management, bulk card blocking and assignment capabilities.
This new tool significantly streamlined card management for businesses using First Card, making their day-to-day operations much smoother. Users now have a comprehensive overview of their cards, can prevent card misuse, and easily track expenses. This improvement is particularly beneficial for smaller businesses that don't have a dedicated card administrator, simplifying their card management tasks and enhancing their overall experience.