Capital One: Add Cash
About One Design
At Capital One, I participated a two year Design Development Program, which consists of rotating through several design positions within One Design, the tight knit design community within Capital One. I was lucky to land in the Research & Development pod of Capital One Bank, an experiemental team designing new beta products.
Project Overview
Capital One’s business model does not rely on traditional bank branches or ATMs, offering customers the best quality experience through the digital app (because no one wants a bulky bank branch on their street!). One question that arises is “how can customers deposit cash into their account in a safe and reliable way without using bank branches?”
Our answer: partner with retail stores.
Objective
Create a frictionless online-to-offline service experience that drives customers to deposit cash through the Capital One app and retail stores.
Research
I conducted several rounds of research with the product + design team, including many brainstorming sessions to solidify the value proposition Cash In would bring to Capital One.
Our product allows customers to deposit cash in stores where they like to shop.
Based on the initial brainstorming sessions and service blueprint, I created inital wireframes of the app experience to test with users in person.
The test included:
• 6 Participants
• 45-60 minute sessions
• Testing both app and in-store experience
Evolution
The in person testing proved to be very insightful to gather feedback on the concept. Some of the key insights that were uncovered during the testing:
• Participants were familiar with the in-store cash back service, and can easily understand in-store cash deposit concept at a high level.• Almost everyone explicitly expressed appreciation of the convenience it provides.
• Participants feel some retail stores are more trustworthy than others.
• While almost everyone stated they would use the product, there was some initial confusion around how the interaction with the cashier would actually work.
Moving forward, we ideated that the experience could be improved by adding a first time user experience to explain and excite the customers about using Add Cash. We also emphasized the value of convenience and trustworthiness in a smaller selection of retail stores.
The Add Cash feature originated as an innovation concept, where our team conducted the initial research, testing, and validation to shape its foundation. As the feature transitioned into a full-fledged production initiative, additional refinements were made by the core design team. Notably, the FTUX animation screens were built by another designer, contributing to the final user experience. This progression from an exploratory idea to an integrated feature highlights the collaborative effort across teams to bring Add Cash to life.
Results
Add Cash in Store is now available to all 6.5M+ customers. Capital One partners with CVS pharmacy to ensure convenience and trust for both the customer and the cashier. As of January 2020, Add Cash in Store has enabled $2M+ in deposits in customers’ 360 Checking accounts.
Please reach out for further details ︎︎︎ rachel.collins75@gmail.com
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