2019
Case Study: FundPark RM App
01. Research
02. Definte & Ideate
03. Design
04. Evaluate
01. Research
The research phase focused on gaining a deep understanding of the existing credit-checking process among Relationship Managers and the methods used to store client information. Through this exploration, the goal was to uncover key pain points, behavioral patterns, and unmet needs that impact their daily workflows. Insights gathered from this stage helped define a clear, actionable problem statement — serving as the foundation for developing an efficient, user-centered solution that enhances both accuracy and productivity in managing client relationships.
1.1 Objective
Define habits and behaviour of RMs when they perform a credit check on clients.
Define habits and behaviour of RMs when they store and keep track of clients' contacts
Identify what RMs like and do not like about their experiences while performing a credit check on client and keeping track of clients' contact.
1.2 Customer Interviews
To empathise with Relationship Managers and gain firsthand insights into their workflows, 3 RMs were interviewed to better understand their process when engaging with potential clients. These sessions explored how they conduct credit checks, record client details, and manage follow-ups while in the field. By observing their real-world challenges and preferences, the research uncovered valuable perspectives on pain points and opportunities for improvement. This direct engagement formed the foundation for defining user needs and aligning future design solutions with the practical realities of their daily operations.
Assumptions before interview:
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Need for instant information: Relationship Managers want to receive client data immediately during interactions to make quicker and more informed decisions.
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Cumbersome credit-check process: Accessing the credit insurer’s system requires manual login, slowing down the workflow and reducing efficiency.
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Inefficient contact management: Sorting and organizing client contacts takes excessive time due to the absence of an integrated or automated system.
1.3 Empathy Mapping
After conducting the interviews, the responses were organized into an empathy map to capture what Relationship Managers feel, think, do, say, hear, and see throughout their workflow. This process helped visualise their experiences and uncover deeper emotional and behavioral insights. By mapping these perspectives, patterns of frustration and underlying needs became clearer, forming a strong foundation for identifying design opportunities and guiding the development of a more efficient and user-centered solution.
"I do not like awkward silence while clients wait and I check on their details and information"
Insights after interview:
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Manual contact management: Relationship Managers rely on various tools and manual methods to consolidate client contacts, resulting in inconsistency and inefficiency.
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Desire for faster access: They want to save time by reducing the need to repeatedly log into the insurer’s platform to retrieve client information.
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Concerns over accessibility: RMs worry about not being able to access critical information when needed due to technical issues or system downtime.
Identifying Needs:
By clustering the responses and analyzing emerging patterns, several key needs of Relationship Managers were identified:
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Efficient contact management: RMs need greater control over how client contacts are stored, organized, and accessed.
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Time-saving process: RMs need assurance that using the RM App will help them save time when retrieving information from the credit insurer.
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Data reliability: RMs need confidence that the information available within the app is accurate, current, and consistently updated.
1.3 User Persona
After gathering all quantitative research, a user persona was developed to better understand and address the needs of Relationship Managers during the design process. Alice, a Relationship Manager at a fintech company, represents the target user. Ambitious and goal-driven, she aims to achieve the company’s top sales this month. However, she feels hindered by the amount of time spent manually sorting and organising client contacts and information. This prevents her from focusing on high-value activities such as client meetings and relationship building. Alice’s persona highlights the importance of creating a streamlined, time-efficient tool that empowers RMs to manage data effortlessly and focus on their core responsibilities.
1.5 Alice's Journey
The next step involved creating a user journey map to visualize Alice’s daily workflow as a Relationship Manager and identify key touchpoints throughout her experience. This mapping process helped uncover moments of friction, inefficiencies, and emotional highs and lows as she interacts with different tools and systems. By understanding how Alice navigates her day — from preparing for client meetings to conducting credit checks and managing contacts — opportunities for improvement became clearer. The journey map served as a foundation for refining user flows and designing targeted solutions that enhance efficiency, reduce manual effort, and improve the overall user experience.
User Pain Points
Here’s a visualized journey map of Alice’s experience at FundPark — from meeting a potential client to conducting credit checks. The diagram highlights critical pain points such as manual contact organization, time spent sorting data, and slow system response during credit checks — all of which present clear opportunities for workflow optimization and design improvement.
02. Define & Ideate
2.1 Defining Problem and Solution
By restructuring the insights gathered from interviews and empathy mapping, a set of Point-of-View (POV) statements was developed to clearly define the core user needs and challenges faced by Relationship Managers. These POVs helped articulate the design challenge from the user’s perspective, translating qualitative findings into actionable insights.
Building upon these statements, they were reframed into “How Might We” (HMW) questions to encourage open-ended, solution-oriented brainstorming. This approach aimed to explore multiple possibilities — such as streamlining contact management, simplifying credit-check workflows, and improving information accessibility — ultimately guiding the design process toward innovative and user-centered solutions for the RM App.
RMs are unable to obtain accurate and timely information about their clients.
Insights after interview:
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Manual contact management: Relationship Managers rely on various tools and manual methods to consolidate client contacts, resulting in inconsistency and inefficiency.
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Desire for faster access: They want to save time by reducing the need to repeatedly log into the insurer’s platform to retrieve client information.
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Concerns over accessibility: RMs worry about not being able to access critical information when needed due to technical issues or system downtime.
Goals
Speaking to the company stakeholders, we understand that the company requires higher traction from sales and they would like to cut unnecessary cost. This allowed me to sit down with the team, brainstormed reflect on the user goals and identify a middle piece as a solution.
A mobile app that has a Credit checking features tied to the credit insurer and intuitive contact saving
2.2 Information Architecture
The next step was to develop a high-level feature list, prioritizing the key functions that would be included in the RM App. Each feature was carefully selected based on insights gathered during the research phase, ensuring that the app directly addressed the needs and pain points of Relationship Managers.
Using this feature list as a foundation, a site map was then created to outline the overall structure and information hierarchy of the app. This visual framework defined how content and features would be organized, providing a clear navigation flow and ensuring a seamless user experience throughout the application.
At this stage, task flows were developed to visualize how users would interact with the app and complete key actions efficiently. Each flow outlined the step-by-step process from the user’s perspective — such as performing credit checks, saving new contacts, or retrieving client information — to ensure smooth and logical navigation.
This process helped identify potential friction points early on and allowed for refinement of the app’s structure and functionality. By mapping these interactions, the goal was to create an experience that feels intuitive, seamless, and purpose-driven, allowing Relationship Managers to accomplish their tasks with minimal effort and maximum clarity.
03. Design
3.1 From Low Fidelity to Medium Fidelity Wireframes
The wireframing process began with a series of exploratory sketches showcasing different layout variations that incorporated the app’s high-priority features. These initial concepts focused on balancing user needs, business objectives, and technical feasibility, ensuring that each screen served a clear purpose within the overall user journey.
During this stage, careful consideration was given to the structure and hierarchy of content — determining how information would be presented and how interactions could be streamlined for efficiency. Establishing a strong foundational layout also ensured that subsequent pages and additional features could be designed consistently around a cohesive framework.
Once the most effective sketches were selected, they were translated into digital and medium-fidelity wireframes. These wireframes provided a clearer visualization of the app’s structure, distinguishing between interactive elements, text, and imagery, while setting the groundwork for the upcoming high-fidelity design phase.
3.2 High-Fidelity Wireframes
After several rounds of iteration and feedback with the team, imagery, typography, and color were incorporated into the medium-fidelity wireframes to create the high-fidelity designs. These enhancements brought the interface closer to its final visual direction, reflecting the intended look and feel of the RM App. Attention was given to maintaining consistency across screens — from color hierarchy and iconography to spacing and interaction cues — ensuring a polished and cohesive experience.
Using the completed high-fidelity wireframes, an interactive prototype was then assembled in InVision, enabling stakeholders and team members to experience the app’s flow firsthand. This prototype served as a critical tool for validating usability, visual consistency, and navigation logic before proceeding to the development phase.
04. Evaluate
4.1 User Acceptance Test
The user testing phase aimed to validate the usability and effectiveness of the high-fidelity prototype created on InVision. Participants were asked to complete a series of simple, goal-oriented tasks to assess the intuitiveness of the app’s flow and identify any inconsistencies or friction points in navigation and interaction.
A total of four Relationship Managers, aged between 26 and 32, participated in the testing session. Each was asked to perform the following key tasks that reflect real-world usage scenarios:
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Add a new user using the scan name card feature and save the new contact.
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Call a user directly through the app.
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Check the credit rating for Company ABC LLP.
These tasks were designed to evaluate how efficiently users could complete core actions and how effectively the app supported their day-to-day workflows.
To view the usability test plan, click here.
User Testing Results
100%
of RMs are able to complete all 3 tasks assigned
50%
of RMs completed all 3 tasks without any errors
100%
of RMs felt that completing the tasks were simple or easy
51.5s
Time-on-Task:
Avg. time taken to complete credit check before RM App
22.25s
Time-on-Task:
Avg. time taken to complete credit check on RM App
43.2%
Increase in efficiency in completing a credit check
4.2 Affinity Mapping
An affinity mapping exercise was conducted to organize and synthesize all responses and observations collected during the User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This process helped reveal key patterns and insights, which were then translated into a prioritized list of recommendations — arranged from high to low priority — to distinguish between immediate improvements and future enhancements.
Observations:
Overall, users navigated the app with ease and encountered minimal issues. The main challenges identified were related to icon interpretation and UX writing clarity, which caused minor confusion during task completion. Despite these small setbacks, the usability testing results were largely positive. The project successfully achieved its primary goal of enhancing Relationship Managers’ efficiency, though further iterations will be necessary to refine the app and ensure a more seamless user experience as it continues to evolve.
4.3 Deployment
The RM App was officially launched in mid-2019 and operated successfully until early 2020, when its functionality came to an end following the expiry of the contract with the credit insurer. During its active period, continuous improvements were made — including the integration of new features such as automated WhatsApp message sending to streamline client communication.
Although the app had a relatively short lifecycle, it provided invaluable insights into the workflow of Relationship Managers and demonstrated the potential of digital tools in optimizing sales operations. The project remains a meaningful experience, showcasing the impact of user-centered design in driving efficiency and innovation.