Gamified Onboarding

Positive Engagement Loops

DBS Bank is one of the most trusted banks in Singapore, but had reduced business banking growth due to emergence of neo banks offering a more seamless onboarding experience for customers looking to open their business bank account.

Client

DBS Bank

Led

Design & Research

Type

Business Banking

Duration

6 Months

Business Objective

Introduce gamification frameworks, to reduce the signup process drop off rate.

Introduce gamification frameworks, to reduce the signup process drop off rate.

Empathise

Identifying Pain Points

The existing onboarding process was tested with 8 local business users to understand the main challenges they faced, and the potential features that they wished were implemented to help improve their journey.

01

80% felt process was lengthy

Entire process was time consuming and required a trip to the bank branch for verifications.

02

60% did not like the complex forms

The flow and jargons were challenging for new business users to understand.

03

50% wanted more transparency

Unaware of all the documents needed to be prepared beforehand, or how long the process would take.

Existing Design

How Might We

Alleviate the sign up experience to increase the number of users that complete in a single session?

Alleviate the sign up experience to increase the number of users that complete in a single session?

Gamification Framework

Top User Goals

A survey was also used to identify the top 3 core drives of these business users. This allowed me to curate an experience that would tap on these drives and provide an engaging experience for them to complete their journey in one sitting.

Unpredictability

Desire to find out what will happen next. If you do not know what is going to happen, your brain will think about it often.

Meaning

Belief that they are a part of something greater than themself, or that they were chosen for the greater good.

Empowerment

Engaged in a creative process where they can freely express themselves, and also be able to view the results of it.

Note: The deprioritised 5 core drivers were Accomplishment, Social, Ownership, Scarcity and Avoidance.

Goals & Pain Points

Value Proposition

Aligned the above core drives to specific value propositions. By understanding what users were looking for, I could create a journey that resonated the most to them.

Ideation

Prioritised Solutions

List of possible key features that could tap on the core drives of our users. These six were prioritised according to both how effective they would be, and the various constraints the bank had in terms of implementing them.

Motivational Copies

Copies portraying a hassle-free application process, and assure confidence that this is the ideal bank for them.

Enhanced Progress Bar

A chart that more greatly highlights each completed step, thus motivating them to reach the end of their journey.

List Required Items

List all the mandatory documents before beginning the application, to ensure a seamless and quick application process.

Rewards Loop

Every milestone rewards with a random range of points, which can be redeemed for a prize of choice at the end.

Prompt Assistance

Provide bank support or chatbot, to guide users who are experiencing difficulties at any point in their application.

Testimonials & Reviews

Social proof to increase the credibility and competitiveness of DBS as the bank of choice for all business owners in Singapore.

User Flow

Gamified Journey

The entire journey was broken down into three key sections to allow the team to strategise where best these solutions could be inserted into.

User Flow

Wireframes

Through rapid prototyping, I generated stacks of ideas about the arrangement of UI, functional, data elements, and interactive behaviours. Starting broad, our vision began evolving into something tangible.

The Hook

Early Engagement

An engaging application process increases the likelihood of users completing applications and having a positive impression of the bank. The presentation of clear benefits, interactive elements, positive reviews by other business users, and user-friendly interfaces improves continuous engagement.

Easy Comparison

Products need to be clearly presented with visual hierarchy, for users to seamlessly compare and make the right decision.

Credible
Social Proof

Credible Social Proof

Credible Social Proof

Important to leverage influence from others to build credibility and confidence in a product, especially from well-known members of society.

Introducing Points

Rewards System

A simple design was introduced to track both the points earned incrementally in the journey, and the progress of the journey itself. Both of which will be shown in the section below.

Earning Points

Each action rewards 5 - 10 points, for users to constantly wonder how much they will get with the next action.

Tracking Progress

Each action tracks and motivates users to constantly look forward to their completion reward at the end.

Rewards Loop

A Rewarding Journey

A seamless process with a rewards system is important in reducing friction for applicants. It increased completion rates, and improved the overall candidate experience as they worked towards their goal.

Clear Requirements

Users need to know what to expect and prepare for in order to have the best possible experience. Adding a few motivations and a reward upon completion will further motivate them to take the next step.

Milestones & Points

The form will be broken down into segments and the progress will be reflected on the timeline at the top. It fills up and awards points as the user answers each question.

Seamless

Entirely Digital Journey

Recent updates to the bank processes allowed for customer verifications to be done entirely online. Resolving a major pain point of users who previously had to schedule a session with a relationship manager to do so.

Upload Documents

An entirely digital process saves time and resources from both parties. Uploading a signature and documents online through a QR scanner can potentially save a trip down to the bank

The Grand Finale

A celebration of earned points will congratulate the user on their newly submitted account. Users who write a review can earn additional points, some of which the bank can select and use for their landing page.

Impact

User Tested

I tested the new onboarding process with 16 business users in Singapore to validate our hypothesis, and the reception was generally good. They were instructed to let me know if they feel like dropping off at any point in the flow.

01

100% completion in one sitting

All the users were able to complete the entire process in one sitting without needing with any assistance.

02

75% enjoyed the earning of rewards

Most users felt motivated to redeem their rewards, which was something competitors did not offer at the time.

03

87.5% liked the simpler & leaner form

The breaking down into segments and use of easier to understand language allowed users to complete with ease.

Notable User Quotes

"It was simpler for me, but my company had no need for the rewards.

Kenogi, Sole-proprietor

"I like that I could earn a welcome gift by completing the process."

Jennifer, Finance Manager

"I would really consider this if I was creating my first business account."

Sulaiman, Director

"I liked that the it was simpler than expected and not overwhelming."

Eric, Operations Manager

Post User Testing Results

The gamified design was subsequently launched in a pilot phase and it resulted in an overall 33% reduction in user drop offs over the course of 6 months.

Takeaway

Path Less Travelled

I’ve often relied heavily on industry processes like Double Diamond and found myself sometimes doing things for the sake of following the process. However this time, the team tried a gamification framework to research and ideate differently. As a result, the outcome felt more rigorous and aligned to the business user’s needs than I had expected.