/ Lifestyle
Methods
  • Qualitative exploration through a mobile ethnography
  • Quantitative prioritization with a Jobs-to-Be-Done consumer survey
  • Qualitative co-creation sessions with consumers
  • Qualitative shark tanks with consumers to pressure test ideas
  • Quantitative validation in a concept test

Building a Credit Card that Helps Customers Turn Payments Into Progress

The Challenge

A leading credit card provider known for serving below-prime customers, sought to develop a credit card that distinctly enhances the lives of current and potential customers, deepens customer engagement and satisfaction, and has long-term profitability potential. To accomplish this, the card needed to be driven by customer insights, differentiated from the competition and uniquely ownable.

Path Forward

We engaged 34 customers via a 7-day mobile ethnography to dig deep and understand their relationship with credit cards, identify unmet needs and clarify “Jobs to Be Done” for a new credit card product. We then fielded a quantitative survey of nearly one thousand customers to profile and size “jobs,” brand/product perceptions and innovation opportunities. Through virtual innovation workshops, we developed a large number of anchor benefits and features, which we focused to develop 6-8 starter concepts for us to test live with customers and then validate with a quantitative survey of 1,296 customers. We delivered an optimized final concept, strategic narrative with key learnings, a presentation for the leadership and Board of Directors, and an Experience Design Playbook, giving the UX Design team clear design principles, guidelines and guardrails.

Impact

The company launched a credit card based on our work that is more than just another card that rewards customers for their transactions. It’s a card that offers a broader set of value relevant to their credit needs – one that sets a transparent path to getting rewarded for positive behaviors like making on time payments and paying more than the minimum due each month. This new credit card is helping the company live into its vision of truly becoming the financial partner of choice for its hard-working customers.

all case studies