Role
Senior UX Designer
Responsibility
End-to-End Design Process
Team
X-functional team of eight,
Solo Designer
- Overview
Valiant Finance was founded in 2015 in Sydney as a digital marketplace which connects small businesses of Australia with potential lenders. The founders identified a niche in the market created by restricted access to capital that many of Australia’s two million small business were experiencing at the time.
- Problem / Challenge
The problem was their marketing site is not the representation of what they offer and they do. It was done a long time ago. They needed to redefine the personas, user flows, sitemap and IA to create a new marketing website which is based on the current business personas.
- Business Objective
The business objective of Valiant Finance Australia is to make the process of securing business finance simpler, faster, and more transparent for SMEs in Australia.
Scope of Work and Timeline
All the activities involved in this project displayed over a 04 months timeline
Understand
User Research
Business Model
Long Term Goals
Define
Proto-Personas
MVP User Flows
Design Principles
Moodboarding
Ideate
Visual Inspirations
Building Blocks
Wireframing
Prototype
High Fidelity Designs
Prototypes
Long Term Goal
Defining the long term goal i-e the optimistic view of the world where our product is successful
- In 2 years time Valiant Finance will be the largest loan service provider in region.
Information Architecture
Refining the information architecture of Valiant’s business
User Personas - Referrer
We defined personas for two types of end users: Referrer and Direct User
“There has to be faster, more efficient way to explore business loan options to find the perfect fit
There are so many variables that go into making this decision”
Value:
♻️ Ethics
✨ Credibility
💪 Capability
🎯 Goals
- Providing customers with sound accounting advice
- Do better cost and projected growth analysis upon top offers from lenders
- Being a trusted advisor to their customers in order to build long-standing relationships
- General research to be able to serve as a commercial advisor to clients
😩 Pains
- Laborious Paperwork
- Lack of knowledge in the financing industry
- Overwhelmed with informations from all angles by being approached by brokers, lawyers etc..
- Difficulty in comparing offers in broader sense other than just interest rates
- Giving free labour and being compliant
Reluctant Riley
The Reluctant Referer
👨🏻
Age/Gender
42 – Male
📍
Location
Perth, Australia
💼
Occupation
Accountant
🏠
Family Status
Married – 2 Kids
📝 Bio
Riley is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with 10+ years of experience in analyzing cost control, financial reporting, and providing financing consultancy for his diverse clientele.
His expertise often comes in handy when there’s a need for taking out business loans. Since, alot of factors govern this decision, the task becomes laborious and painful. He’s looking for a good repository of all lenders available which can be filtered out quickly and seamlessly for the best offers on the market.
🚀 Motivation
Helping their clients and building repeat relationships
Provide their customers with the best information
Building long term client relationships
Stay updated to maintain long term client relationships
💓 What makes them proud
“I’m proud that I am able to foster fresh and creative ideas and have the ability to understand a variety of business models to figure out best economic methods for a business’s goals”
🔀 Channels
…to discover Valiant (Ranked highest -> lowest)
#1
🔍 Search
Google, Bing, etc.
#2
✨ Brand
Radio ads, TV ads, etc.
#3
📣 Advocate
word-of-mouth from a trusted source
#4
💃 Social
Social media e.g. Facebook, etc.
📲 Apps Used
Apps the interact with to help run their business
🖥 Device Usage
Device usage breakdown throughtout the day
💸 What does finance mean to them?
“I am passionate about the financial vision of any business and funneling those visions into fruitful business plans.”
“ I am adding SME finance to my repertoire to help diversify and grow my revenue, as well as to help my customers get better access these products.
My job is to find the best option, regardless of comissions, and i get great satisfaction from serving the community.”
Value:
♻️ Ethics
✨ Credibility
📊 Scale
🎯 Goals
- Building a new revenue line for their business which has faster turnaround/simpler than mortgages
- Being a one-stop-broker for their clients
- Being able to help their clients with AF/WC without having to be an expert in the area or spend much time learning it
😩 Pains
- Maintaining a healthy pipeline of “AF and WC deals” is difficult
- Having to help the customers with AF & WC deals without having the full expertise/knowledge
- Not having the right settlement support people & process
- Not having enough time to focus on AF and WC deals
Broker Bradley
Pro-active Referer
👨🏻
Age/Gender
32 – Male
📍
Location
Sydney, Australia
💼
Occupation
Mortgage Broker
🏠
Family Status
Single – No Kids
📝 Bio
Bradley has a well-rounded experience of 7+ years in brokerage. He started out as a Mortgage Broker. He then went on to add Asset Finance as another line of service due to faster deals.
Being an active leader in his social circle, he also educates his community for long term relationships built on trust with all of his clients.
🚀 Motivation
Helping their clients
Create another stream of income in asset finannce
Be their own boss
Satisfaction of solving complex problems
💓 What makes them proud
I am proud that I am a quick and easy problem solver. Most of my clients are satisfied right after the call with me”
🔀 Channels
…to discover Valiant (Ranked highest -> lowest)
#1
🔍 Search
Google, Bing, etc.
#2
✨ Brand
Radio ads, TV ads, etc.
#3
📣 Advocate
word-of-mouth from a trusted source
#4
💃 Social
Social media e.g. Facebook, etc.
📲 Apps Used
Apps the interact with to help run their business
🖥 Device Usage
Device usage breakdown throughtout the day
💸 What does finance mean to them?
“Financing is my natural talent. I am good at crunching numbers and I have a heart of an entreprenuer which let’s me help SMEs”
User Personas - Direct Users
We defined personas for two types of end users: Referrer and Direct User
“Startups especially in their initial phases are risky. Everthing is in a delicate balance. I faced many failures before I was able to turn things around.
As much as it requires fresher strategies for success, it also requires the right amount of capital at the right time. Otherwise there’s always competition out there to beat us at our own game”
Value:
🔍 Transparency
📊 Scale
💪 Capability
🎯 Goals
- To build and grow a business – prove to himself and others that he can do it!
- Capture new opportunities as they arise and not miss out on them – big FOMO!
- Be respected for his hard work and recognised by his team and those around him
- Keep his team members aligned and motivated by his vision and their shared mission while all wearing multiple hats.
😩 Pains
- Since the business is in startup, clients don’t easily trust our expertise
- Things often aren't moving as quickly as I'd like them to.
- Not enough resources to act upon many opportunities and ideas.
- Minimizing service costs keeping the quality standard the same and decreasing profit margins due to inflation.
Entreprenuer Evan
Business Builder
👨🏻
Age/Gender
32 – Male
📍
Location
Brisbane, Australia
💼
Occupation
IT Startup Founder
🏠
Family Status
Single – No Kids
📝 Bio
Evan has a passion for building inspiring companies through industry-leading tech, design, and execution. At a young age, he’s ventured out build a successful IT firm which started with minimum capital out of his own home-office. He now has workforce of 12-20 people.
He now wants to expand the company further in order to get more business leads, for this purpose he requires some investment to set up a lead-generation department.
🚀 Motivation
Be at the cutting edge build a good portfolio
Attract the best talent to help grow the business
Acquire new customers & expand marketing channels
Tap in to high profit markets eventually
💓 What makes them proud
I’m proud of what I have built. My ingenuity and my drive sets me apart. I put my blood, sweat and tears into building this business and I can’t wait to prove to everyone I can make this massive.”
🔀 Channels
…to discover Valiant (Ranked highest -> lowest)
#1
🔍 Search
Google, Bing, etc.
#2
✨ Brand
Radio ads, TV ads, etc.
#3
📣 Advocate
word-of-mouth from a trusted source
#4
💃 Social
Social media e.g. Facebook, etc.
📲 Apps Used
Apps the interact with to help run their business
🖥 Device Usage
Device usage breakdown throughtout the day
💸 What does finance mean to them?
“Finance is an enabler that allows me to achieve my goals, unlocking things that otherwise couldn’t happen.”
“Being a pastry chef is very much like being an artist. It involves attention to detail, creativity, and experimentation to produce desserts that look as good as they taste. I consider them as outlets of self-expression and I intend to stay in charge of it”
Value:
🥇 Social proof
✨ Credibility
♻️ Ethics
🎯 Goals
- Focus on quality over quantity. Present her creations not as a product but as a craft.
- Creating a better demand of her craft in the market using scarcity to her advantage
- Keep as much control over her recipes as possible while experimenting with new ones
- Own the craft myself and not work for anyone else.
😩 Pains
- Running a business often gets in the way of practicing the craft.
- Controlled production poses challenges when it comes to creating brand presence. Finding the right Supply/Demand balance
- Making sure that the business grows just the right amount to keep it from going under.
Passionate Peta
Passionate Professional
👩🏼
Age/Gender
35 – Female
📍
Location
Melbourne , Australia
💼
Occupation
Pastry Chef
🏠
Family Status
Single – 1 Kid
📝 Bio
Peta is a passionate Pastry Chef with over 7 years of industry experience. She is adept in creating artisan desserts, pastries, chocolates with a strong understanding of the principles of pastry design.
She operates out of a small cozy cafe where she gets most of her customers through word of mouth. She also offers catering for larger gatherings but everything is done in a very maintained and controlled manner by herself and 2 other junior chefs she is mentoring.
🚀 Motivation
Having the freedom to explore her craft & experiment
Maintain high standards of perfection
Working to hone her skills and perfect her craft
Building her reputation among customers & other pastry chefs
💓 What makes them proud
“I’m proud of my craft and expertise. I get to use it to bring people joy every day. When I hear people say my pastry makes their morning it’s the best feeling in the world!”
🔀 Channels
…to discover Valiant (Ranked highest -> lowest)
#1
🔍 Search
Google, Bing, etc.
#2
✨ Brand
Radio ads, TV ads, etc.
#3
📣 Advocate
word-of-mouth from a trusted source
#4
💃 Social
Social media e.g. Facebook, etc.
#5
🤝 Referrer
Broker, Accountant, etc.
📲 Apps Used
Apps the interact with to help run their business
🖥 Device Usage
Device usage breakdown throughtout the day
💸 What does finance mean to them?
Finance is a distraction gets in the way of me mastering my craft and making my customers happy. All the business stuff is so frustratting, if I didn’t need to run a business I probably wouldn’t!”
User Flows Mapping
Defining the user flows for MVP of the product – for both personas
Design Principles
Defining the top 5-6 design principles for the Valiant Finance platform
Simple
Human
Activates Gratitude
Social
Instant
Accessible
Valiant’s Foundation Kit
Defining a basic foundations of brand identify for the Valiant Finance
High-Fidelity Designs
Website mockups and prototype designed for the users
Valiant Finance Homepage
We redesign the valiant’s homepage, so that users can easily navigate through it.
Loan Calculator
Introduced a loan calculator where user can easily calculate their loan and also get a option to learn about the sponsors. All depends on the amount entered.
Savaana Homepage
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Articles - Learn More
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Conclusion
Summarizing the experience, learnings and future plan
- Key Takeaways
Working with Valiant was a great learning experience. We followed our pre-defined design process to create a solution backed by research and validation. We were able to gather interesting insights from the stakeholders and the end users which helped shape the solution for the better.
