Defining a scalable CX strategy at a leading UK neobank
Introduction
Our client, a leading UK neobank — who we call 'Neo' — successfully launched with a competitive proposition and an app with a simple and intuitive customer experience.
Over the next few years, the bank aims to scale its banking proposition to more products, markets and segments.
Elsewhen worked closely with the customer experience team over 10 weeks to define a strategic approach to growing the current app experience, allowing it to serve more customers, penetrate new markets and offer a more diverse suite of products.
- 12
- Workshops
- 10
- Interviews
- 3
- Leadership playbacks
- 1
- Actionable framework
- The challenge
- Existing CX frameworks do not cater to the ambitious vision and growth plans of the business
The last few years have been a difficult period for Neo and challenger banks. However, despite economic headwinds, high interest rates have actually been a boon for many neobanks, driving significant growth and profitability. After successfully navigating this period, Neo's focus shifted towards profitability; placing emphasis on capturing a larger share of its customers' wallets by introducing more complex products.
This expanded environment placed pressure on its existing mobile app, negatively impacting the simple and intuitive customer experience that Neo was known for.
Elsewhen worked with the CX & Strategy team at Neo to answer a number of key questions:
- What does best-in-class digital CX at a scaling neobank look like?
- How does the current mobile app experience rank compared to competitors?
- What are the potential pain points created by adding new products, markets and segments?
- Our strategic approach
- Analysing the current state of the digital experience and evaluating best-in-class competitors
Services
- Market research
- CX audit
- SME interviews
- Stakeholder workshops
- Digital strategy
Our mixed method research phase was two-fold. Firstly, we explored Neo's key journeys and their planned improvements. This allowed us to conduct a CX audit of the current and near-future app experience and map that experience against Neo's goals. The audit revealed existing strengths and pain points, highlighted potential scaling challenges, and provided a baseline for future improvements.
Secondly, we scanned the global market, researching traditional banks, neobanks and fintechs to understand how others successfully approached these scalability challenges.
Following the research phase, we engaged with the wider working group to co-create key themes and findings from our research. Through 12 collaborative, curated workshops, we leveraged the cross-industry and cross-remit expertise and experience in the room to iterate quicker, interrogate the information and build a shared understanding.
After this, we consulted with a smaller set of stakeholders, building the strategic CX framework that would be integrated and augmented into the neobank’s existing CX processes. This approach secured better results, leaning on Neo's unique knowledge but also building ownership amongst those stakeholders that would be tasked with turning strategy into action.
- Our solution
- A practical CX framework to support and drive growth
We delivered a CX strategy, designed for Execs, Project Leads and Individual Contributors, that built on the existing CX vision and seamlessly integrated into existing processes.
The strategy was made up of four fundamentals, each supported by a set of UX tools and relevant case studies. The strategy aimed to:
Provide an organisation-level framework and guidance to influence strategic thinking at project and product level
Support project briefs and maintain the right focus with an ongoing evaluation rubric
Assist new CX & Strategy team members in grasping the vision and foundational principles of CX
We delivered the strategy in three decks for three different audiences and purposes; the executive summary, a guide for CX leaders and a research deep dive.
- 4
- Digital CX Fundamentals
- 9
- UX Tools
- 12
- Research Case Studies
- The outcomes
- A clear path to scale CX into the future
The Elsewhen team have been phenomenal. You've done incredible work.
VP Service Design
By partnering closely with multiple stakeholders at the neobank, we delivered a practical CX strategy supported by comprehensive research.
Overall putting words to shared CX fundamentals has created a tangible understanding across the organisation. Together we have created a common language for teams to adopt, align on and test against. What’s more, the strategy is crafted for stakeholders to assume future ownership, allowing them to iterate, integrate into existing processes, and explore innovative working methods.
