Context 

All online investing products lived outside of BMO.com. They had their own unique experiences and navigation, with inconsistent design treatments and code bases across sites, without a clear way back to BMO.com. 

This resulted in a fragmented journey, confusing the users, hurting our KPIs. 

Problem

1. Users couldn't figure out how to open an account Online, when they land on BMO.com.

2. It was difficult to compare products, and users often couldn't find their way back to where they started.

3. Our approach was mainly targeting experienced investors and not those who are new to investing. 

Research methodology

We employed a number of research methodologies, such as user interviews, competitive analysis, usability studies, and secondary research. We compiled a research document that we referred to when we were in doubt. Access the research document here.

• User interviews: Conducted 8 Sessions to find out current investing behaviours

• Front-line staff interviews: Interviewed 6 BMO Staff to have a better understanding of user journey & uncover common pain points

• Competitive analysis: 16+ Institutions to discover how our competitors are approaching investing

• Secondary research: to close some of the information gaps we might have, looking at different segments and how they might approach investing

• Tree testing: to uncover if the proposed Information Architecture makes sense to the user

• SEO Research & Site Audit: so that we can better situate ourselves and make informed decisions

During the discovery stage the research helped us develop personas which then was translated into journey maps, user flows and determine the site architecture.

Journey Maps

Key findings

1. Keeping an eye on the target(s): Users often have more than one investing goal and they focus on achieving their goals and not necessarily on investing products, account types etc. 

2. We provide a lot of information, without telling them why causing decision paralysis this is leading to users taking the easiest step: which is no step at all, effecting our KPIs.

3. Structure: How users search vs. how we are structured don’t overlap making it difficult to compare and find products. We are also competing against ourselves as well as our competitors. Users that land on retail investments couldn’t figure out how to open an account online.

Guiding Principles

1. Introduce a goal based journey. Especially important for those who are new to investing, millennials and potentially new comers.

2. Make it easy to compare between different investment options, clearly communicate differences and benefits to the customer to help the decision fatigue

3. Revisit the structure: Regardless of line of business, users should be able to learn about a product, and open an account in their preferred method.

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