Back
I was approached by Barclays to help increase credit card sales for their credit card division, Barclaycard. The goal was to achieve significant improvements in a limited time frame of six months, with a constrained budget and a small team. Despite these challenges, the project resulted in a 2.5% increase in credit card applications, translating to a net profit of over £2 million for the company.
The primary challenge was the tight deadline of six months and the limited budget available for the project. Additionally, as the Lead UX Designer, I had no direct team to assist me.
The small project team consisted of myself, a project manager who was juggling five projects simultaneously, and two data scientists who were also involved in other projects. Another major hurdle was navigating the stringent requirements of the legal team, which made implementing changes, especially those involving call-to-action (CTA) colors, quite challenging.
Data Analysis and UX Audit
I collaborated closely with the data scientists to understand user behavior on the platform.
Conducted a thorough UX audit of the current UI to identify areas for improvement.
Prototyping and Stakeholder Presentation
Based on the data analysis and UX audit, I created prototypes highlighting potential improvements.
Presented these prototypes to stakeholders, explaining the benefits and opportunities.
Addressing Key Issues
I Identified that the limited color palette, specifically the use of blue for CTAs (which blended with the brand colors), was causing users to miss the CTAs and drop off in frustration.
Designed and built a few pages with a new purple CTA and slightly restructured the page layout.
A/B Testing
Conducted A/B split tests to compare the performance of the new design against the existing one.
The tests confirmed that the new design was effective, leading to a 2.5% increase in credit card applications
Overcoming Legal Hurdles
Worked closely with the legal team to ensure all changes complied with regulations, which required extensive back-and-forth communication.
Additional Improvements
After achieving the primary goal ahead of schedule, I spent the remaining two months redesigning other pages and providing recommendations on how they can be improved to aligned with the new business goals.
The project was a resounding success, achieving and surpassing the targets two months ahead of schedule. The new design led to a 2.5% increase in credit card applications, resulting in a net profit of over £2 million for Barclaycard. Additionally, the redesigned pages and strategic recommendations contributed to further aligning the digital platform with business objectives. Despite the challenges, the collaborative effort and strategic approach ensured the project’s success and lasting impact on the company’s performance.
