Szymon Zephan Capital
How effortless access to valuable information, seamless navigation, and easy client contact boosted conversion
TEAM: Nikita Kamdar, Di Zhao, Shadee Mozafari
MY ROLE: Research plan, heuristic evaluation, usability test script, card sorting, and synthesis for two rounds of usability tests. Our team worked together on wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes.
TIMELINE: 5 Weeks (7 April 2023 - 10 May 2023)
TOOLS: Figma, Optimal, Userbrain
BACKGROUND
Szymon Zephan Capital (SZC Group) is a boutique investment bank located in Toronto, Canada. It provides B2B financial advisory services to help high-growth clients secure financing.
BUSINESS CONCERN
“We are not getting as many leads as in the previous years, and the newly added Tawk Chat, Whatsapp, and Podcasts have not improved the situation.”
- Co-Founder, Szymon Zephan Capital
The business observed a concerning decline in new client onboarding. As a result, they brought on board a team of UX designers to identify the reasons and design an effective solution for the same.
THE PROBLEM
High website bounce rates and lack of user engagement is negatively impacting the growth
Users (potential new clients) coming to the website
🔴
Bouncing off website and not contacting SZC Group
THE SOLUTION
🟢
Low conversion rates
Optimizing users’ experience to help them discover information and connect easily to reduce bounce off rates and increase conversion
By engaging users, offering structured content, and ensuring easy access, the aim is to provide a positive user experience that encourages interaction and reduces the likelihood of users quickly leaving the website.
DEFINING THE SCOPE
🎯
Why did we decide to focus on redesigning the homepage and contact us page?
There can be various factors that can cause the users to bounce off the website. Keeping time constraints in mind, my team and I narrowed down the project scope to address the main factors that contribute to user bounce rates.
We initiated a project kick-off meeting with the SZC- Group to understand more about the business, its concerns, goals, and limitations.
Next, we analyzed the Google Analytics data from January to April 2023 and noticed that most users are bouncing off the homepage. By prioritizing interacted pages like the homepage and contact us page, we honed our focus and set the stage for targeted improvements.
Find reliable financial solutions/arrangers
Establish strong partnerships
Feel confident and secure in financial decisions
Stay updated on market insights and trends
Successfully integrate chatbot for seamless functionality
Strengthen technical support for the system
User Goals
Business goals
Google Analytics Report (January to April 2023)
Technical goals
Increase new client acquisition and retention
Enhance brand reputation and credibility
Expand the client base and target market
UX goals
Find what causes a high bounce rate
Identify why the contact page has a low rate of utilization
SECONDARY RESEARCH
🔍
Cleary defined services is crucial for financial advisors
The first step we took was to look into the secondary research that was available online to identify key information valued by the target audience in choosing a financial advisory company.
Investopedia states that "Financial advisor" is a broad term with no precise definition, encompassing various types of professionals. Defining services clearly is crucial as each user has different goals and needs from an advisor, ensuring the right fit.
PROTO PERSONA
👤
Understanding the B2B focus: Creating proto personas to drive design decisions
Szymon Zephan Capital has helped lots of fast-growing startups and established companies with their financial needs which helped our team define the right users quickly. Since we did not have access to real users, we created proto-personas based on SZC Group’s description, ensuring the user's needs remained central in the design process.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
🕵️
busy and low resolution hero image
lack of clear defined range of services
does not follow industry standard of placement in footer
low-resolution logo, inconsistent logo colors and drop shadow on this image creates confusion and suggest clickability
no freedom for users to choose their preferred method of communication
insufficient system status visibility as user is not informed about what to expect next
Selling Startup Selena
Return Client, IT Company
Frustrations
Uncertainty about the valuation and selling process
Limited experience in selling a business
Goals
Maximize startup value through successful sale
Navigate the process smoothly
Uncovering best practices and gaps through competitors
Our team conducted heuristic evaluations of Homepage and contact us page of SZC Group’s competitors, i.e., Winsor Capital, Corewest Capital, and Bethmann Lombard Bancorp, to uncover best practices and potential usability issues to help inform our design decisions and provide a better experience for SZC Group.
Competitor Heuristic Evaluation to gain valuable insights
two taglines and placed in a wrong place
duplicate CTA’s, each open up to a different contact form, vague label “New Clients” and low contrast of CTA’s
unnecessary repetition with duplicate CTA’s placed closely together
Confusing placement of large maps above the second contact form on the Contact Us page
very text heavy and not enough margins all across
overwhelming footer with excessive links and content
confusion due to two different chatbots and tawk chat not intergrated properly
extremely long and overwhelming contact form when clicked on new clients CTA
limiting user’s reason to contact the company
missing phone number and imbalanced space
Key Insights:
A clear and concise summary of the company’s services, values, and process encourages further exploration.
Concise and streamlined navigation bar makes exploring the company more inviting
Highlighting success stories, expertise, and capabilities establishes credibility.
Easy and convenient contact options facilitate seamless communication.
Minimalist design enhances trust and seriousness
Analyzing the current website
Next, we conducted a UX audit for SZC Group’s homepage and contact us page to see how they comply with the industry standards. Audit findings are highlighted below:
disorganized navigation bar and too many tabs
Refinancing Ready Freddie
New Client, Energy Company
Frustrations
Limited refinancing options
Complex financial processes
Goals
Find better refinancing terms
Simplify the process and make it more accessible
SECONDARY RESEARCH
🔍
Cleary defined services is crucial for financial advisors
The first step we took was to look into the secondary research that was available online to identify key information valued by the target audience in choosing a financial advisory company.
Investopedia states that "Financial advisor" is a broad term with no precise definition, encompassing various types of professionals. Defining services clearly is crucial as each user has different goals and needs from an advisor, ensuring the right fit.
PROTO PERSONA
👤
Understanding the B2B focus: Creating proto personas to drive design decisions
Szymon Zephan Capital has helped lots of fast-growing startups and established companies with their financial needs which helped our team define the right users quickly. Since we did not have access to real users, we created proto-personas based on SZC Group’s description, ensuring the user's needs remained central in the design process.
Analyzing the current website
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
🕵️
Key Insights:
A clear and concise summary of the company’s services, values, and process encourages further exploration.
Concise and streamlined navigation bar makes exploring the company more inviting
Highlighting success stories, expertise, and capabilities establishes credibility.
Easy and convenient contact options facilitate seamless communication.
Minimalist design enhances trust and seriousness
Next, we conducted a UX audit for SZC Group’s homepage and contact us page to see how they comply with the industry standards. Audit findings are highlighted below:
SYNTHESIS
📌
Insight: Users are having a hard time finding information and contacting the company
Based on the research above, our team synthesized insights so that we could be strategic in our design approach and focus on addressing problems most relevant to the business goal.
Key Pain-Points:
Lack of Company Clarity
Confusing Call-to-Actions
Navigation Chaos
Contacting Challenges
Content Overload and UI Clutter
How might we optimize the user's experience to ensure that users can effortlessly grasp essential information and easily connect with the company?
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Optimizing the sitemap to match the user’s mental model through open card sorting
After analyzing the categorized services and navigation bar, our team identified issues with intuitiveness and alignment with the user’s mental models. To validate our findings, I conducted an open card sorting study with 8 users who are familiar with the industry, leveraging my network due to no access to real users.
Results confirmed that the user struggles with finding information and understanding certain labels. Initially, the client was not aligned with our concerns. However, explaining the rationale and presenting the results helped convince SZC Group to reconsider defining their services clearly and enhance the navigation bar, aiming for a more user-friendly experience.
Original navigation bar
Revised navigation bar
IDEATION
💭
Sketching a simple interface for seamless information access and contact
Once we had a clear idea of the issues with the current website, what the users are looking for, and the good practices, it was time to translate findings into Homepage and Contact Us improvements.
Before
Homepage
After completing the sketches, we transformed them into wireframes and shared them with stakeholders for feedback. This allowed us to iterate the designs and receive valuable input before the usability testing.
"We do not want the video of our process to dominate the page, but it should still have visibility if users need that information."
-Co-founder, SZC Group
After
We enhanced the 'About our process' section with a concise visual representation of the steps, allowing for quick understanding while still offering access to a more detailed video for interested users. Next, it was time to validate the designs.
Contact Us Page
Takeaways: Overlooked video CTA, text-heavy services, missing phone numbers, and overlooked specific inquiries
We conducted the first round of usability testing with 5 professionals recruited from our network, aged 30-45, with solid financial backgrounds or running their businesses. Their familiarity with seeking finance advisory services and interacting with relevant companies provided valuable insights for the testing phase.
Before moving to the high-fidelity prototype we created a style guide for consistent design elements and visual coherence
#2 TESTING ROUND
Fine tuning expertise and success stories section for enhanced engagement
The next round of usability testing was with 5 professionals recruited from the Userbrain platform aged 30-45 with solid financial backgrounds or running their businesses. Keeping the budget constraints in mind we decided to do unmoderated usability testing to get valuable insights.
Next, it was time to validate our design decisions with the help of usability testing. One of the biggest challenges of this project was to persuade the client and help them understand the value and importance of usability testing.
USABILITY TESTING
🕵️♀️
"Considering the challenges of finding B2B users and our budget constraints, conducting usability testing may not be the best approach."
-Co-founder, SZC Group
How do we test designs keeping constraints in mind?
No access to real users due to confidentiality constraints
#1 TESTING ROUND
Find testers through research participant platforms
Tap into expertise of UX professionals for insights
Tap into network to find suitable B2B participants
A Compromised Solution!
#1 Testing Round: Participants were recruited from the network for moderated usability testing
#2 Testing Round: Participants were recruited from the Userbrain platform for budget-friendly unmoderated usability testing
SOLUTION
🎉
🔄
Reducing Confusion and Frustration
Streamlined and concise navigation to simplify the user's journey and make it easier for them to explore the company's offerings
Increasing Confidence and Encouraging Engagement
A clear and concise summary of company values, services, and process for confident decision-making.
Building trust and credibility
Highlighting the company's capabilities, success stories, and expertise to evoke a sense of reassurance and confidence
Enhancing accessibility and support
Multiple easy and convenient contact options such as message, email, phone, and live chat for seamless communication
Enhancing trust and seriousness
Minimalist design to create a clean visual experience and instill a feeling of reliability and professionalism
Re-design implementation surpasses expectations: SZC Group achieves exceptional results!
SZC Group’s Google Analytics data (April 2023)
24.3%
In addition to our design, several factors have contributed to the notable improvement. While it is undeniable that easy access to valuable information, seamless navigation, and effortless client contact all optimize the users' overall experience.
“It is a big victory, and you should be proud. I am very grateful for all your hard work, which pushed me to think long and deep about little things.”
- Co-Founder Szymon Zephan Capital
Bounce rate decreased compared to March 2023
221.7%
Average session duration increased compared to March 2023
IMPACT
🌟
REFLECTIONS
🪞
Resilience in the face of obstacles
This project illustrated the importance of striking a balance between goals and constraints. It taught me that working within limited budgets and tight deadlines demands resourcefulness, flexibility, and perseverance to discover innovative solutions and ensure the project’s success.
Collaborative Synergy: A rewarding journey
This project helped me understand the power of effective collaboration. By communicating openly and working as a team, we were able to achieve positive results. The experience was very rewarding as we brought our different skills and viewpoints together to overcome obstacles and create a meaningful solution.
PROTOTYPE