Intro.

Website related services are what we do really well at Mäd.

Over the years, we have gained cross industry experience in web design and development and have become the go-to agency for some of the leading banks in the Kingdom. We've been able to hone down on the key elements that make bank websites successful and we're excited to share what they are:

• User centric design
• Mobile friendly / responsiveness
• Virtual help
• Loan calculator
• Loan application

But before we deep dive into the key elements and to also give you a full picture, we have to mention the Design Sprint workshop which enabled us to understand the key issues and objectives and laid the foundation for our proposed solutions.

Design Sprint.

To design a website from scratch is one thing, to redesign an existing website is another. When Aeon Specialized Bank reached out to us for a website redesign services, it was important for us to firstly understand why.

Rarely does a corporate website get redesigned just for the sake of a refresh. Normally, it's part of a wider strategic business initiative that looks to provide a competitive edge to the organisation.

Understanding the why is a safety measure against all the challenges that a redesign may pose i.e losing the brand identity and essence.

Depending on the project, we normally run a one day Design Sprint workshop committed to understanding all the whys behind their need for a redesign. Insights gathered during the Sprint workshop would lay the foundation for some of the key features / solutions that we eventually see in the finished product.

Now that we've briefly addressed the Design Sprint, we can now move on to discuss the key elements that make Aeon Specialized Bank website successful i.e. the user centric design, the mobile responsiveness aspect, the virtual help feature, the loan calculator & application.

User Centric Design.

Although we've said "rarely does a corporate website get redesigned just for the sake of a refresh", sometimes a refresh is necessary to achieve a user centric design.

The old website of Aeon Specialized Bank had an outdated look that resembled a busy pdf file. The overuse of the vivid purple-pink colour overwhelms and buries all the key information one may look for when they visit a bank website.

To balance the overwhelming vivid colours, we incorporated the use of more white space. The result was a completely transformed, clean and minimalistic look which highlighted key information while still staying true to the purple-pink Aeon brand identity.

The redesign fully embraces the "simplicity is key" motto.

Mobile Responsiveness.

Rarely is web design ever a one size fits all. Depending on screen size, platform and orientation, the final look of the design can vary vastly.

Our Sprint session with Aeon Specialized Bank revealed their target market to be mostly mobile users. This is not uncommon, especially considering the ever growing market of mobile banking and how that is a deciding factor for bank consideration amongst millennials. Banks worldwide are catching onto the need for a professional online presence which includes a mobile responsive website.

The result is a mobile website that resembles and operates similarly to a mobile banking app.

Virtual Help.

Banks receive a lot of enquiries daily, most of which are customers trying to find information to determine if they are eligible for a specific product or service. Sometimes, what a customer wants may not be what they're eligible for. It's important that we help them figure this out early on in the enquiry process to save everyone's time.

This is why we added the Virtual Help feature to navigate customers to the types of products and services they're eligible for. Taking data from a user's basic information like age, nationality, salary etc., the Virtual Help then recommends eligible products and services i.e. types of card, types of loan, types of installment accordingly.

Loan Calculator.

It's very important for banks to accurately inform and set the right expectations for their customers.

This is why we added a loan calculator feature that makes figuring out repayment terms and estimated monthly repayment a breeze.

Instead of having to type in the amount, customers can use the sliding bar to set the amount of loan they wish to take out. After specifying the loan amount, a customer can play around with the different repayment term most suitable for them i.e. 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months to find out the estimated monthly payment.

Loan Application.

Aeon Specialized Bank is a well-established personal loan provider. Our goal with the website was to make it as easy as possible for customers to request for loan and also for the bank to process the loan.

We replaced the old static "How to Apply" page with an interactive "Loan Application" page. All a customer has to do is fill in their information like their name, date of birth, salary etc., and wait to be contacted while the bank processes their information. Gone are the days of long queue and paperwork.

The loan application also utilises the loan calculator feature at the bottom of the form because it's important for customers to be aware of the different repayment terms and the corresponding estimated monthly payment.

Development.

All the discussion above focuses mainly on the design aspect but the development aspect is what brings the website to life.

At Mäd, we utilise many routes to development. Our teams consist of designers, developers and hybrids of the two, skilled in various types of content management system (CMS) to ensure that our clients receive a tailor-made service, one that responds to their unique business needs.

For Aeon Specialized Bank website, we decided WordPress would be the most suitable solution. Our desire to bring to life the loan calculator meant we would need a robust backend to support the complexity of the feature, yet flexible enough to adapt if the bank wishes to change the loan formula over time.

Conclusion.

At Mäd, we go above and beyond the aesthetics. While the look and feel of a website matter greatly, we strive to ensure that the end result is also practical and beneficial to all stakeholders.

We care about the outcome not only for our client but also for our client's clients. In the case of Aeon Specialized Bank, it was important to us that the website would serve both the bank and the bank's clients. Nothing makes us happier than to have our before and after results reflect this.

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