top of page
hsbc-bank-1.png

Deceased Estate Research

Overview

Role & Duration

This 7-week advanced UX research project focused on enhancing the user experience for deceased estate customers on HSBC Australia’s website. The goal was to design a more seamless and compassionate journey for customers dealing with the loss of a loved one, while aligning with HSBC’s global brand standards.

Sole UX Researcher | Harness Project
User Research, Primary & Secondary research, Service blueprint, Research Report

Jun-Jul 2024

Objectives

The primary objective was to improve the “Dealing with Bereavement” page and related offline processes, creating a clearer and more supportive experience. This included understanding pain points within the current user journey and gathering insights from bereaved customers, as well as from HSBC’s frontline staff, to inform meaningful UX enhancements.

Approach and Deliverables

  • Conducted research with affected customers and HSBC staff to map the deceased estate user journey.

  • Developed personas, ecosystem maps, and customer journey maps to visualize key findings.

  • Presented UX recommendations in a 15-minute client pitch, highlighting improvements to ease customer stress and support frontline staff.

  • Delivered a formal research report, including detailed insights and actionable recommendations.

Impact

The recommendations aim to support HSBC Australia’s mission by providing a compassionate, user-centred process, ensuring that customers receive clear, helpful guidance during challenging times.

User interview

HSBC provided a list of staff members to contact, leading to four in-depth interviews that I facilitated and documented. I conducted the meetings via Zoom and utilized Otter.ai and Dovetail for transcription and analysis. The interview script and key analysis are shared here for your reference.

UX Advanced Research Report

For this project, I conducted interviews with HSBC staff members and performed secondary research. I then synthesized these insights into a comprehensive report, outlining key findings and actionable recommendations.

View the full report below for a detailed account of the research findings and recommendations.

Screenshot 2024-07-29 at 9.44.50 PM.png

15 min Presentation

Screenshot 2024-07-29 at 9.48.09 PM.png

In the final week, I delivered a 15-minute presentation to share my findings and recommendations. I highlighted key pain points and areas needing improvement, using an interaction diagram and service blueprint to illustrate my points. The full presentation deck, designed with Canva, is below for review.

Declan Lavendar,
Head of Deposits, FX & Payments
at HSBC Australia

"Your presentation was really good—well done. I particularly appreciated how you addressed the needs of international customers and language barriers, offering the most in-depth analysis on this topic. Your competitor analysis was also impressive, extending beyond banking and providing practical examples from other websites we could consider implementing. Overall, it was a thorough and insightful presentation. I have no further questions; you've covered all the important points effectively. Thank you for your excellent work."

Reflection

It was an honour to be involved in this high-profile corporate project and to interview the staff members provided by HSBC. Collaborating with my colleagues throughout the interview process was a valuable learning experience, and working on the interaction diagram and service blueprint underscored the importance of selecting the right tools for the design process. I was particularly impressed by how AI technology accelerated the analysis of our interviews. I'm grateful for this opportunity and for the guidance provided by my mentor, Sue, who expertly navigated us through this complex challenge.

Assessment by Mentor

bottom of page