Save banking customers from form hell

Despite what technology has to offer, banks can’t seem to operate without this – ‘Forms’.
Every single customer journey has something to do with forms, whether it is opening an account, changing the address, making a telegraphic transfer or getting a banking product. And of course the list is endless. No matter what kind of forms they are, they seem to put customer into a pain box, even into a hell.

I have three observations about this form hell:

It’s freaking ugly and no room to breathe
Banks tend to invest so much money in branding and advertisement, but not giving a mercy to forms. To make the matter even worse, forms are often created by someone who doesn’t care about design, because they think ‘forms’ and ‘design’ are not compatible things. Hence forms were born with congested terrible words and no room to breathe.

Forms call you a name
Who are you when you are using a form? You are still you. But forms define you as something you may not understand, and they keep calling you a name such as applicant, card holder, beneficiary, creditor…

What you see is only the result of bigger evil.
Forms are not just a ugly table printed on a piece of paper. They are a reflection of the way the bank operates, the process and policies.

How we can save our customers

Take forms seriously.
Understand that forms are not mere piece of paper. They are the way customers interact with the bank. Bank should treat them as a critical customer touch point and design them with intelligence and gracefulness.

Use ‘You’
One of the great way to make the forms simpler is defining ‘who are the intended user’ of the form. Then call this user ‘You’. Do not give them names we think. Talk to them directly by saying you. Your customers feel immediately feel simpler, and clearer what they need to do.

Be ready to tackle your organizations’ real issues.
Forms are the honest reflection of the internal processes. A real meaningful change can be only achievable when the team understands the nature of forms and is willing to improve or change what’s underneath.

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Be designful: Nothing is small in designing customer experience. Forms are important customer touch points, and forms can be beautiful.

Special thanks for DMcQ for inspiring this post by originating the word ‘form hell’ and my CX colleagues who are working so hard to bring common sense and style to forms.