Counter product design

Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) are a prominent UK financial services group with a legacy spanning over 325 years, boasting a distinctive portfolio of renowned household brands, including Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Operating under the mantra of "Helping Britain Prosper", the group is committed to fostering a sustainable and inclusive future for individuals and businesses. Their aim is to redefine finance as a positive catalyst for societal progress and economic empowerment.

In 2022, I was recruited as Principle Designer to support Lloyds Banking Group's 'Counter Project' initiative.

calendar  Date:  2022 - Present
calendar  Role:  Principle Product Designer · Hybrid contract role
calendar  Various feature teams:  consisting of:  Product Owner, Scrum Master, Project Managers, Business Analysts, Technical Analysts, Solution Architects, Technology Services Assistants, Service Designers, UX Writer, Software Engineers, Quality Engineers, Business, Branch & Non-branch Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

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What is Counter?

'Counter' is a crucial component of the Group's Personal Banking System (PBS). It serves as the primary application within the branch network, handling a wide range of transactions, from cash and cheque deposits to payments and customer inquiries. The application interfaces with physical peripherals, such as the Pin Entry Device (PED), Intelligent Voucher Reader (IVR) and printing devices. Notably, 'Counter' is the sole means for transferring cash within the bank, making it indispensable for back-office teams dealing with cash, including bereavement, fraud and robotic teams. Currently, approximately 18,000 users rely on this application (11,000 in branches and 7,000 in non-branch roles).

What is the 'Counter Project'?

My confidentiality agreement with Lloyds Banking Group prevents me from publishing any LBG material that isn't intended for the public domain. Hence, I'm unable to showcase any of the 'Counter' designs I have worked on while collaborating with the Group. However, I can provide a summary of the work I've engaged in as part of the 'Counter Project'.

The 'Counter Project' addresses several business priorities, specifically:

  • Tech improvements: To undertake a full technical rebuild of the Counter application, using a cloud-based infrastructure, micro-services and new, state-of-the-art databases, further improving the performance, agility and durability of the system
  • Front-end improvements: To improve the branch colleague’s user experience by overhauling the system’s front-end, making it more intuitive and user-friendly whilst achieving WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across the entire application
  • Risk remediation: To create a new generation of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who can respond with agility to the Group’s vision for enhancing the in-branch experience
  • Balancing risk and timelines: To deliver a complete new UI structure within practical business timelines, whilst managing risk and the need for minimising colleague training efforts on the new application

Project outcomes

The product design work I am undertaking for the 'Counter Project' is dedicated to achieving the following outcomes:

  • By improving the Counter user interface, we will increase navigational efficiency, for Counter users, which will reduce customer session times, resulting in full time equivalent (FTE) saving (aligning to board metric)
  • By breaking down the application into micro-services, we will facilitate the ability to release faster incremental software improvements, for the business, resulting in regularly improved experiences for colleagues and customers
  • By including more personalised account referecnes within the customer profile screen, we will increase the ability to quickly identify specific customer accounts, for branch Counter colleagues, which will help them identify the right account faster, resulting in increased average number of customers served and a seamless experience for customers
  • By adhering to WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, we will improve the accessibility of the application, for all Counter users, which will demonstrate our moral, ethical and legal responsibility to become accessible to all colleagues, regardless of their abilities
  • By cataloguing the new Counter designs, flows and scenarios, we will enhance our understanding of the system, for the business, which will result in the creation of new SMEs and removal of risk resulting from colleague loss
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