CASE REVIEW
APS Bank contacted us at a time when they were updating their internet banking service, by launching my APS – an omni-channel solution which includes an enhanced internet banking service via desktop and the launch of the Bank’s first mobile app. During this complete overhaul of their systems, they approached us for step-by-step how-to videos to support their new software. APS is known as a bank that always takes care of their clients, with a special attention to accessibility of their services to individuals who may be visually and/or hearing impaired.
From our initial meetings, the APS team shared a few how-to videos that inspired them. Video that they felt could work well for their own brand. Their main request was that our videos had to include text and audio voice-over. This decision was made to guide clients through each process with the utmost of ease.
There are a number of Maltese digital agencies that do not provide this kind of service, specifically how-to videos that incorporate design and tech elements; this caused doubt in our client, however we were able to provide a mock video to prove that this was right up our alley, and that we would take all the necessary steps for this job to be a success.
THE PREPARATION
Our senior designer was called on to take care of the design and layout required for the videos in each of their platforms – vertical and horizontal for mobile and desktop screens respectively. APS’ brand guidelines were used to make sure that the brand’s identity was clearly shown throughout the designs and a storyboard was created according to the functions on the portals.
One challenge we had was that working with a financial institution had its set of boundaries, including security. Our team was required to test the software and app themselves at the client’s offices and were not allowed to have access to them outside of the building. This meant that a lot of the experimentation was done in restricted time-frames. We had to understand each process and the journey a user would take to enter a particular section of the software and app. Luckily, our team was ready for this challenge and took note of all details required, successfully managing to relay and describe to specifics, all that was required out of our design team.
THE HOW-TO VIDEOS
A total of 25 videos were required for various processes. For each of them, a plan was made in the form of a storyboard for how it worked. Therefore, we took the opportunity to research competitors’ videos and understand what banks were expected to produce. Similarly, we also researched what was visually trending amongst their target audience.
Our team was involved in testing aspects such as how a virtual hand could be placed within the video. The aim was to assist users and lead them to what buttons had to be clicked. We experimented with a hand that would enter in/out of the screen, versus a hand that remained on screen.
Once we were confident with the process and solidified our plan with the client, we worked on the videos. We successfully produced 25 how-to videos with all of our client’s requirements. We kept the videos looking clean, minimal, and with the simplest processes for their target audience.
In addition, we designed an instruction booklet to complement the how-to videos.
