Case Study: MC

I performed contextual inquiry research Interviews with two employees at the firm which resulted in massive time-saving.

Client

Major Financial Services Firm

Overview

Major software that the firm developed and owned was focused on how B2B clients would use the system. However, we had very limited access to those clients. So, I suggested that we observe users inside the firm who use the system. That research ($1,200 estimated cost) revealed a problem with a simple solution ($400 estimated cost) at a savings to the firm of $200,000 each year.

Client Need

The client needed to understand the following:

  • The scope of how the software was being used day-to-day.

  • The scope of how the software was being used internally.

Key Strategies Implemented

Discovery 
Contextual Inquiry Research, Participatory Design

Delivery 
Report, Agile User Story

Outcomes

With only 2 hours of research and 2 hours of development time invested, this research yielded a savings for the firm of $200,000 per year for the foreseeable future.

I led User Experience for MasterCard Integrated Processing Solutions™ (IPS). I was the single point of contact for the front-end design and usability for this project. I worked with Business Analysts to capture the desired business outcomes. I conducted user testing to determine the needs of the users. I created wireframes and coded (HTML) front-end solutions. And, I worked with developers to bring the business and user goals to life.

The overall goal of the project was to get MasterCard into the realm of card processing via creating a single sign-on, single look and feel product that connected seamlessly to seven back-end systems and offered users their own view into the B2B and B2C products that they were authorized to access. The entire system was designed in such a way that individual financial institutions could re-skin it with their branding.

Managed usability/front-end team
- Managed team workload
- Sourced, interviewed, and hired the team
- Coordinated with other project teams (including Business and Development)

Performed competitive analysis

Organized and led usability tests

Created and maintained UI for globally utilized web application with both business-to-business and public-facing portals from the ground up

Developed front-end (HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, JQuery, Dojo, JavaScript, GWT UiBinder)

Led Internationalization work for the web application (usability analysis and design)

Created Prototypes
- Paper prototypes
- Balsamiq prototypes
- High-fidelity, clickable HTML prototype

Created HTML click-through demos that were leveraged
- To onboard people to the project
- By Marketing to sell the product
- As a communication method with offshore development team

Branded the application to suit business-to-business customers.

Agile methodology (wrote user stories, worked in Jira and Confluence)

Praise from CTO/President, Rob Reeg, via press release link below.

Quote from Rob Reeg, MasterCard CTO and Interim President of MasterCard Global Technology & Operations in the MasterCard IPS Press Release:

“With MasterCard IPS, we have eliminated the need for banks to dedicate significant time and resources to learning and managing payment portfolio interface systems Portfolio Viewer is a substantial advancement for the industry because it is intuitive and easy for users of any skill level, and it provides banks with an unprecedented ability to customize the processing platform interface while freeing them from interaction with the back-end system mechanics.”

The Client Said…

“Martha was an outstanding UX designer, but more critical, she understood how to prioritize UX integration into key project timelines. She has the ability to function as a BA, PM, along with her core UX design skills which enables her to span all areas of a project and be proactive in her area of expertise as she can see what is coming before it arrives.”

Pete Hogan
Vice President – IPS
Direct Manager