YuMe: a digital tool to build your financial plan for life
"People assume it’s enough to put money on the side monthly, but the interest rates have never been lower. Many are also unaware of how much they spend. Based on these and more consumer insights, we developed a user centric tool to help you make choices that will benefit your future."
Kenny Desmet
UX lead of the Duke & Grace UX Studio
YuMe takes into consideration not only your pension, savings and incomes, but also your family status, housing and even your hobbies - this way the financial simulation can be fully personalized and tailored to individual lifestyles. So, whenever an important milestone is approaching (kids going to study, planning a big trip...), you can easily try out different scenarios and make informed decisions.
To bring such an ambitious vision to life, we had to focus on user needs and apply an agile, data-informed approach. This is how we made it happen.
Research and design sprints
The entire process was built around co-creation. The teams of Duke & Grace and Belfius worked closely together during research, workshops, interviews and validation meetings. On top of that, solid vision on the product of Mieke Debeerst (CCO and Marketeer of the year 2019) and a strong customer-centric focus of Benoit Speybrouck (Digital Director) and his team were paramount for the success of this project on the business side.
The spirit of co-creation was strongly present on the UX side, too. We began with a thorough context analysis that delivered insights into our target groups, value propositions and much more, to the take these learnings and first ideas into design sprints with participation of end users. Each feedback round was followed by UX and dev adjustments. Altogether, getting all things on point took about 3 years and 20 user tests.
Using data to map out user’s financial life
Rich data input is essential for an accurate simulation: family situation, incomes, spending patterns, mortgages, savings… A lot of this information is available in advance in the Belfius database, which allowed for a handy pre-fill function within YuMe. To implement this function in a secure manner, we worked with JavaScript, using Angular. Next step was about building the financial calculating engine necessary to generate a reliable simulation (plan). It was executed by the Belfius data partner Argeüs and further integrated in the YuMe tool by Belfius IT teams in cooperation with Duke & Grace.
Getting the UX on point and developing
Once the YuMe prototype was mature enough, we continued by finalizing its UX (no longer through design sprints). The central questions here were: How does it fit in the strategy of Belfius? How can we maximize the user friendliness of YuMe? What’s the smoothest way for users to discover and start their YuMe simulations?
When all the questions were answered, it was time for us to develop the final product (fully in-house). Today, YuMe is available on three different channels: the Belfius mobile app, in desktop version on Belfius Direct Net and in the physical bank offices, integrated in Belfius software Fox.
YuMe
More than a sales tool for the Belfius products, YuMe is first and foremost a guidance tool that helps users make informed financial decisions in a smooth and personalized manner. Empowering your clients by providing them with the right tools to make an optimal choice is at the core of an outstanding digital service.
— Bert Beernaert, Project Manager at Duke & Grace