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Lowell Financial
Turn the brand into an operating system.
I was responsible for managing the work done by the Product Design and Research teams. From the early stages, I became actively involved in the craft of the experience.
Lowell Financial specialises in collecting payments of debts owed by individuals. An unknown and unloved business that wanted to grow through empathy & understanding.
Through research it was clear that customers do not inherently trust debt collection agencies, giving us one big challenge - To evolve the brand across the experience engendering trust and confidence.
Following a collaborative approach, we immersed ourselves into the client's business and reviewed the company's end-to-end experience, mapping the customer and business activities, and giving us a holistic view of the entire experience.
My responsibilities included leading the Research, Experience and Visual Design teams, from casting to creative direction and hands-on interaction design.
Through research it was clear that customers do not inherently trust debt collection agencies, giving us one big challenge - To evolve the brand across the experience engendering trust and confidence.
Following a collaborative approach, we immersed ourselves into the client's business and reviewed the company's end-to-end experience, mapping the customer and business activities, and giving us a holistic view of the entire experience.
My responsibilities included leading the Research, Experience and Visual Design teams, from casting to creative direction and hands-on interaction design.
After evaluating the expected gains for the business, and the customers, it was decided that the first area of focus should be the “Welcome Journey”.
Our recommendation included a sequence of emails, SMS messages and the creation of new website landing pages, achieving:
Our recommendation included a sequence of emails, SMS messages and the creation of new website landing pages, achieving:
20%↑
More effective for getting customers to set up new plans.
The second area of improvement was the brand. Lowell needed a new Visual, Verbal and Experience guideline. In four weeks, we developed four creative routes, and with the help of stakeholders, shortlisted two for creative development. The final route got selected after a sequence of Qual and Quant tests with customers.
During the process, a team of Experience and Visual Designers collaborated to create an identity to support the strategic values.
We understand.
Help customers to feel understood and that they are not alone. And see the benefits of paying off their debt.We empower.
Demonstrate that there is a solution that works for their situation. Reassure and normalise debt.We make it easy.
Encourage customers to start; make things feel achievable and attainable from the outset.With one route approved and tested, we initiated the Design sprints. Based on the Business and Customer needs, we planned the sprints with focus on the assets, components and tools with the highest score.The final deliverable was a Playbook with the strategic, creative and development guidelines.
In parallel to the development of the Playbook, we've designed a new website making use of the guideline. The new website got tested by our team of Experience Designers in our in-house Experience Lab. After a sequence of one to one sessions, designed to validate our assumptions and unpick new insights, the work was updated and published as part of the final Playbook.
In the testing sessions, we've looked at the perception of the new brand guideline, validated the content requirements through a prioritisation exercise and tested the suggested information architecture and website usability.
Working with the developers, we included the technical specifications in the Playbook, documenting the guideline for development and governance. The document also included rules for the content editors and the in-house design team.
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André Figueiredo — Over 20 years of experience creating and executing ideas between design and technology — Currently working as Creative Director at R/GA, I lead product design teams for Nike, Playstation and IKEA.