User Research for
Emotional Design

How we helped ABCD understand their users’ emotions
Deliverables
UX, Strategy, User test & Interface design

More than
‘Clean, Simple and Efficient’

Aditya Birla Capital Digital, is a recent initiative by Aditya Birla Capital which operating with the philosophy that ‘financial management is emotional in nature’. They came to Parallel to figure how they could use the same philosophy to elevate their product experiences.This birthed the idea to go beyond user behaviour and study user emotions.

Why study user emotions?
Experiences are evolving, and ‘Clean, Simple, and Efficient’ products will not meet users' expectations forever. People don't just want digital products that perform a specific function, they want experiences tailored for their values and aspirations.This means companies need to move beyond just functionality and delve into the emotional and psychological aspects of user-experience.

Our goal was to understand  the emotional aspects of financial decision-making, and designing to minimise negative feelings while enhancing positive ones.

Here’s how we figured out the user’s emotions

Step 1

The correct
personas

Before figuring out ‘what the user feels’, we needed to  decide ‘who the user is’. In a single workshop with the ABCD team we were able to narrow the focus down to two specific personas that aligned with their goal.

Busy spender
"With my busy schedule, managing money efficiently is a challenge I'm trying to tackle."
The Budgeter
"Balancing my expenses and savings is a puzzle I'm determined to solve with a solid budget."
The Newbie
“I have recently started earning and do not understand a lot about maintaining finances”
Family financier
"I prioritise securing my family's financial future while balancing present needs."
Step 2

Effectively capturing emotions

To ensure nothing gets overlooked, we decided to capture user’s emotions in two ways - through our in-house designed emotional scale inspired by the ‘How We Feel’ app; and simultaneously documenting behavioural responses and indirect cues.

Step 3

Asking the right questions

For getting the right set of actionable insights, we had to trigger the right emotions. We chose 8 themes in line with ABCD’s value proposition to craft user interview scripts that would help us capture, assess and analyse those emotions.

Cohort 1
Low Income* +
Planned Spending behaviour
Cohort 2
High Income +
Planned Spending behaviour
Cohort 3
Low Income + Unplanned Spending behaviour
Cohort 4
High  Income + Unplanned Spending behaviour
Income, Expenses
Behaviour
Needs vs Wants
Managing Financial
Health
Savings
Financial Portfolio
Investing
Credits
& Debts
Financial Awareness
Step 4

Uncovering actionable insights

Over the course of 20 meticulously conducted user interviews, our team uncovered a whole spectrum of emotional insights. From people’s relationship with credit cards to how their parents influenced their saving habits - we had actionable insights for the ABCD team across their ideal users financial journey.

I do not use credit cards!
My dad has been saying for years that things can go out of hands, and I haven’t been able to overcome that fear.

EMI se nahi pata mujhe kya problem hai. Main kosish karta hu 1 time payment karu aur khatam ho jaaye.

What did we learn about from this research?

What users feel about specific financial aspects and where they struggle 
The unique role of social proofing in financial decision making 
The areas of financial management that instil a sense of fear and vulnerability in users 
Emotional triggers in users when using fintech solutions
The range of emotions users experience on financial platforms

The quote

Need help in understanding your User’s emotions better?