CMB Wing Lung Bank Red Packet
In East and Southeast Asian cultures, red packets were given to family and friends during China New Year to symbolise good luck and wealth. During COVID19, lockdowns and regulations caused gatherings to be cancelled or postponed. Electronic red pocket was introduced in hope to continue this tradition and to continue bring joy to those who gives and those who collects.
The aim of this project was to solve the problem of family members unable to share their good luck through red packets during Chinese New Year due to pandemics.
The Problem
In 2019, COVID19 caused citywide shutdown around the world. People cannot leave their home and cities were closed for weeks. Visiting friends and family became impossible and people only travel when absolutely necessary. During festivals such as Chinese New Year, people still wanted to wish each other good luck and hand out red packets. However, simply transferring money to family and friends’ bank account would defeat the purpose of wishing each well and prosperity. And the joy of collecting red pocket and not knowing what amount is in the pocket is lost when it’s a simple money transfer. These are areas we look into during the research phase.
Explore
The research phase of the project consist of user interview and competitor analysis. Traditionally red packets are given out by married couples or elder family members, so with the target audience in mind I interviewed multiple family members as well as married couples. Some questions asked include what they see as the most important aspects of red packets and their habits of giving them.
Some collected quotes include:
“I give red packets out when I visit others during Chinese New Year. I usually give children more as its usually treated as their pocket money”
“Red pockets are given out in pairs as there are Chinese saying like 成雙成對 and 雙雙對對 which translate to good things come in pairs.”
Some other insights collected during interview includes:
Newlyweds are more likely to give out smaller amount due to less financial burden.
For some it’s a struggle to think of Chinese greetings on the spot when they visit friends and family
Some elderly will even give out red packets even if they are not married.
People pack and nicely organised the red packets to avoid missing someone out.
Traditionally people don’t open the red packets they have collected almost half a month after Chinese New Year.
Base on the findings I created a persona and user journey map to display the findings to the team.
Competitor Study
Some banks that have launched similar module have received positive comments about their flow, so I conducted a competitor study on their flow to better understand how to create my design.
ZA Bank
Provide an interatice interface where the user can physically “pack” money into their red packet
User can choose from a variety of default red packet templates
Can only send to one person at a time
Alipay
User can input a random total amount and set the number of red packet to share that total amount
The best wishes section have a default message depending on which cover has been selected.
Conceptualization
I started creating low-fi concepts for primary use cases. After having a go-ahead from the Product Owner, developers, and Stakeholders on the mockups, I began to conduct usability tests with the medium fidelity mockups. Once several designs were explored and discussed, the best solution was selected and pass to IT team for development.
The Solution
The red packet module allow users to send out red packets with best wishes to family and friends without having to physically visit them during difficult times such as the pandemic. This helps to continue the Chinese traditional and for families to hope for other’s future happiness and welfare as easily as before.
Project Learnings
System status is important
Users always want to know if the recipients have successfully receive the money they sent. Providing status update when the money get sent through generate a sense of comfort for the user
Provide defaults to speed up the process
Sometimes user struggle on a step because there are too many options and they struggle to make up their mind. Having default options can kickstart the whole process and require less thinking from the user.