Putting humans first

22 May 2019

First things first, what’s the difference between CX (customer experience), UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design?

It can be incredibly confusing; not just how they’re different from each other, but how they’re different from traditional design.

The thing CX and UX both bring to a product, is putting humans at the heart of it. Trying to make sure the experience is based on an understanding of what drives customers, and trying to solve their problems through good design. UI is about how that is presented on the platform.

That human-centred design approach is something that isn’t always present in traditional design.

To me, CX and UX are intrinsic to each other. UX is a facet of CX, it is more specific to a digital experience, but for companies such as Harmoney, which is an entirely online service, it’s pretty hard to have good customer experience, without good user experience. Without that, innovation is going to be driven by an abstract idea. I think that makes it much less likely to be successful.

So what does human-centred design actually mean?

There’s a psychological aspect to it that’s really fascinating. It’s about understanding human emotion, and the behaviour it drives.

You use that to create elegant solutions to problems you’re trying to solve for people. As the name suggests, it’s putting people first and helping them achieve the things they’re trying to do in their lives, rather than trying to fit them into something you’ve already decided to do.

It’s why it’s really important to have a diverse range of people involved in UX design. Our customers are a diverse range of people who will respond in different ways.

What does UX bring to Harmoney?

It comes back to that point about helping people do the things they want to do in their lives. Harmoney has enabled people to access financial services from their home, and on their own terms, without having to deal with awkward face to face interviews at a bank or financial institution.

Our ongoing UX focus is about trying to remove friction from their experience with us, and to ensure our customers have a human experience, even though it is an online platform. Our UX designs should bring humanity to a digital experience.

Where does UX fit into a start-up?

It should be a part of the plan from the beginning. The point is, it’s human-driven design and thinking. You put the people first, think about what problems they may have that you’re trying to solve and innovate or create around that. It makes more sense than driving ahead with something you think people want, or that you want to create, and trying to shoe-horn your customers into it at the end.

And it’s not just for tech companies or digital platforms. Human-centred design can drive real world situations such as creating a management structure or providing social services.

Where can UX take the world?

The world is filled with unnecessary, bad design. I think less is more. I’d like to see the world filled with elegant solutions to people’s needs; solving problems with good quality design. That’s my utopian vision for the future.

For queries please contact:

Investors

David Stevens
CEO & Managing Director
investors@harmoney.co.nz

Media

Stephanie Ottens
Investor Relations
stephanie.ottens@marketeye.com.au
+61 434 405 400

About Harmoney

Harmoney is an online direct personal lender that operates across Australia and New Zealand providing customers with unsecured personal loans that are easy to access, competitively priced (using risk-adjusted interest rates) and accessed 100% online.

Harmoney’s purpose is to help people achieve their goals through financial products that are fair, friendly, and simple to use.

Harmoney’s proprietary digital lending platform, Stellare™, facilitates its personalised loan product with applications processed and loans typically funded within 24 hours of acceptance by the customer. Stellare™ applies a customer’s individual circumstance to its data-driven, machine learning credit scorecard to deliver automated credit decisioning and accurate risk-based pricing.

Business fundamentals

• Harmoney provides risk based priced unsecured personal loans of up to $70,000 for three or five year periods to customers across Australia and NZ
• Its direct-to-consumer and automated loan approval system is underpinned by Harmoney’s scalable Stellare™ proprietary technology platform
• A large percentage of Harmoney’s originations come from 3R™ (repeat) customers
• Harmoney is comprised of a team of ~80 full-time employees across Australia and New Zealand, over half of whom comprise engineering, data science and product professionals
• Harmoney is funded by a number of sources including two “Big-4” bank warehouse programs across Australia and New Zealand and a facility from M&G Investments