UBI Banca: A Data-Driven Product Strategy

Project Overview

UBI Banca engaged our team to transform its online presence into a high-performing lead generation and sales platform. Our primary objective was to create a website that not only drives conversion but also provides a seamless, personalized user experience across devices. Anchored in a data-driven approach, our strategy centered on enhancing user engagement and optimizing the cross-device experience.

Challenge and Strategy

The complexity of this project was marked by a dual challenge: balancing the needs of UBI Banca’s diverse audience segments, spanning Retail and Non-Retail sectors, and unifying the brand’s visual identity across both online and offline touchpoints. The bank’s website serves as the central portal for all departments—each with unique and sometimes overlapping needs, such as Private/Family Banking and Corporate Investment. Additionally, a cohesive visual communication style was required to bridge the gap between the bank’s online and offline brand identities.

Using my strategic framework focused on defining clear success metrics, establishing ownership of user stories, and managing the backlog to maximize impact, I structured the project roadmap to address these core needs.

Project by the Numbers

• 50 people involved

• 5 co-design sessions

• 5 user test sessions

• 50 UI evolutions

Key Issues and Solutions

1. Stakeholder Alignment:

From project inception, it was essential to manage a complex network of stakeholders with varied business goals and audiences. This required a targeted engagement strategy to prioritize and address both Retail and Non-Retail requirements while ensuring the alignment of the website’s hierarchy and navigational structure.

2. Visual Identity Consistency:

UBI Banca’s digital branding had drifted from its in-branch identity, presenting a challenge to creating a unified and recognizable brand experience. We introduced a cohesive visual language that could flexibly support both Retail and Corporate identities without compromising on user experience.

Strategic Goals

• Improve digital conversion rates through tailored user journeys.

• Modernize online service offerings, enhancing ease of use and accessibility.

• Lay the groundwork for a data-driven evolution of the customer journey.

Framework Application - Data Thinking & Personalization Strategy

Our approach utilized Data Thinking to personalize user interactions from the very first visit. Recognizing that many users would arrive with limited or no known data, we designed pathways (or “Mindsets”) that allowed users to identify themselves by interacting with specific content themes, ultimately guiding them to products that matched their profiles.

This strategy can be broken down as follows:

1. 1Customization Logic: Personalized content was offered based on progressively gathered insights. Starting from basic, anonymized data, we structured content to adjust dynamically according to the level of user knowledge, enriching the experience as users engaged with the platform.

2. User-Customer Tracking: To bridge digital and customer data, our approach integrated user cookies with the customer’s encrypted unique ID (NDG) upon accessing secure areas. This allowed us to track customer interactions and optimize content delivery without compromising data security.

Engagement Funnel Design

The core of the personalization strategy revolved around our Engagement Funnel, developed to address the Null User case (a user with no prior data available). The funnel encouraged users to engage with relevant Mindsets and Themes, helping us guide them through specific products that aligned with their needs. This enabled a data-driven, progressively personalized experience that dynamically adapted as we gathered user insights.

This strategy underscored our commitment to product vision, strategic growth, and adaptability while providing UBI Banca with a scalable digital platform aligned with business objectives and user expectations.

Acquisition Funnel