GO DO
Banco Azteca came to frog with a problem - they were an up and coming bank all around Mexico, but they didn’t have the best reputation for ATMs. Lines at their human tellers were becoming too long to handle - and mostly for common transactions which could easily be offloaded to ATMs if their customers trusted them.
Plagued by poor reliability, Banco Azteca were planning to upgrade their ATM models and wanted a surround and vestibule area to match the higher tier ATM itself. Could we earn back consumer trust with a new design?
We traveled to several areas of rural Mexico to see the ATMs in use, and speak to those who used them. We found that customers often went to the ATMs in pairs - couples doing their finances together. We discovered frustrations with confusing signage, and ATMs that felt fragile (or were already broken), along with concerns about safety. Users were afraid someone might look at the screen, or worse, sneak up on them and steal their money.
We created a design that was instantly iconic and recognizable, based on the Banco Azteca logo. We used durable materials, and designed for two customers to use it comfortably and privately. We balanced security via increased lighting and visibility with privacy by using large amounts of frosted plastic in the surround. The vestibule area was designed with large diffused overhead lighting, bright colors, simple wayfinding, durable tile walls and wood-pattern-tile floors to feel modern, yet stand the test of time. The design was extended to an entire range of implementations.
Concepts were prototyped at scale, and even field tested using VR to gather customer feedback and down select.
The designs launched in 2019 and are in use all over Mexico.
skills: Design Direction, User Research, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design
year: 2018-2019