Absa's New Card Continuum

•

With Absa's recent rebrand, they took advantage of the opportunity to better represent their customer base. As part of a swift and expansive roll-out, the banking cards had to be rapidly redesigned. Freethinking consultants were brought on for six sprints to deliver a new continuum of retail and business banking cards, as well as implement a strong customer-centered design practice.

The Brief

Africanacity: A New Brand With New Goals

Bank cards are a significant touchpoint with customers as they're used daily. The new designs had to reflect the brand’s new values, of the African spirit and the opportunities it presents. The cards had to create a narrative for the customer while also representing their respective segment. Freethinking worked with the Absa Africa Design Office to create a continuum that delivered on all of their business and customer needs.

Methodology

To execute this project, we use Agile - it's traditionally used for digital product delivery, but proved very successful in enabling design delivery. We delivered two cards with their respective carriers and envelopes at the end of each sprint.

User Research And Testing

Following a UX process, we built personas for each user segment. These personas provided insights into the needs, preferences and world view of user segment - these insights enabled us to create user-centred concepts and visuals, while also informing our approach to user testing. Multiple rounds of user testing were conducted with participants that fit the profile for each user segment.

Our goal was to get qualitative feedback about the card concepts and design, ensuring that the most appropriate was implemented for each user segment. Methods and techniques we used were:

Semantic differential survey - A linguistic tool used to evaluate the users’ attitudes towards the card concepts and designs.

Interviewing - One-on-one interviews with the users to gain further insights about the card concepts and design and the usage of the card.

The Concept

Expanding Your Worldview

The ABSA card continuum ranges from basic accounts, like Transact, to their most aspirational Wealth account. These segments and their progression are represented through the metaphor of an expanding world view. As we move through each of the segments, we view our world from a different perspective, expanding from microscopic images to aerial photography and satellite imaging, to stars and nebulas, where the possibilities are endless.

Introducing Vertical Cards

Innovation: Cards Inspired By The User

The way use bank cards has changed over time, evolving from being inserted into ATM's horizontally to vertically, we decided to align card orientation with the way they're oriented when used.

Design Process

Sprint Workshop: Concept And Ideation Sessions

Each sprint started with a concept workshop. The team collaborated offsite to discuss each respective card, how each concept related to the user segment personas, and sketched out ideas. The team voted for the concepts they felt were the most appropriate for further development.

User Testing

Determining Design

The decisions on which designs to implement were validated by putting the concepts with the highest votes from the workshops through user testing.

Iterate

Refining Execution

Once a concept was validated in user testing, the digital illustration process began. Multiple iterations of each concept were created, experimenting with colours, compositions and how the design will translate to a vertical layout.

Testing

Colours From Digital To Print

Due to the final printing process happening at printing houses abroad, we tested the Pantone colours locally on different bases, marked our final choices and couriered the samples to the printing houses as a reference.

DTP Process

Preparing To Print

Producing bank cards presents many challenges not typically encountered in standard print design work. Printing on plastics and metals, combined with metallic base colours, Pantones, spot varnishes and foiling, all added to complexity.

All manufacturers of bank cards are located outside of South Africa and offer limited to no access to their facilities. We couriered test prints, colour experiments and scrupulously inspected card proof documents to ensure optimal results.

Carriers And Envelopes

In addition to the card plastics, we also developed templates and final prints for accompanying card carriers and envelopes.

The Final Result

A Card Continuum That Tells A Story

We expand the user's worldview as they progress up the continuum, and we denote this progression with colour. The black card has always been a status symbol associated with wealth, elevating the psychological and emotional value of the card. The black Wealth Credit card is produced in metal and is limited to an elite segment.

Colour is used on the cards to play into progression, getting deeper and darker as the user progresses up the continuum.

The cards are successful as a collection and on their own, tailored for each user segment, and emulating the spirit of Africanacity.