HBL

Design Research for
Pakistan’s leading financial
institution

Services

Service Design, Ethnography

0 m

users migrated to digital channels

0 %

year on year growth in digital transactions

0 %

cost reduction through digital transactions

Introduction

HOW IT BEGAN

HBL, Pakistan’s largest financial institution, faced a growing need to shift its 20-million-strong customer base from physical branches to digital channels to improve cost efficiency and accessibility. With a large network of over 1,700 branches, HBL partnered with Designist to understand why customers preferred in-branch transactions and how to encourage digital migration.

problem we were trying to solve

Operating traditional branches was significantly more costly than digital transactions. To optimize resources, HBL needed a clear strategy to transition customers to digital platforms without compromising their experience.

our role

Designist conducted an extensive analysis of customer behavior and branch processes to identify pain points and barriers to digital adoption. Through in-depth field research, we mapped customer journeys across seven key transaction types and engaged branch employees to understand procedural variations. This research uncovered insights that were critical for creating a seamless digital experience.

Design Process

Our team identified 7 core transactions that take place
at branches, both financial and non-financial. Such as:

fund transfers,

bill payments, and

balance inquiries

The key was to understand why customers are going to
the branch to conduct these transactions vs doing so on
digital channels.

Our field research
provided us with over 200
customer interviews

We visited branches across Karachi, Lahore and
Islamabad to identify different insights that helped us
completely understand these 7 transactions.

Our field research provided us with over 200 customer
interviews, gathering data that was essential in building
detailed customer journeys.

Customer Journey Mapping

Creating customer journey maps for all 7 transactions
helped us identify the friction and pain points that occur
for the customer, at each stage of their experience with
HBL’s service.

This first step of identifying pain points, for both users
and providers of the service, is helpful in laying
foundations that allow us to ideate solutions for these
pain points.
The journey map also helps identify the non-tangible
experiences that customers go through. Such as:

being greeted

how long they have to stand in a line

the bank staff’s behaviour towards them

Customer Journey Map

Definition: A journey map is a visual representation that
helps identify all the touchpoints of a product or service
that a user experiences

*General Transaction Journey (blurred for data protection)*

Process Mapping

The process mapping exercise enabled us to engage
branch employees – particularly in understanding how
the transaction experience varied across different
branches.

Even with standardised process documentation, we
noted that each branch brings in their subtle changes in
approach – sometimes good, and sometimes not so good.

Artifacts Study

Designist also conducted an in-depth study into the
various artifacts that had to be utilised by the service
user and service provider – with the different approaches
build our process recommendations.

During this period, it was also noted how each branch
had a different mechanism to solve for common recurring
issues.

Leveraging on co-creation

Designist led a 3-day co-creative session with various
stakeholders from HBL, to reflect on different challenges
that we uncovered during our field research; faced by
the customers and the employees at the branches.

These ideation sessions were able to gather innovative
solutions and unique insights of each representative.

Session outcome

Our research laid the platform for the bank’s Channel
Migration agenda – where employees were incentivised
to ensure that customers shift their high volume, low
value transactions towards digital channels.

Our work enabled HBL to launch a Channel Migration agenda, driving customers towards digital channels with incentives and support. This initiative resulted in a 40% annual increase in mobile app users and a 90% growth in digital transactions, strengthening HBL’s digital-first approach and significantly reducing costs.