Case Study 02

FABRIC

Concept-testing a new member support system for a FinTech startup for small business owners during organizational change

ROLE

Senior UX Researcher (contract)

TIMELINE

6 weeks

METHODS

User Interviews

Change Management

Concept Testing

Financial Services Startup

Company

A Series A fintech platform serving self-employed professionals and small businesses needed to transition from an email-based support system to an in-app messaging center powered by Zendesk. Member growth had outpaced their customer service model, and leadership needed a change management strategy to minimize churn risk during the rollout.

The Challenge

Core Questions

  • How do members feel about switching from email to an in-app ticketing system?

  • What is the likelihood they'd use the new system over the familiar email workflow?

  • What are the biggest churn risks and how do we mitigate them?

  • How well does the proposed escalation framework match members' mental models?

My Approach

I conducted 10 remote 60-minute sessions combining structured interviews with concept testing. The first half explored current support habits, Member Relationship Manager (MRM) relationships, and pain points. Then I tested a clickable Figma prototype showing three levels of support escalation, asking participants to rate likelihood of adoption at each level using a 5-point scale.

I closed each session with three real-world pressure test scenarios — like discovering a tax return mistake right before the filing deadline — to validate whether the escalation framework matched how users would naturally navigate the system.

Key Insight: The Trust Gap

High-utilization members posed the greatest churn risk — not because of the product change itself, but because of a gap in trust. Both the old and new systems felt like a "black box" where customers never knew who would respond to their request.

"I want to ask a question and know Dan's answering, but if he has no recognition of previous conversations... If I have to re-explain myself, that's gonna piss me off."

Customers wanted to know:

  • Who is responding?

  • Do they know my context and history?

  • Is there a clear path to escalate if I'm not satisfied?

Key Findings

  • Transparency over convenience: Users valued knowing who they were talking to and seeing their support history more than they cared about the channel (email vs. in-app)

  • Focus on gains, not just change: Members empathized with MRMs being overwhelmed during tax season. The rollout was an opportunity to demonstrate the company was addressing the problem by introducing efficiency

  • Behavioral design matters: Loss aversion meant we needed to meaningfully message the gains — particularly that tax experts would be more available — not just announce the change

Impact and Milestones

Prevented Potential Churn

Findings directly shaped how the company communicated the IMC to members. Marketing reframed the launch as a "tax season support upgrade" rather than a system change

Phased Rollout with Risk Monitoring

Recommended monitoring high-utilization segments closely post-launch, which influenced the rollout timeline and escalation path design

Content Strategy Delivered

Auto-response copy was rewritten to reduce anxiety. Routing transparency added. Display names updated to include expertise titles (e.g., 'Janet, Tax Specialist')

👀 Behind-the-Scenes

Stakeholder interviews surfaced tension between cross-functional teams. Mid-project, the company announced layoffs impacting the design org.

Rather than funneling findings only to the hiring director, I published insights and updates to a shared Slack channel accessible to all stakeholders — including the CEO.

In a politically charged environment, keeping the research neutral and accessible was the only way to preserve its value and encourage teams to act on the insights.