Human-centred design at UNCDF: How it enhances existing frameworks
The HCD toolkit for Remittances was designed as part of the comprehensive demand-side research on customers of remittance service providers commissioned by UNCDF. The project combined quantitative and qualitative behavioural research to shed light on the remittances value chain of migrants and remittance recipients in Africa and Asia. UNCDF’s vision of a successfully inclusive economy for migrants and remittance recipients is one where: digital remittances are available to migrants and remittance recipients (ACCESS); migrants and remittance recipients trust digital remittances and are using end-to-end digital financial services regularly (USAGE); and migrants’ and remittance recipients’ financial health and ability to withstand setbacks are strengthened through increased uptake of remittance linked DFS, including savings, insurance, pensions and credit (RESILIENCE). But migrants and remittance recipients face several challenges in reaching this vision of success.
The Empowered Customer Frameworks were developed as part of the research for the HCD toolkit. Customer empowerment is crucial to improving the access and usage of digital remittances and remittance-linked DFS. The premise is that when customers are empowered, they make more informed choices, trust the institutions they interact with, are comfortable using those financial services they value, and feel more in control of their financial lives. In turn, the likelihood that customers become more loyal to and transact more regularly with their RSPs and FSPs increases, leading to greater consistency in transactions, positively affecting provider sustainability, and generating greater value for customers.
The Empowered Customer Framework
On migrants’ and remittance recipients’ journeys toward improved access and usage of remittances, customers go through a series of steps in which they interact with remittance service providers and financial service providers offering digital remittances, digital payments, and remittance-linked financial services. At each step, customers may experience moments of empowerment or disempowerment. Understanding where empowerment or disempowerment is felt along the customer journey provides helpful information in designing products and services suited to the customer’s needs.
The UNCDF Empowered Customer Framework identifies voice, choice, skills, and control as critical components for migrant men and women and remittance recipients to access and use remittances and remittance-linked financial services to support their journeys toward financial resilience.
The Ideal Customer Journey