Prototyping in the Banking Field

¶ … Prototyping?

The development of the prototyping methodology

The Benefits of using Prototyping today

The evolution of Rapid Prototyping

The creation and development of three banking websites using prototypes

Prototyping for banking related GUI

sing mobile phones for banking

Asia-Pacific Summit

Banking systems using ATMs and ADCs

Prototyping in the Banking Field

What is Prototyping?

The Web defines prototyping as the term that is used to describe the process by which physical mock ups or models are made up out of the proposed designs. In the days before the wide usage of the computer aided technology, prototyping was done using traditional models. Today however, prototyping is done using three dimensional computer models. This method is definitely more efficient as well as quicker than the traditional methods. The computer-aided prototyping is also referred to as 'Rapid Prototyping'. (Fundamentals of Graphics Communication, 3/e) Sometimes, certain partial aspects of the program are created using this method, and this helps the user to understand the problems or virtues of the program before it is implemented anywhere. Users are offered a chance to find out and correct the mistakes if any in the program by the prototype that has been created. (Chapter 14 - Programming and Languages) One of the most complex problems being faced by the businesses of today, including that of Banking, is the re-designing and the integration of the existing business processes that have been in use up until now.

The development of the prototyping methodology:

One of the most useful methodologies that these businesses are finding extremely useful and practical is the method of re-designing a business process design named 'Business Process Re-engineering Methodology' that explains in great detail how the existing design can be changed and re-modeled to suit the newer business processes and therefore the newer requirements. This new design is referred to as the 'Product-Based Development Design', and the innate strength of this method lies in the fact that the method of 'prototyping' is used extensively throughout the procedures described. Prototyping is mooted as the method by which the end-user can use his inputs for the purpose of authenticating and validating the process designs described. It is a fact that all over the world, all the various businesses are being either fine-tuned or re-designed or re-engineered or value added or right sized or re-aligned, in the name of Business Process Re-engineering or what is also known as 'BPR' to dramatically improve the existing business. From the time of the creation of the BPR, when it was solely used for improving and optimizing all the various business processes within one single organization, to a wider usage wherein various business processes across several different enterprises are re-designed using the methods prescribed by the BPR.

A BPR generally tackles a two-fold challenge: a technical challenge, which is in other words the problem of developing a new process design that would improve in a dramatic way the existing process design, and the second challenge being that of the socio cultural changes that are an inevitable result of the severe organizational changes that may cause the persons involved in the organization to react bitterly towards the changes. The focusing on the socio cultural changes to be brought about and the management of the project is seen as important in the BPR method rather than the method of trying to introduce technical changes. Another area of focus in the BPR method is the utilization of the anecdotal and descriptive points-of-view, rather than the prescriptive and quantitative view generally used by other methods of re-designing. The basic idea of creating a method that would solve technical problems in the technical BPR challenge is the Product-Based Development Design, a method whose innate strength lies in using prototyping. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

The Benefits of using Prototyping today:

Prototyping is the method that has been used for many years, probably from the early eighties onwards, as the method by which problems if any can be disposed of or 'flushed away', and user acceptance in the field of information systems development can be made very real and possible. From that time onwards, prototyping has been accepted as the one good method to be used in all fields of the development of interactive systems. One example where prototyping has been used successfully to improve the business is when it was used in 'Rapid Application Development'. What are the benefits of using the method of prototyping to develop and support the various business processes of today? These benefits can be seen as being two-fold. Primarily, the first steps or the 'process steps' as they are known, that describe the initial steps that are taken in the development of a new business process, are taken by a human being who is completely thorough and familiar with all the information technology that is required by him in order to fulfill the various steps involved in the process, or these steps are fully automated with absolutely no human interference, thereby minimizing the chances for the creation of any mistakes whatsoever.

One example of the benefits of the usage of this process is demonstrated by the BPR process inculcated in a Dutch Social Insurance Company, wherein the first eighteen steps of the required twenty-four steps needed to carry out the initial processes of the new design were completely automated. The different specifications for the purpose of the execution of the steps must be taken from the various objectives prescribed in the process steps that they are to support; otherwise, the entire system would be termed as less-than-adequate. This is where the importance of developing and utilizing a prototyping design is seen clearly. Design processes would be protected by the elimination of design errors or insufficiencies, if any, and the subsequent efforts in design development would become more efficient and quick. Another reason for the development and usage of a prototype in a BPR process is that when end users are confronted with the basic design even before the design has actually been implemented; the opinion of the end user can be obtained without further expenses. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

When seen in the context of 'change management', this is very important since it not only saves costs but also demonstrates the viability of the design being created and developed. The end user therefore has the opportunity to actually use the design, and they are requested to give their feedback, and this helps the organization to see the pros and cons of the design before vast amounts of funds are used in its implementation, after which it may not be of nay great benefit; it may even fail miserably. When the end user uses the design, the company knows the value of the design and then the management can either go ahead with the necessary changes if any inculcated within the design, or shelve the design. The end user, however, has to be made aware of the fact that though the new process design is different from the design that they have been using all the time before the development of the new one, the purpose behind both remains the same, that is, the purpose of delivering the very same products as it was doing earlier. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

Therefore it can be stated that when PBD or Product-Based Development is used for the purpose of developing and implementing changes using the system of prototyping, the system of PBD is in itself the translation or changing of an innate manufacturing idea to be adaptable to the world of administrative processes such as banking, government, and insurance and so on. For example, when the design of an informational product like a mortgaging loan or an insurance permit needs to be changed and modified, its basic structure is decomposed and dismantled into a number of informational elements, which are in turn used to arrive at a process design. The actual information elements of a product may be inherently related to each other in different ways. For example, when a consumer loan is considered, the primary fact to be considered is whether the loan can be granted to the applicant, and if so, the amount of the loan, and the other conditions of granting a loan to an individual must also be evaluated.

Therefore, when the granting decision is taken as being one of the elements of the administrative process, then the reason for the application of the loan, as well as the credentials of the applicant must be taken into consideration. This information will be used to determine the value of the granting decision of the loan. PDB in this instance prescribes the application of essential logic to the representation of the facts of the case. Therefore it can be said that the inter-dependencies between all the involved elements and the logic are determine the various specifications of the product that is involved. This method can be used very successfully in the Banking Sector, wherein small pockets of initial logical information can be decomposed n a manner that would aid further in the development of a prototype for the design of a particular product in the field of banking. (Using Prototyping in the Product-Driven design of Business Processes)

The evolution of Rapid Prototyping:

When an individual comes up with a revolutionary new idea for any new product and wants it to be tested so that it can be patented under his name, he had to use the time tested traditional method of tie and dye prototyping that not only consumes time but also takes up a lot of other resources that the individual may not be able to afford. This is when the newest method of 'stereolithography' came into existence. This is a dynamic method wherein the process of 'rapid prototyping' can be used to develop and create new designs. The system uses a combination of CAD or Computer Aided Designs and drawings, and ultraviolet laser radiations and liquid plastics or in other words, polymer resin, and also other forms of high tech equipment in order to change a three dimensional design on paper into a three dimensional model. Only one hair thin layer of liquid plastic is used at one time in this method, and the final model is cured in an ultraviolet oven, and finally hand finished. The apparatus that has been developed using this technology is amazingly versatile and can accommodate extremely complex and difficult designs at one time, and is also cost effective at the same time. The Stereolithography solution offers 'quick to market' solutions to the manufacturers, and is fast catching up in popularity all over the world. (Stereolithography)

When the manufacturer utilizes the technology, all the innate defects of design can be discovered immediately, and this is one of the greatest benefits of using such highly developed technologies for the purpose of testing a product before it is launched in the market. This would not only avoid losses on the part of the company, but would also improve cost efficiency. This is basically what prototyping is all about. (Vista Technologies, the Perfect Prototype of a New Business Venture)

The creation and development of three banking websites using prototypes:

The issue of creating and developing a banking website that uses the latest and newest technologies in the market today, like for example, the system of 'rapid prototyping' is one that is very important in today's world where everything is fast paced and almost every other person uses the computer and the Internet for a wide variety of purposes, including for that of Banking. Iterative design is the term that is generally associated with prototyping and evaluating any product. When Tom Brinck and Darren Gergle were assigned the job of the creation and the development of a Banking Website using an iterative design; i.e. In other words, by using the method of prototyping and other newest usable and assuredly successful methods and techniques of development in their designs.

The first project undertaken by the team had as its primary focus the issue of providing customer service information to all the Bank's customers, including the old and the newer ones. Time was a definite constraint in the development of the website, as were the monetary resources offered to them. Therefore, the work had to be rapid and extremely efficient, and the selected design processes had to be very effective. The general principles of working followed by them, however, were more traditional. For example, some of the methods were: the text was placed against a white background, and this increased legibility and visibility, the font used was a point larger than the usual default size, and this also increased legibility, the site was arranged in a simple hierarchical method, all the graphics on the page were arranged in such a manner that they would all be displayed at any one time, and could be printed easily when necessary. (The Design of Banking Websites)

It goes without saying that all the effective and efficient design processes were not used in each and every website; however, certain time established principles of design could be used in all the designs. For example, in Bank One, the idea for the website was created after a series of meetings that were held between the Bank, the sales person of the designing company, and the designer of the website. This helped in the establishment of the general tone and the function of the Bank Website as required by the management of the Bank. It was only after this that the website began to be built up, step-by-step. A mock up and a model were created, and it was only after these were approved of that the actual website was created and developed. As for Bank Two, the team of Tom Brinck and Darren Gergle tried to minimize costs further by preparing mock ups and also training the sales persons in their firm to ask particular questions of the management of the Bank and get the proper answers on which to base the website.

After this was done, the system of 'computer comps' was used, which is nothing but a series of rapidly drawn but good quality sketches to base the future design on. The program 'Adobe Photoshop' was used to create the computer comps in this case, and the clients were given a chance to view these comps on their web browsers, after which they could offer their opinions about the designs. The usefulness and advantage of using comps lay in the fact that client feedbacks can be obtained very early in the development of the design, and the client is also made to feel that he has had a major part to play in the formation of the design. The method of 'informal user testing' was also utilized in the development of the design for Bank Two, which involved the process of requesting bank employees and other personal friends to test the website by asking them to browse through the contents within, and find information in the site, and give a proper feedback that could be used to correct and to rectify any inherent mistakes that had been unnoticed by the team until then. This testing in fact revealed a very important mistake that had been overlooked by the entire team, and this was the problem that the users were facing in getting back to the Home Page; they could not figure out how to. (The Design of Banking Websites)

When the website design for Bank Three had to be created, the team decided to revert to the method of using paper comps, and the clients were asked to choose one from four comps offered to them. When this was done, an online version was created, and clients were asked to view it on their browsers and give their comments and opinions and feedback wherever necessary. The differences in using paper comps and computer comps were found to be vast. While computer comps allow for greater flexibility in design because the elements and colors can be altered with relative ease wherever necessary, and also display better finish, and they can also be displayed on the web so that clients can access it easily, the paper comps are definitely more cost efficient than the computer comps, and are fast and can also be copied easily.

The most important factor that makes choosing the paper comps as a better option is the fact that the client would have a feeling that this is only a sketch and mock up and not the final, and this means that changes can be implemented when necessary. This is the advantage of using the system of 'prototyping' in creating and developing designs related to an innately information and client important industry like Banking, where the customer has to be kept in mind at all times, and information that he requests must be provided for him wherever needed. (The Design of Banking Websites) The system of Prototyping can also be used in the technique called 'remote batch processing', a process that is used in the 'Automatic Teller Machines or ATMs of Banks. (Chapter 16, Input Design and Prototyping)

Prototyping for banking related GUI:

A team of computer professionals from the Osaka University has written a paper on the necessity of maintaining an object-oriented system of Prototyping for banking related GUI applications. Herein they talk about the statistical analysis of the efforts being made for the modifications of certain C++ computer programs according to the needs of the requirements of a particular GUI -Graphic User Interface application. The analysis was undertaken by following three important steps: the classification of the program C++ according to the original MVC paradigm, the evaluation of C++ for the purpose of 'code modification', wherein the efforts put in to modify the program is taken as an heuristic value, and the relationship that comes into being between the value of C++ and the classified values of C++, and the values of the efforts being put in onto the source codes of C++. This is how this particular team developed the necessary banking prototype. (An MVC based analysis of Object-Oriented System Prototyping for Banking Related GUI Applications.)

Using mobile phones for banking:

Today, banking has extended to using the services of Mobile Phones to accept payments for any thing through the Bank. The system consists of an electronic payment system that enables various transactions to be conducted with the use of the mobile phone network or the wireless communication network. The advantages of using the mobile phone to conduct money transactions is that such a system offers the user a great amount of independence and also convenience in usage to finish his transactions within a matter of mere minutes, as against traveling to and from the Bank, and waiting in a queue to complete his business and getting back to his place of work, all of which would consume a lot of his time and resources. PDA s or what are known as 'Personal Digital Assistants' are also used in conducting m-business transactions, wherein m-payment systems are used. Generally, the people involved in m-transactions are those financial institutions or Banks that offer the mobile payment service to mobile phone users, and the mobile network operators and the so-called 'acquirers' or the providers of this specialized mobile phone payment services work together or independently to facilitate the conduct of such transactions.

These are the several services that are possible to use through the mobile phone payment system: general banking services, mobile phone banking services through the use of the SIM Toolkit, the payments of bills, credit card management services, and the facility of WAP or 'Wireless Application Protocol', which is in other words, also called mobile internet services. The system of prototyping was initially used to find out whether the system would work well or not. In this case, prototyping meant that the design of the product was created and developed to its full scale, and then it was tested as a fully functional unit by offering it to end users. These users had the opportunity to use the product and offer their valuable and sought after opinions on the viability of the design as well as the product. In this case, prototyping was used for the following practical reasons: since possibility and feasibility had to be tested before the product could be launched, these were tested. (Mobile Payment Systems and the Use of Prototypes)

A study of the several present day systems that were already in use at that time was undertaken, and the findings of this research were taken into account during the planning stage of the product. The various requirements of the implementation of the product were determined, and these were kept in mind. After this, the actual prototype to be created was planned and determined, keeping in mind that this prototype would be the model on which the actual product would be based later, in the execution stage. The prototype was then built with all the inlaid capabilities and capacities of the future product, and once this was done, it was tested out by asking several sections of end users to use it and offer their criticisms and their opinions on the to be launched product.

End users were then trained as to the method in which the product could be used, and this provided valuable information as to the pros and cons of the product, because it is an undeniable fact that it is only when a product is actually used by the target group that all its various advantages and disadvantages come to the fore, and when the product is only at the prototyping stage, it is easier to modify and rectify the product in a way that would satisfy all the end users, since the product was designed for them and they would have the satisfaction of knowing that their opinion mattered in the development of an important product. The various kinds of prototypes used by the team developing the mobile phone payment transaction system were those of 'rich pictures', the age-old method of 'block diagrams', the system of 'process diagrams', the 'functional prototype', and the system of the User Interface of UI. (Mobile Payment Systems and the Use of Prototypes)

Asia-Pacific Summit:

It was during the Asia-Pacific Public Services Summit held in Beijing in July 2004 that the issue of developing new designs for banking using the system of prototyping was discussed in great detail. The issue of converting the 'ripples of innovation' into 'tidal waves' of development was the primary topic, and changes for the better were touted as the one good way for the companies and organizations to survive in the strict world of competition of today. The concept of ICT is discussed in detail, and the idea that ICT is one of the most powerful agents of change today is explained. ICT is now the best method by which most people of the world can maintain communications with each other, and also access information from each other and from diverse sources. The world of ICT has given rise to the existence of 'cyberspace', and this in turn has changed the very actions of thinking and acting and working in today's world. Cyberspace has also given rise to newer and better business models, and this is leading to the creation and the development of newer and newer businesses. (Connectivity and Competitiveness: New Models for e-Government in China, Asia-Pacific, and the World)