OVERVIEW
We developed an early redemption feature for an investment asset, addressing additional user pain points along the way.
Collaboration with the customer service team was essential for gaining deeper context, while testing two different flows helped validate various hypotheses. The outcome was a user-friendly redemption process, resulting in 72% fewer daily tickets and a 3.5x increase in fund outflows.
CONTEXT
Locked Deposits were the first investment product to be offered in the Nu app (2020), born to be a simple way for customers to exchange the liquidity of their money for better yields.
The purchase process was seamless: users could reserve money for a set period, earning better returns in exchange. All they needed to do was select a date and an amount to lock, and the investment was complete.
However, the experience for monitoring these investments was overly basic before this project began. Users could only view a list of deposits, labeled by date and amount—nothing more.
There were no additional details about the investment, nor any actions available in the app. So if a customer needed to unlock their funds early for instance, the only option was to call the bank to request an early redemption.
Problem
The redemption of locked deposits accounted for over 50% of all call center requests of the company, consistently ranking as the highest category for several months.
This was because customers could only perform this operation through chat or phone, which significantly increased the workload for Xpeers (aka the Nu Call Center team).
Red represent support tickets related to early redemption requests.
Objective
Design a seamless in-app experience that allows customers to request an early redemption of their Locked Deposits.
Since this product serves as an entry point for first-time investors, the process needed to be as simple and frictionless as the initial deposit experience. Users were already accustomed to an effortless flow when purchasing the investment, so the redemption process had to match that standard.
Additionally, the experience needed to be fully self-service, enabling customers to complete the operation without requiring assistance from the call center. By doing so, we aimed to significantly reduce the volume of support tickets related to early redemptions, allowing Xpeers to focus on more complex inquiries.
My Design Process
1. DISCOVERY
As soon as I received this challenge, me and the PM jumped right in to gather as much information as possible about the current redemption experience for this product.
1.1 DESK RESERACH
I started with desk research, mapping out the entire monitoring and redemption experience for all investment products available in the app.
This analysis helped me spot both consistencies and discrepancies across different investment flows, allowing me to determine how Locked Deposits fit into this ecosystem. It also provided clarity on which rules we needed to follow versus where we had room to adapt based on the unique characteristics of this product.
1.2 CHALLENGES AND PAIN POINTS
The PM and I dug deep into all the business rules and mechanics behind Locked Deposits to fully understand how the redemption process actually worked. We spoke with several experts in the company, which helped us map out the entire flow, identify key challenges, and highlight important constraints that we needed to consider in the project:
Full redemption only
Customers cannot redeem a specific amount that they want, only entire lockeds because of the way locked deposits were built.
The challenge here is how to pass this rule to the user in a way that he understands how it works and doesn't get frustrated by having to redeem a different amount from what he wants.
User response to fee charged
When redeeming a locked early, the asset's profitability changes to only 50% of the CDI.
We want to better understand what the users' response will be to this change in profitability and whether this will be a pain point for them.
One redemption at a time
A pain point reported by Xpeers is that they can only redeem one locked deposit at a time, but according to them, many customers want to redeem multiple locked deposits, making this take up a lot of time for agents.
That said, the team wants to better understand the behavior of users at the time of the redemption, to know if users actually rescue more than one locked at a time and if so, how can we simplify this experience.
Final destination of the amount redeemed
When a locked is redeemed, the amount goes to the "Disponível a qualquer momento" within the Dinheiro Guardado. So, if the user needs this amount in his checking account, they have to make two separate transfers—one from Locked Deposits and another from "Disponível a qualquer momento."
Our concern here is to understand whether users will intuitively know where their redeemed money has gone, and if they will be bothered by having to redeem twice.
1.3 LISTENING TO XPEERS
With all this information in hand, I felt it was important to also hear directly from the Xpeers.
Since they are on the front lines, constantly interacting with our customers, they had valuable insights about this operation—what challenges they faced, their personal experiences, and how we could improve the process both for them and for users.
Main findings:
- Bring the redemption experience to the app to reduce the number of support tickets.
- Include a simulator in the app so users can see the net amount they would receive in case of early redemption.
- Improve Tristran (internal platform they use to redeem the investment manually during a call) by adding the simulator there as well, along with the ability to process total or mass redemptions.
- Provide a detailed statement and more information about each deposit, since customers frequently request this a lot!
1.3 COLLECT USER BEHAVIOR DATA
To wrap up our discovery process, the PM and I also looked into key data points that could help us better understand current user behavior and answer some of the open questions we had.
Most customers hold multiple Lockeds
98% of users have up to 20 lockeds, while a small group holds over 100 lockeds, often with very small amounts per deposit.
Reasons for redemption
Most users redeem funds due to an emergency or an opportunity rather than routine financial planning.
High volume of redemptions
In July, around 78k lockeds were redeemed by 27k customers, totaling R$ 58MM.
Users tend to fully redeem their deposits
75% of customers redeem all of their locked deposits rather than just one.
Users already expect to be charged a fee
Past research and feedback from Xpeers indicate that customers already anticipate some form of penalty or fee when redeeming early.
Users think in terms of the amount they need, not specific deposits
In customer support interactions, it's rare for users to request the redemption of a specific locked deposit—instead, they focus on withdrawing the total amount they need.
2. Ideate & Prototype
After presenting all the findings and challenges we had gathered to our team, we had in-depth discussions about two distinct approaches to solving the redemption experience.
At the same time, I realized that we were approaching Usability Test Day for our Investments Business Unit, which meant we would have a chance to run quick tests with a group of users who would be available for us designers for an entire day! Given this opportunity, the PM and I decided that it would be the perfect moment to test both hypotheses our team had been debating.
A. Mass Redemption – Giving users full control
This approach was designed to make it easier for users to redeem multiple Locked Deposits at once. Instead of forcing them to go through multiple transactions, they would have a full overview of their locked custody and be able to select which deposits they wanted to redeem.
To help them make informed decisions, the interface would clearly indicate which deposits would incur IOF fees before confirming the transaction.
B. Amount-Based Redemption – Aligning with user mindset
This flow focused on the way users think about redemptions—not in terms of specific deposits, but in terms of the amount of money they need.
In this experience, users would simply input the amount they wanted to redeem, and the system would automatically determine which deposits to withdraw from, prioritizing the closest values and best rates.
However, a major concern with this approach was that it would be difficult to match the exact amount requested, meaning users might be forced to redeem a different amount than they originally intended—potentially leading to frustration.
3. USABILITY TEST
We tested both flows to determine which option was the most promising and to validate their overall usability. This helped us reach a final decision on what would become our MVP.
Test Objectives:
- Identify which Locked Deposits redemption flow is more effective and intuitive for users.
- Assess whether customers understand the redemption rules and determine if any aspects of the process cause significant friction.
Sample:
- 4 Explorers (users who are more comfortable with risk and experimentation)
- 2 Safety Seekers (users who prefer security and predictability in their investments)
Key Findings:
Inexperienced users were confused by the custody screen
Users unfamiliar with Locked Deposits initially misunderstood the custody overview screen—they assumed the value displayed represented the amount they would receive upon expiration, rather than the total invested.
Fees and charges were expected
Most users already anticipated a fee for early redemption. Their main concern was understanding exactly how much they would be charged and, when possible, being able to choose the deposits with the lowest fees.
The 'Select' option was preferred
Users favored the Select Option because it gave them a greater sense of control over their finances. They liked being able to test different redemption scenarios, choosing which deposits to withdraw from and optimizing for the lowest possible fees. Additionally, they appreciated having a broader overview of all their Locked Deposits, reinforcing their feeling of control.
The final destination of redeemed amounts was mostly clear
Users did not mind that the redeemed amount was transferred to "Dinheiro Disponível a Qualquer Momento" instead of their checking account. However, some expected the money to appear directly in their Conta Corrente, as they had not read the information provided on the confirmation screen.
Reinvesting leftover funds was common behavior
5 out of 6 users said they would reinvest any leftover amount after redemption and would only withdraw the exact amount they needed.
Final result
Since the back-office processes for handling calculations and operations were quite complex, we decided to launch the solution in two phases.
This approach allowed the development team to first focus on building a simpler MVP while prioritizing backend work. Once the technical foundation was solid, we could then roll out V1, which would provide a more refined and user-friendly experience.
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