(How to fix) 5 common UX mistakes in online banking

Customer support is a huge part of a user's experience, and one that every bank likes to say they're great at. But there is a lot we can learn from the mistakes that U.K. banks have made.

Based on his latest research report into the user experience of a dozen leading British banks - including Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Monzo, Starling and Revolut - Built for Mars founder Peter Ramsey shares his top five UX tips for customer support.

We dive deeper into each tip, including discussing the thorny topic of call decision trees (press 1 for ... press 2 for ... etc.), which Ramsey advises should be depreciated in the age of mobile apps, how push notifications might be employed to provide a more Disney-like queuing experience, why hold music is bad as a concept and why it's time to ditch the live chat bait and switch.

Get rid of call decision trees

Call decision trees are annoying to use and unnecessary for users who have access to an app. Instead of asking customers to navigate via their telephone's numeric keypad, use in-context questions inside the app, and then put the full number, including the correct extension, behind a button.

TechCrunch: Perhaps we should clarify what you mean by call decision trees" and - considering they've been an industry standard for years - why is now the time to get rid of them?

Peter Ramsey: The decision tree is that automated press 1 for ... press 2 for ... " process you sometimes have to go through at the beginning of a call. I should clarify: It's not time to eradicate them entirely, because it's pretty useful for people who only use telephone banking. But for anyone who has access to an app, it's totally unnecessary.