Wise
A summer as a User Experience Research Intern, looking at how customers in vulnerable circumstances experience customer support.
ワイズ
waizu
“Wise”
The “s” sounds like a “z” in wise, so katakana spells it that way: wai-zu.
I led research into customer support experiences for vulnerable customers, then turned what I found into recommendations for Wise’s design and product teams.
- Role
- User Experience Research Intern
- Methods
- Interviews, literature review, competitor analysis
- Interviews
- 15+
- Squad
- Support
The research
From my final presentation to the Support Squad
- 01
The question
How can Wise improve the customer support experience for vulnerable customers?
52%of UK adults
show at least one driver of vulnerability, across health, life events, resilience and capability (FCA Financial Lives 2020). A vulnerable customer could be any of us.
Searching Wise Help for “chronic illness” - 02
Fieldwork
Extremely vulnerable and elderly people are almost impossible to reach through online survey panels, so I went to them.
9Retired pensioners
through the University of the Third Age. Every one had met fraud first- or second-hand, most were active international travellers, and all of them distrusted AI support and struggled to reach a human.
- 03
Expert interviews
Outside Wise, people who support vulnerable people every day. Inside, Wise’s own Vulnerable Customer team.
External and internal
A housing support service for LGBTQ+ young people, a disability assessor and former foster parent, and Wise’s Vulnerable Customer specialists.
“Care leavers are the most financially vulnerable in society… they are forced out the system at 18 and that’s it.”
- 04
Competitor analysis
How other financial services help customers say what they’re going through, and find the right support.
What others do
Dedicated wellbeing hubs, and low-barrier ways for a customer to share their circumstances.
A “Share with us” disclosure flow - 05
The workshop
I brought Support Design and Wise’s Extra Care Team together to work through what I’d found.
Support Design × Extra Care Team
Designers, product managers and Extra Care specialists, sorting the insights into opportunities together.
The workshop board
Where it led
Three recommendations for Wise’s design and product teams, and research that kept going after I left.
- A Care Hub Specialised FAQs and situational guidance, in one place.
- Support transparency Clear guidance for vulnerable customers and their carers on what is possible.
- Easier disclosure A “Share with us” feature and low-barrier quizzes, so customers can tell Wise what they need.
- An accessibility audit Kickstarted an external audit of how accessible Wise’s support experience is.
- Teams joined up Bridged a knowledge gap between designers, product managers and the Extra Care team.
- Into Q1 2027 The research feeds into solution design next year.
“You’re leaving behind something at Wise that will continue long beyond your internship.”
“Her insights are definitely setting our Squad up for success in identifying further opportunities to support our vulnerable customers better.”
At Wise
