Research-Led Experience Strategy for SMB Growth

Company

Capital One

Timeline

3 months

Project

Research & CX

My Role

Creative Lead

Capital One engaged us to strengthen Spark’s position in the small and medium business (SMB) market.

The project had three interconnected objectives:

Deeply understand the Spark SMB customer
Inform how Spark should be marketed on the public website
Define how the signed-in experience should reflect the financial mental model of small business owners

The client specifically requested multiple strategic directions for both the marketing information architecture and the signed-in visual experience to support internal exploration and decision-making.

This case study is organized into three sections:

Research and Insights
Marketing Website Concepts
Signed-In Spark Dashboard Concept

The Problem

Capital One launched Spark as a new small business product line, but:

Customers perceived Spark as repackaged consumer banking products
The digital experience did not reflect the realities of small business ownership
Capital One lacked a clear understanding of how SMB owners think about managing their finances

Without differentiation, Spark risked blending into a crowded market.

Outcome

Validated how small business owners evaluate financial tools and make decisions
Defined strategic content and structural principles grounded in user behavior
Developed multiple site architecture concepts aligned to SMB motivations
Provided a defensible, research-backed foundation for future digital investments

My Role

Creative Director and Account Lead
Led qualitative research with small business owners
Synthesized findings into actionable strategic frameworks
Directed structural and messaging concepts to guide executive alignment

Detailed Case Study

Research

In-Depth Interviews (11 Participants)

Conducted in-depth interviews with 11 small and medium business owners across industries observing how they:

Track revenue and expenses
Manage short-term cash flow
Make decisions about financial tools

Behavioral Exercises

To uncover mental models beyond verbal responses, we incorporated:

Card sorting exercises to understand categorization logic
Stack ranking to identify priority needs and decision drivers

Card Sorting

Stack Ranking

Insights

Target Audience Definition

Research clarified the specific small business segment Spark was best positioned to pursue. The most aligned audience consistently shared three primary characteristics:

Digital Savvy — Conducts the majority of banking online, yet still values access to a real person to quickly resolve complex issues or build a trusted relationship.
Small and Growing Businesses — Typically less than 10 years old and actively expanding. More mature, established companies showed less likelihood of increasing financial complexity or switching providers.
Under $2 Million in Annual Revenue — Businesses above this threshold were significantly less likely to change banks or shop for new financial products. Companies under $2M demonstrated greater openness to new accounts and money-saving opportunities.

What SMB Owners Want Most From Their Bank

The most highly prioritized features SMBs want is keeping costs low and getting help when needed.

Six Strategy Principles

The research informed six guiding principles that shaped both the marketing site and signed-in experience.

Marketing Website Concepts

Research revealed a split in how small business owners think:

Some approach banking in terms of products (credit card, checking, etc.).
Others think primarily in terms of needs (manage cash flow, control expenses, grow revenue).

To reflect this divide, we developed multiple information architecture directions: