I never said it wouldnât work or anything else youâve claimed.
I was just curious so I asked the question⌠thatâs all.
There is an abundance of data already out there that isnât that old. I simply wanted to know what was wrong with it
Youâre a regular on here so you donât need me to fish out all the topics where theyâve repeatedly asked for feedback, what weâd like to see, what is beneficial and so on We also cleared up the 5 people survey in the last topic - that wasnât exactly the case.
I donât get the impression that it canât work. I get the impression that they need to take a lot more time understanding and iterating on a vision rather than rushing a product for products sake. They also need to step back, and often, during this process, take away the bias of being proud of your work or that you work for Monzo and ask themselves âis this something I would want?â and if that answer is no, âwhy not?â. If there is no-one there capable of that, find someone capable of being completely objective.
I get that they want early adopters and user testing and feedback during development, I get that is meant to be the ethos of Monzo, but to me, this feels like the wrong approach for this product and the scale of what they are trying to accomplish here.
If it were me:
I would:
Pitch a few business viable options to users and garner feedback from that.
Tweak based on feedback without losing sight of the vision.
Spend the time making it the best it can be.
Not release much in terms of detail until youâre most of the way there. Silence isnât always a âit must be bad which is why they wonât shareâ.
We can spend all day telling Monzo what we want individually but if it isnât viable from a business standpoint, they need to take back control of that, decide what is and pitch it that way.
I wouldnât:
Take an MVP approach.
Release it early with future promises of features that probably should be there from the start.
Have a continuous feedback loop that distorts the vision.
Am I saying providing feedback here is bad in respect of something like this with this sort of scope? Yes. Everyone has their own vision of what they want, itâs the easiest way to get lost in a myriad of voices and anger that their vision isnât what the creation ends up being - or distorts what was initially set out to do and ends in a Frankenstein of a feature that no-one really likes.
Iâve worked in a software house that rush everything, will context switch every other day, promises the world for sales and new customers but delivers very little meaning nothing really ever gets done and everything beyond is a firefight to keep their customers.
Iâve also worked in a software house that takes their time, and only releases when finished.
Guess which one is doing far, far better and is far more sustainable?
Iâd like Monzo plus insurance that can be tailored to your needs. For example a basic product for travel up to 4 weeks per annum world wide, that comes with the plus version, then ability to pay a premium for over 70, more weeks away, or complex medical situations. This is offered by Nationwide and the main reason I stay with them.
Completely agree with this Monzo âplusâ implies optional perks, not enabling features that would help everyday customers. Got the same impression from the survey.
Why donât you work out how much it will cost, and then work out if there is profitability in it? Isnât that your job? It would also help to focus group this to more than 5 people this timeâŚ
Edit:
You need to make a proposition, with concrete numbers and small print and find if people would buy it. There is absolutely no information gained from just asking how much would you pay for a broad set of features with no details. Surely you must know this?
Hmm, maybe they should ask a large amount of people what they think and how much they would payâŚ
you guys are ridiculous. âAsk more than 5 peopleâ âDont ask us, itâs your jobâ âRead our feedbackâ âDont ask us for feedback again!â âI wish they would communicate moreâ âJust build it all and then release when itâs finishedâ
Theyâre not literally asking you for an answer, just your opinions, its called research! You canât ask for them to do more research and then when they ask for more information and details and for you to expand on what youâve said you kick off and say how about you tell US.
These are the features that have been asked how much weâd pay for: Metal Card / fair enough this one, nothing to me but milage will vary with other people.However they do know how much it would cost, so why not just ask if youâd pay that number.
Interest/Cashback How the heck am I supposed to answer that when I have absolutely no idea of even the rates!
Swagâs cool as a loyalty incentive Same answer as above, when I have no idea what the swag is? Is it a poorly made t-shirt or card? Or is it a full set of monzo bedsheets with onesie.
Various insurance tiers Of what? My car, my phone, my budgie⌠whats the excess, where am I covered and to what value, whats the maximum? How can I answer this?
Pick and mix/customisation / Monzopoints What does any of this mean, whats the value of a monzo point and what do I have to do to get one?
This is not research, this is give a number on a broad set of things that you believe they will be. Very similar to monzo plus V1, give us money for a something we havenât made a thorough proposition or product for yet. Because you trust us, weâre monzo.
I mean itâs not hard to answer these questions at all. Iâm saying theyâre not asking you for an answer to what price they should charge which is what you seem to be implying by saying itâs YOUR JOB.
Interest Cashback: If I got some good deals that I would use in shops I go to I would be willing to pay up to ÂŁ10 a month for this. However this is the kind of thing you think of like interest, where you want it to cover the cost, so itâs difficult to judge for this.
Swag: I would rather not pay monthly for this and be able to buy this from a seperate store. I would not be willing to pay a monthly cost just for swag only.
Various Insurance Tiers: I travel only a couple of times a year, so would pay ÂŁ5 a month tops for travel insurance, however phone insurance would be much more interesting to me and I would pay between ÂŁ5-ÂŁ15 for this depending on the cover level.
Pick & Mix/Customisation/Monzo Points: these are similar to cashback in depending on the value of the service and likely to be looked upon as paying for the cost rather than an actual gained service such as insurance. More than likely a good bonus to the main product/service.
Now, was that qualitative feedback so difficult to give rather than just moaning and complaining at the people asking for it?
The problem I see is that they just seem to be going over old ground asking the same questions over and over again, thatâs not doing more research, itâs just more of the same.
It gives me the impression that they are repeating themselves until they get the answers that fits their end goal.
Anyway I donât want to be asked what should be on offer and what it should cost, I have no clue and if I did Iâm in the wrong job, Iâd set up a bank and do it myself.
I donât mind customers being asked for an opinion on the Teamâs own thoughts but if theyâre asking customers to say what theyâd like and how much it should cost itâs doomed from the start.
These are not really features, but meta-features. Fair enough, but thereâs nothing specific to discuss.
These are all things where youâre looking for a quantitative win. But think about the âInterest on balanceâ case: youâre paying Monzo money so that theyâll pay you money (hopefully more). Thatâs a bad deal for either you or Monzo - you canât both win (itâs zero-sum). The other two are kind of a vague collectivism: Monzo using the weight of their userbase to get you some sort of discounts. Perhaps, but I mean, itâs quite vague.
And with these two, surely rather than getting some sort of one-size-fits-all (in terms of cover) insurance, it would be better to get these through the Monzo Marketplace - tailored for you. In fact, you outline some quite specific terms for each which very much relate to your own specific position and needs, not those of everyone. A Monzo Marketplace product would supply that much more effectively.
So, from what I can see, your use-cases boil down to âperhaps Monzo can do some deals to get me some discounts on things that are perhaps relevant for meâ. Perhaps this is the best / only real use for Monzo Plus (well, that and the Metal Card). But I donât see a compelling case in the things that you outline. Now that Iâve broken those down, wouldnât you agree?
Wouldnât I agree with what? Iâm not sure what youâre really getting at here? Seems as though youâve wasted your time by breaking down my points for what exactly? To try and prove to me that a Plus account isnât worthwhile or convenient for customers?
If I choose to believe that a packaged account is right for me who are you to tell me what I can / can not look for in one?
Like Iâve mentioned multiple times now, a packaged account is happening whether you like it or not. The team is here to gather everyoneâs thoughts on what should be included and Iâm contributing to that and simply stating that you donât have to like the approach or the decision to have a packaged account.
Thereâs really nothing constructive in coming onto a forum to rip a team apart who is trying their best to create a great product as part of their job. If you donât like it fair enough but thereâs no need to belittle other peopleâs feedback which has been asked for.
Iâm not implying that at all, Iâm saying itâs pretty poor to claim this a research when there is absolutely no even small details. Everyoneâs interpretation will vary like was shown in Plus V1.
It wasnât for you, but apart from swag your answers included âitâs difficult to judgeâ and âIt depends on cover levelâ What use is that to anyone? Not digging you out at all, even tho it may seem it, so apologies.
My point is you canât call this research. Until thereâs a proposition that monzo believes offers us and them value, how can we be expected to answer our opinion on it? In a meaningful, helpful way. This is all just pointless!
You find it pointless, they are asking for it so clearly find it useful. I donât think weâre here to judge how they do their research, theyâre just asking questions. Not really sure how shitting on their methods of research is helping anything at all, itâs definitely not helping plus.
We also cleared up the 5 people survey in the last topic - that wasnât exactly the case.
Itâs become a knife to twist repeatedly but itâs getting a bit tired now.
Monzo âplusâ implies optional perks, not enabling features that would help everyday customers. Got the same impression from the survey.
You find it pointless, they are asking for it so clearly find it useful. I donât think weâre here to judge how they do their research, theyâre just asking questions. Not really sure how shitting on their methods of research is helping anything at all, itâs definitely not helping plus.