More transparency needed not less?

Monzo Chat
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tl;dr - Monzo are working hard, but with less transparency, confidence (here at least) is dropping??

I’ve posted before wondering why there isn’t a Product Roadmap or some way to see what Monzo is working on (a bulleted list would be fine, honest!). I understand that resources/ownership make this particular ask a tough one, which in a way is good, Monzo are working hard on other stuff.

But it seems that, as they plunge into that other stuff, the transparency is less, updates are less frequent, and so it ‘feels’ (perception is always personal) that there isn’t much going on.

Whilst I know there are different teams working on different things, surely they all report their progress to someone somewhere?

My fear is that, whilst other banks catch up (and they are) Monzo is doubling down on working hard on things (great!) but losing that transparency. If anything, now is the time to be MORE transparent, surely?

“Hey, we are working on this, but we didn’t like it so scrapped a months worth of work but are starting over.”

Personally, whilst the more fervent of us in this community will always want MORE information, the complete absence of any information is worse.

Perhaps this is why there is a long, complicated, thought provoking thread about Monzo and how it’s currently doing?

Share the set backs, the failures with us too. Whilst we all have our own wishlist and personal frustrations that feature X isn’t going to be built, or started, or available, within a timescale we want, helping us understand why would probably dial down a lot of rhetoric and change the view of where Monzo is in the grand scheme of banking/fintech.

Just my thoughts, and I’ve certainly been very wrong before (as many of you have pointed out!) :slight_smile:

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For me I’d love to see a maintained trello/jira board visible to users, with status updates.

But that’s where I think it should be, posts here on things such as Monzo+, while a good place to gather UX and audience feels,will become unmanageable as their user base grows

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I’ve said in another post that I don’t care about Trello.

Once a month, a post here (lock it if that’s easier) that says: Currently working on, Next working on.

Two lists, can be one or two things, and a brief update if on track, stalled, or delayed or whatever.

Less is more, as long as they publish something.

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I was more referring to how I would like to see it, but a list would also be fine :slight_smile:

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Eh, I think it becomes much more difficult to remain informal and ‘free’ with the information you share for things like paid subscriptions (Plus, Business accounts) that are constantly changing. Especially as news outlets love using this forum as a credible source for an article. There’s also a restriction on the amount of information they can provide especially when third parties get involved, too.

I also think there’s lots of evidence on this forum of goals being shared no matter how vague and attached with small print that users seem to obsess over when the deadline passes.

Having said that. I do expect a return to what we previously had when Plus had formally launched. That being smaller, more regular updates. I imagine a lot of things (Virtual cards, custom categories, etc) are part of Plus or yet to be decided). :man_shrugging:

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I couldnt agree more.

Personally i feel like that connection with the users that was once there is slipping and slipping to an almost starling level… they announce somethings coming soon and then its there.

If plus comes out and doesnt sway me i feel like itll be too late to ask why and where it doesnt work. This is such a monumental switch to monzo that im surprised they havent decided to involve the community more in favour of a bojo style “get plus done”

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Just needs someone to take ownership and a quick phone call to each department per month.

“A is done” :white_check_mark:
“B is nearly there” :white_check_mark:
“Still working on X?” :white_check_mark:
“Y ran into some bugs so will take a bit longer” :x:

Done! :raised_hands:

I make it sound easy but essentially that’s how I’d envision it happens :smiley:

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It is that easy (it used to be part of my job at a previous company).

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I suppose each team leader will already have a list of what they’re working on and what their plans are so it is already done in theory :thinking: It just needs merging into a master list.

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My favourite time in my history with Monzo was the era of The Big List.

Roadmap :white_check_mark:
Semi Frequent check ins :white_check_mark:
Engagement with the forum :white_check_mark:
People genuinely got to weigh in on the things that were important to them :white_check_mark:
Some other stuff :soon:

Which I think worked super well - because the things that were being built were, for lack of a better phrase, some what straight forward.

For Monzo of 2020, with a high proportion of that stuff ticked off, and we’re getting into commercially sensitive stuff, or potentially polarising ideas, I’m not sure how well that can work.

Some of the recent stuff on Plus goes to highlight that I think.

Forum: Engage with us more often about things!
Plus Team 2.0: OK, we will do that
Forum: Not like that!
Plus Team: OK, we’ll share when we have things to share!
Forum: Perfect!

Also forum: Err, guys, wheres the update?!?

I’d love for there to be a trello page, or something with an idea of whats coming, but I just don’t know if that has any form of payoff, given every time they do share anything publicly, there’s a barrage of ‘omg why are you doing that, Feature X is way more important than Feature Y’.

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Yeah I agree that the straight forward stuff is an easier engagement model but to use your example:

Publish:

  • High level Roadmap
  • Semi frequent (but consistent) updates/check ins

Yes, you lose the engagement, and people won’t be able to weigh-in but that’s where we are now already and that’s without even really knowing what is being built.

I don’t think going all the way back to how it was at the start is feasible or needed, but right now… we have very little. Don’t get me wrong, some interesting blog posts, and good technical articles are great, but most of us would be interested in knowing if Feature Y is being built or not.

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I would absolutely love for those two things to happen - I just think that in general ‘the public’ take a mile when given an inch - my personal view is that whenever Monzo have shown any form of plans for the future, there’s a wealth of noise complaining because things aren’t transparent enough for their liking -and I think for as long as that type of engagement happens, a roadmap just isn’t going to come. (May be an exaggerated point, but I’m sure many people have seen that happen over and over again on different fronts).

What I do love about Monzo on the transparency front, is they have their AGM style meeting (“Future of Monzo” last year was it?)

I think those types of forums work well for showing the journey and excitement of what they are working on, what is to come, why they are doing what they are doing, and the general vision and values of the business - that style of transparency I adore, and would welcome so many more of those.

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Could not agree more.

In my simple view - Publish something, tell us when you’ll update us next (monthly? quarterly?) and stick to it, even if the update is… sorry guys no update, still in progress.

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I absolutely agree. The lack of transparency recently has really taken a hit on my views and excitement for Monzo. Especially as it seems like they are actively limiting the transparency by canceling or reducing things they used to do to share that information.

They have definitely moved away from the old model of transparency which set them apart and while its obviously tricky to be transparent in some areas I think its honestly a lack of will from Monzo to share, which is a big shame.

A roadmap, the big list, regular updates, all make a huge difference in keeping the community engaged and excited. I hope things change, but its been raised so many times I really cant see it happening.

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‘Default to transparency’ is certainly no longer a thing. For example we have heard nothing about Monzo Plus for well over two months. Someone will no doubt reply ‘but they will be working on commercially sensitive deals’. My reply to that would be that they could say ‘we are working on commercially sensitive deals, we expect to have them wrapped up in the next two weeks but we will let you know in two weeks if the ETA of Q1 slips’. See how easy it is to provide an update that would keep (most) people happy.

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I do agree about your example with plus and I agree in general about the fact it feels less transparent than it has been in the past. For example, I haven’t heard anything about Monzo plus in 2 months as you’ve said so I’ve now decided to take out Revolut Metal and won’t cancel until the end of my contract with them in 10 months time. Were Monzo to bring out plus, I find it unlikely I could commit to both.

The problem to consider is whether anyone outside of this community reads and cares about what is coming next. Are we in this bubble? I’m not saying we are or aren’t, I’m simply suggesting the idea. Value and worth I guess plays a part in this debate.

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Commercially sensitive yes but im pretty sure like you mention they’ve all but confirmed monzo metal cards at this point… they could have shared images and if they will be paid for monthly or with yearly discount (almost certain)

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New features are marketing material though. Drip feeding information on the forum would reduce the column inches when the feature launches

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Dripping feeding information does not negate marketing said features. Plenty of other companies will release snippets of information and it doesn’t stop them running marketing campaigns announcing them later on.

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I did love playing with the labs switch and waiting for discussed new features, but the criticism on the plus product was quite strong, which I see as great feedback. But sadly the press pick this up and use it as cannon fodder, which is really not good for growth and confidence