Customer Success

"We used iRise at all phases of application definition, design and development to speed agreement on what to build and avoid requirements-related defects later in the project. iRise was an invaluable asset for the team in getting to market quickly and with low risk."

– Denise Tretheway, Vice President, Comerica

Background
With both retail and commercial lines of business, Comerica is one of the nation's largest banks with over $57 billion of assets under management, serving customers in Michigan, California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. Comerica looks to technology leadership as a vehicle to provide superior service to its customers, including companies that make up their commercial client base.

To improve service to its customers, Comerica set out to design and deliver a new portal solution that acts as a central gateway, integrating multiple banking applications using single sign-on technology, as well as access to Comerica.com (public Web site), helpful tools and resources, alerts, FAQs and links to external Web sites.

Challenge
Comerica began working on the design and navigation of the new portal with an external partner that used wireframe prototypes, static screen shots and text-based specifications. Unfortunately, these tools were time consuming to build and difficult to understand by business stakeholders and did not offer any opportunities to test functionality and usability prior to development.

Recognizing the need for a new direction, Comerica began using iRise to create high definition simulations of the portal application. Information architects and business analysts worked in collaboration with developers and business stakeholders to quickly get to agreement on the portal design and functionality.

Simulations were adjusted directly in review meetings, saving time and reducing effort. Stakeholders were thrilled to witness the immediate incorporation of their feedback. The simulations were also used to keep the executive team up to speed on status and fully engaged with the project.

Using the simulations as a guide, downstream organizations like QA and support were able to get a head start on writing test scripts and training materials. The iRise simulations were so realistic they were used to test market a segment of the proposed solution directly with a large client ahead of delivery, ensuring that customer feedback could be incorporated before coding.

Result
The use of iRise shaved nine weeks off of the definition and design phases of an eight-month project, accelerating competitive advantage for the bank. Simulations were also credited for reducing requirements-related defects by 80%.