Customer communication reviews and testing understanding

We help financial services and financial inclusion organisations communicate clearly and with impact. Our specialist services cover customer content, user research, policy writing, financial inclusion advocacy and impact reporting. We also train teams in communication skills.

People struggle to understand or use our services

Help people make informed financial decisions

Someone may understand the words in a loan agreement yet struggle to compare the total cost with another offer. Clear communication must support the decision, as well as explain the product.

From the first explanation to guidance on getting help, we examine whether people receive usable information when they need it. Our recommendations address the barriers we find in the content and the customer journey. Where customers use AI explanations, those explanations can form part of the research.

Services

Plain language review: We always start with the reader, and what decision or action they need to take after they have read your content. Our method is adapted from the plain-language standard, ISO 24495-1. This standard gives a systematic way of reviewing whether readers can find, understand and use the information you give to them. You receive prioritised recommendations with examples of revised wording and structure. Your team can use these to give customers a clearer explanation of costs and conditions, helping them assess their options.
Customer understanding testing: We design realistic tasks around the decisions your customers face and explore how intended users find and interpret the information. Observing their choices and discussing their reasoning helps distinguish an unclear explanation from a wider barrier to using the service. Your team receives findings and recommended changes grounded in those observations.

Questions about customer communication and understanding

How can we test whether customers understand our financial communications?

Narratology designs realistic tasks around decisions your customers need to make. We observe how intended users find information, interpret conditions and choose what to do. The findings identify communication barriers and support specific changes to the content or customer journey.

For retail financial services teams, this can inform work on the Consumer Duty’s consumer understanding outcome.

What changes when customers use AI to understand financial information?

Customers may ask an AI assistant to explain a charge, summarise a policy or compare options. The Mills Review identifies potential benefits for financial capability, alongside risks from misleading answers and over-reliance.

Our approach can include testing how people use AI explanations alongside the original information. The research can examine whether they notice important conditions, recognise uncertainty and know when to seek further help.

Work with Narratology

Tell us about the communication problem you want to solve. We’ll discuss the work involved and agree the scope and fee.

Discuss your project info@narratology.co.uk

Read the white paper

Financial literacy is not enough: how communications professionals can support financial inclusion

By Frances Gordon · 8 pages · 367 KB

Read online Download white paper (PDF)

About Narratology

Narratology is a communications consultancy based in the UK. Our expert consultants each bring over twenty years of experience in fields including financial inclusion, journalism, marketing and technology.

We draw on that expertise to make complex financial and technical ideas clear, with close attention to the evidence behind them. Whether we are writing customer information or developing an impact story, the work starts with what people need to understand and use.

info@narratology.co.uk