At Euro Payment Group Gmbh, I was working closely with the product team evaluating client needs, end-user behaviours and the existing competition to deliver an intuitive and simplistic e-wallet. An MVP was already in function before I joined the team. Nevertheless, it was decided that a whole new e-wallet product would be launched by 2022-23 and the existing one will be removed from the app stores. Therefore, my initial tasks were:-
. to understand the existing product offer and the future vision,
. to study the existant design and development process,
. to create and integrate an agile design thinking process and
. to examine the main competitors, their product offers and pricing strategies. This excercise provided us various perspectives for building our roadmap.
. Research
. Interaction Design
. Workshopping
. Testing & Iterating
. Design System
. UX Researcher
. Front-end Developer
. Back-end Developer
. Product Manager
. Product Owner
. Director of Product
. Operations Team
. Android and iOS app features for the MVP
. Redesign of web operations module
. Design system
During the initial research phase, in association with the product director, owner and researcher, key problem areas and requirements were identified and tickets for each of these were raised on Jira. These tickets were then worked on based on the set priority. Once the problem was analyzed and some solutions identified, low-mid fi wireframes of the hypothesized solutions were developed before organizing ideation workshops. These initial wireframes proved essential to visualize user journeys and initiate fruitful discussions.
Due to non-disclosure agreement with EPG Gmbh, I am unable to share the full process details and outcomes here. Nevertheless, let me present to you some of the design artefacts. They have all been modified to maintain confidentiality.
During my tenure here as a product designer, I worked on the following services and features which constituted the new MVP.
Let me now take you through 2 specific tasks that I worked on, in collaboration with my team:
1. Re-design of internal web operations module
2. Download of periodic transaction statement (MVP)
An intuitive and user friendly web application which will help the operations team execute their daily tasks at work with greater efficiency.
This product was used by my co-workers in the Operations Team. For this project, we did not draw a persona since we were constantly in touch with the users throughout the design process. But for better understanding of this case study, I present to you the Protoperosona of the users as illustrated below.
The UX researcher and I conducted an intial interview with 3 members from the operations team to understand an overview of the issues they usually run into while working with the web application. We asked them open ended questions like:
. What are the main functions you use regulary?
. What are the general steps involved while performing a task?
. How long would it take you to execute it start to end?
. What are the main difficulties you face?
On our second interview, we asked them more specific but open-ended questions to understand if and where features modifcations were needed. For example:-
. Could you take us through the most recent scenario where in you had a task to execute.
. What are the steps you took to complete this task?
From the responses in round 2 of interview, we found 2-3 feature flows that needed re-design. The main pain points pointed out during this phase were:
. Switching between pages more than 4-5 times
. Hassled access to data
. Greater possibility of human error due to manual entry of string variables while performing a search
For this case study, I have outlined 1 of the features that we re-designed over the next 1 week.
The user needs a way to access all the device details in a retail shop which hosts a specific device that has been disabled.
Reason: To identify why the device had been disabled
Next, I drew low fidelity wireframes and discussed various flow ideas and possible challenges with the developers. It was not a very complex task and hence we quickly arrived at a decision.
I prototyped these screens, prepared a short test script to introduce the context and designed a task for the test takers. I recruited 3 members from the operations team and organized the tests according to their availablity during regular work hours. The tests were moderated and online where I asked them to share their screen with me.
Observation: The task was completed by the participants without any errors. No issues with usability, efficiency and learnability of the different elements were experienced. All the participants were satisifed with the flow of steps.
Next, I created high fidelity wireframes with all the features and flow details incorporated; presented the final screens and prototype to all the stakeholders for the final nod. Once the product owner and the product director had signed off on the designs, I assembled the design document and then uploaded the Jira ticket with all the artefacts for the developers’ perusal.
User needs a way to download monthly or periodic transaction statement to monitor his/her expenditure.
The UX Researcher provided me with 3 personas of users of our product. Below shown is one of the personas we largely used during the MVP design and development. This persona represented the major category of our users.
Download of transaction statement albeit generic, is an essential feature for any banking and e-wallet app. Owing to the rather universal nature of this feature, it was decided to conduct a competitive research rather than user interviews. Our research goals were:to study how the other e-wallets and banking apps did this andto analyze any patterns and user mental models. We selected about 7 Fintech apps and e-wallets and compared how this feature was presented in each of these apps. Below are some of the research artefacts:-
The competitive analysis and observation revealed the general mental models of users of e-wallets and mobile banking apps. This recommendation was then developed into a low fidelity sketches and presented to the product team. The research results heavily indicated in one specific direction to design this feature.
During the weekly product meeting, I presented the different options to open disucssion and also to highlight any concerns regarding what elements need to be shown on the statement. Later on, I also approached the operations team separately to understand what elements are important from regulatory POV. They provided me with some good insights and ideas regarding this such as-
. account details, not being mandatory
. indicating an opening balance besides the closing balance (this was later on changed after several discussions with the product director)
Based on the decision made during the design discussion, mid-high fidelity wireframes were developed and prototyped. Then I ran usability tests on 5 participants. These tests were moderated and in-person. The objective was to check if the users were able to download the statement without any hassles.
Observation: The task was completed by the participants albeit with some discoverability issues. Most participants navigated to various pages to find their way through the task. Nevertheless, there were no usability issues indicated.
In this stage, UI and branding elements were added, mockups and prototypes were generated and presented to all the stakeholders for the final nod. This was normally done via an online meeting or over teams group based on prioroty and need. These designs and all the assets along with design specifications and notes if any, were then added to the Jira ticket for the developers to work on.
Below, I present to you some modified high-fidelity screen designs that I worked on with my team.
As a product designer, I realized early on that there needed to be a branding consistency for our product. This was because, the focus on aesthetics were minimal and there was not yet a brand or visual design team to lead this.Therefore, I initiated several branding workshops for our product with the CEO, Product managers, researcher, developers and the marketing team. This workshop aimed at bringing concurrence over the product's brand vision amongst all the stake holders. I am proud to say that this has now formed a basis for our visual design decisions across all platforms.
It was challenging but a fantastic experience to have worked on this MVP. Challenging because, as a multi-cultural work space, stakeholder communication demanded some some work and a lot of attention initially. Language was often a barrier. But the whole team understood this and we collectively worked on it together and practiced with intent to overcome the situation. And this, evidently improved our collaboration output over time.
The experiences I gained through my work here has helped me build confidence in my skills and I am now ready to take my learnings to the next level and contribute further.
