UX Case study

Challenge

So what was the problem with PayLah?

Nothing really, at it's core its a functional digital wallet that gets the job done.

DBS is trying to push the various features to create an all-in-one lifestyle app for users every need. This is where the problem of the app being too cluttered distracts users from their current goals, making QR code payments or transferring friends money. This makes sense from a business perspective, and for existing users it wouldn't really affect them.

However... Brand new PayLah! users might run into some problems as they aren't that familiar with how to access the entry points for payments or transactions.

User Research

I had conducted a small user research study where I interviewed a few friends and course mates, most of them being avid PayLah users. The objective of the research done was to find out what their habits and thoughts were while using the app.

A few of these interviews were conducted in person, while the rest were done through online interviews. Questions relating to digital payments and the PayLah app itself were asked to gather findings and data. A google survey was also used for some more quantitative results.
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The findings were condensed through affinity mapping into these few key insights.

A few more comments from interviews:
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"The UI is very cluttered, I don't know what all the other buttons other than for payment are for."
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"Topping up to my Paylah account is inconvenient because it is an extra step, as compared to just transferring via PayNow which is directly from the bank account (or maybe I can transfer directly now via bank account, but am not informed yet)."
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"It's not easy to find features I need on app."

The limitations of not having access to a larger group of users who have not used PayLah might have given some biased results. If I had the opportunity to I would have liked to interview non PayLah users.

Observations

The research had helped me confirm my hypothesis that PayLah! had a cluttered UI. Also, the fact that most users only use the app for two features (QR code payments and peer-to-peer transactions) contribute to them failing to notice or seek out the other features on the app.

If existing users also shared this sentiments of the UI being too messy, how would brand new users feel when using the app for the very first time?

PayLah!'s home page. The important features stand out, but not as much as the quick access and featured sections.

The payment confirmation page. The hierarchy of the details could be improved for better visibility of the important details.

With this in mind, the main objectives for this redesign would be to:
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Unclutter the initial PayLah! screen so as to focus on the main app features.

Redesign the 'Payment Done' page to increase readability of the important details that users/vendors want to see.

Ideation

How much of a change was needed?

Not a lot actually, since PayLah! already had a set design along with their own components, sketching of the intended wireframes was rather simple. A few tweaks to the layouts would hopefully solve user pain points and satisfy the objectives.

At this point I felt I wasn't doing much in terms of a redesign, but it was just my inner graphic designer wanting to scratch an itch.

Mid-Fi Prototype + A/B Testing

I had created the frames in Figma while taking reference from the existing PayLah! components which greatly reduced the amount of time. In order to satisfy the objectives of the redesign, It was important to get some feedback from user interviews regarding different choices for the various screens.

I had initially created two separate flows to be used for user testing. This however did not allow me to get deeper insights on details regarding the more important screens that impacted the user journey.

Instead, I opted to focus on the screens that were crucial to the user during their digital payment journey.

A small user testing (n=5) was done as that is the optimal amount recommended by many online resources.

Click through to see some of the findings.

Final Design + Testing

Moving onto the final designs of the prototype with the insights from user testing, I had tried to access DBS PayLah!'s existing design system for the high fidelity prototype but their files weren't available on their resource page. Despite that, I was able to maintain their brand colors and typefaces used in their products for consistency.

Another round of usability testing was conducted to see if my proposed solution was viable. The results from the test had validated my solution.

Reflection & Next Steps

So how does this validate the assumption? (Or area of opportunity as mentioned)

Well... In order to find that out we would need long term results and data. A few KPIs could be used to see if there is an increase of usage of the other features. Surveys could be done in a few months after a rollout to see if discoverability had increased. Data could be collected for the amount of complaints regarding their messy UI on the app store reviews or from customer feedback, a lesser number would mean success.

BUT... In terms of the objectives for the redesign, yes! More positive reactions and user satisfaction was created through the proposed design.

Conclusion

So what did I learn?

Users generally preferred a cleaner interface as long as they are able to complete their objective or goals. Discoverability is important, but so is usability of your products main feature or function.

Paylah! didn't really have anything that prevented their users from completing their main goal of transferring money or paying for purchases, if you've been using the app for a long time that is. For new users it would be a navigation nightmare.

The problem they had was trying to push the other features offered on their app by cluttering their user interface. Sometimes, less is more!