Venmo

Introducing a new feature to the popular mobile payment service: financial credit services

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Experience Journeys

Synchrony helps customers take control of their personal finances with customer-centric solutions

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Google

Hey Google, what does credit look like for you?

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Venmo

Introducing a new feature to the popular mobile payment service: financial credit services

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Venmo is not just for splitting dinner checks anymore. This case study demonstrates how Venmo can leverage its already useful capabilities into a credit space that directly competes with the traditional money lending industry. By designing an experience that users enjoy, we will also keep them engaged as they invite their friends to join as well as use such services.

Overview

After extensive quantitative and qualitative research and a better understanding of the Venmo platform with critical stakeholders, we embarked on the journey of financial credit integration with Venmo. Our goal was to clearly and concisely articulate Venmo's existing product and service offerings while incorporating additional features. We also anticipated ongoing changes or updates overtime to the Venmo platform.

Duration: 10 Weeks

The Research

We followed the User-Centered Design process to investigate how Venmo users may want to experience financial credit services based on their preferences. Letting user research be our guide, we brainstormed and designed multiple options and additional features. We then tested our idea via usability tests and developed a high-fidelity interactive prototype based on our findings.

The Discovery

Competitive Analysis:
To start with the research, we analyzed 4 direct competitors in the mobile payment industry (Zelle, Apple Pay, CashApp, and Western Union).

We learned that:
Zelle, CashApp, and Western Union did not allow for easy credit card usage within their apps. Debit cards or direct bank transfers were used for the majority of the transactions within these platforms. Although Apple Pay allows for easy credit card usage, this app is only available on iOS.

The ability to send a message alongside a payment transaction is standard throughout the competitors, in a simple format.

Zelle gives users the ability to split payments among their contacts, allowing the users to divide up a dinner tab or bill.

It's a Social App

Learned from Venmo:
We also conducted 3 subject matter expert (SME) interviews with Venmo employees to learn about Venmo’s business and product goals. These interviews helped us determine the scope of the project and to better understand the opportunity for integrated financial services. We learned that transaction amounts were usually on the lower scale, but the social aspect of sharing experiences among the community is what drove the success of the platform.

Wants ≠ Needs

According to Venmo employees’ suggestions, we interviewed 8 Venmo Premium users to collect qualitative information about the user and their experiences to gauge whether users had a need that might be met with the addition of financial services.

Use Cases

While analyzing our findings, we identified everyday life, tentpole events, and eCommerce/Dining to be the most common use cases or scenarios where users stated they would utilize a financial service to assist in funding their adventure.

People want to share the experience and the costs

Thinking through what a user would need during the use cases identified, we determined the design requirements for the solution. We did so to ensure we were holding ourselves accountable for referring back to the data learned in research, and to use these requirements as our guiding principles as we moved on to brainstorming.

Ideation

Designing a new feature within the Venmo experience required us to brainstorm not only the design but how we would introduce these new features to users. We developed personas based on our research findings and interviews. We explored different solutions and sketched out the user flows. Then we discussed and decided on the most feasible solution for the new features.

User Flows

As we can see behind the interface, the user flows are mapped. I added decision trees for each scenario because looking at this gives us a picture of what users feel when using the app. We can see that users first use the app to find out their balance, and then to pay their friends back. We needed to fit the financial credit applications seamlessly throughout the app. Below is one example of a user flow.

Service Design Blueprint

To help identify current gaps in the Venmo experience, we created a service design blueprint. Through this exercise, we identified new entry points for the financial services Venmo+ solution. In addition, we were also able to identify both front-end and back-end processes needed to support this new feature. We then created a second service design blueprint to help us identify current gaps in the split bill experience. Coming out of research we heard users speak to wanting to use this feature in a sharing context. We identified new entry points for the Venmo+ solution, as well as a new workflow between the user, the financial services, and the backend system.

Wireframing

Sketching low-fidelity screens is an important part of the design process. While it may seem like the least important step, it actually has several benefits. It helps you reveal unknown problems and make important decisions before going forward. This helps you lock in your ideas and keep iteration to a minimum.

Low-to-High

Going off of the low-fidelity screens, I drafted up a high-fidelity prototype that stuck to the existing pattern in the app. These screens were created to add more information without confusing the user experience of the app.

Usability Tests

We narrowed down on potential ideas and started prototyping Venmo+ based on the flow identified in the service design blueprints. We created a mid-fidelity prototype and moved on to evaluate that.

We recruited a total of 6 Venmo users from our social channels. Through the use of a screener, we screened for users who transact on the app at least 3 times a month and had a mix of experience in split payments in advance. Sessions were conducted at the Synchrony Alpharetta office. Each session lasted around one hour.

Our goals for the testing were to:

Iterations

Based on the key findings we synthesized through conducting an affinity diagram, we iterated on the design and upgraded the prototype from mid-fidelity to high-fidelity.

Key Finding: Users were most interested in the larger social experience (AKA vacation sharing!)
In the test, users mentioned that they would like to see more features to share a larger experience with multiple expenses with their family and friends. When prompted what information would be helpful for users, participants said an area within the app to gather and split larger expenses.

Solution: Add multiple transactions in the split payment space
Therefore, we added the Venmo+ Event Credit, so users had a generalized space to plan larger events with their family and friends. Then we added the financial benefits and services to help users within this space. We also made split payments more legible by using graphical elements and text so users could easily keep track of the event.

Key Finding: Users were disappointed not having a card selection
All of the users were disappointed in not having a selection of cards to pick from during evaluation. One user stated, “I want something fun, why do all credit cards have to be so boring.”

Solution: Give them a card that’s just as exciting and fun to use as the app is itself, with options
Therefore, we designed several card options and added the feature for the user to choose from a variety of imagery. Their physically chosen design would represent their card within the app itself, giving the user even more personalization.

Final Design

Our final design encompassed four primary opportunities for user interaction with Venmo+ within the Venmo application. We updated one existing space, the split payment feature, adding multiple transaction financial services. We were able to innovate for the other three areas, creating new experiences through our solutions for transaction capture, event planning with Venmo+ Event Credit, and the Local Offer list. Finally, throughout the scope of our project, we did explore and design solutions for seamless financial integration. Thinking about original design requirements, we created a mechanism for users to apply these financial services to several features within the Venmo app.

Experience Journeys

Synchrony helps customers take control of their personal finances with customer-centric solutions

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Synchrony Financial has a broader family of brands that share a single mission of making life better for people. The most well-known brand is Synchrony Bank, the largest provider of private label credit cards in the U.S. The goal was to position Synchrony as a company that serves every stage of your life and meets your financial needs at every step.

Overview

When we began this scope, the number one priority was to comprehensively highlight the products and services from Synchrony Financial in a helpful way for their board members and provide them with insights at their pace. This is a challenge for any audience, but especially for an audience of this size and ambition. Instead of positioning the audience to follow a rigid timeline, we wanted to create a time capsule experience with cross-integrated creativity. The final product has been seen company-wide and has been used as a case study both internally at Synchrony Financial and in several other circles as guidance on what's possible in terms of interactive content.

Duration: 5 Weeks

The Research

We were fortunate to have a plethora of research and data provided by the internal cross-functional team analysts to begin our efforts. We compiled all the data to narrow down the top personas needed for the project and began one-on-one interviews with executive members on how they wanted to showcase their team's development and services. Using all of this material, we merged the needs for the showcase with the needs of the board of directors.

The Personas

At the beginning of this project, we had four personas: a Gen X male known customer, a Gen X female known customer, a Millenial female unknown customer, and a Gen z male known customer. We hadn’t fully developed these into fully-fledged user stories, but it gave us a general idea of how our product would be used by different types of users.

Deepening the Experience

Next, we conducted interviews with each team's vice president and team leaders to discover their specific goals for this project. It was necessary to fuse the goals of the teams with the needs of what was to be presented. Armed with a better understanding of how customers feel about their Synchrony journey and what the specific teams wanted to portray, I felt it was important to define those two sides of the personas I'd be using to drive design decisions moving forward: customer and function.

Ideation

When we talk about people, they tend to fall into two categories. We think of their personal life and how they feel or act when interacting with other people, or we think of their professional life and the skills they use while working toward a goal. Synchrony is much the same way. So the most obvious plan was to showcase this relationship in the presentation. After brainstorming sessions, we felt the relationship between the customer and Synchrony would be best told through a day-in-the-life storyline that touched on all the personas—a family of services for a family of customers. Our developed personas became our "family" for the demo.

Storytime

We began our demo story planning by highlighting the key business drivers and their implications for creating our proposed strategy. Each family member's persona, highlighted in the demo, shadowed the day of their lives. We were able to show how each family member's needs were specifically being met throughout the day at a high level. This process had several iterations to encompass all of the possibilities and create a cohesive flow.

Understanding the Journey

We began our demo story planning by highlighting the key business drivers and their implications for creating our proposed strategy. Each family member's persona, highlighted in the demo, shadowed the day of their lives. We were able to show how each family member's needs were specifically being met throughout the day at a high level. This process had several iterations to encompass all of the possibilities and create a cohesive flow.

Visualizing the Experience

Several rounds of rapid sketching on paper revealed the challenge of keeping essential tasks simple and at a single level. This exercise was important in discovering which elements and services to highlight, and how the demo viewers would see the relationships between Synchrony and its customers.

Revealing the Experience

The board received the demo presentation very well and it continues to be a benchmark for all future discussions. Some remarks were that the audience received the data more transparently and understood the services and how they benefited our customers on a higher level.

Google

Hey Google, what does credit look like for you?

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You love using Google to find the best deals, but you get frustrated when you get to a site and don't want to buy what they're selling. Google Financing allows users to purchase things in-app and pay later. It's never been easier to click "buy" on that perfect deal you've been looking for.

The Challenge

This project focused on designing a financial credit system that would integrate into Google’s existing platform and interact with users’ shopping experiences. In doing so, I developed a demo that showcased the services offered by this new system in a realistic setting.

Duration: 3 Weeks

The Process

Using the goals and branding that the client provided, I used the user stories and voice to create a set of user flows. Through these user flows, we were able to find a solidified flow for the users and what we wanted the service to do. With this information, I was then able to create wireframes that captured our vision for the product. These wireframes allowed us to get a better idea of what layouts would need to be completed so that the service would function at a high level.

The Goal

The Google Shopping Experience offers a simplified and intelligent kind of shopping through the existing platform. The product seamlessly provided users with information on financial services when shopping and how these services can benefit the user. I have used my deep understanding from the research of what shoppers need to build a better-integrated shopping experience.

Final Design

About Me

I'm a UI/UX and visual creative designer who strives to create seamless user experiences that help elevate brands while making space where in-business needs meet digital needs.

I am an experienced problem solver and strategic communicator who thrives on new challenges and opportunities. I have a passion for developing compelling imagery that makes a positive, lasting impression. Applying strategy and innovative thinking to design makes my work memorable.

I'm passionate about pushing products to the next level through a design process that includes data-backed user research, rapid iteration, and visually stunning user-focused UI. I create intelligent products built around people, from concept creativity and research to rapid prototyping and solid execution. I design intuitive experiences that delight current and future users by incorporating UX sensibility into my work.

Using my knowledge of user-centered design methods, I approach every project with a customer-centric focus. With over twenty years of experience as a designer, art director, and creative director, I have the methodology and expertise to help companies deliver innovative solutions that achieve business objectives while delighting their users.

While good design is a good start, great design is what users will remember.