BACKGROUND
My group chose to do our project on the Venmo app since it is a widely used mobile payment service that most people are familiar with and would give us a good general peek into common struggles with online payments.
We were also inspired by the lack of customization that Venmo has for its group transaction feature and wanted to see if others struggled with it as well 💸.
We were also inspired by the lack of customization that Venmo has for its group transaction feature and wanted to see if others struggled with it as well 💸.
MY ROLE
I collaborated in conducting UX research to find common pain points people had with the app. I also analyzed the research, designed wireframes and prototypes, and conducted usability testing on the final design.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
- A more secure and customizable group transaction feature that saves users time by 3 minutes
TEAM
3 UX/UI Designers
Timeline
3 weeks
TOOLS
Figma, Zoom (online usability testing)
Comparison of before and after. Previously, users had to add recipients through the Search bar and use the same amount for each person. With the redesign, it's quicker to select people with customizable amouns.
Design Process
Using Design Thinking under a short timeline
My team generally followed these five steps of the design thinking process. Our overall process was smooth. However, due to time constraints, we had to limit interviewees and skipped lo-fi prototypes and went straight to hi-fi prototype.
Design Thinking process was utilized
Secondary Research
Venmo users were typically young adults
To begin, we conducted secondary online research on who was using Venmo. We found out that there were 52 million users and over 7 million were 18-34. As a result, we tried to get our user pool to be as representative as possible and were able to get people of ages from 21 to 24 in our user testing and interviews.
User Interviews
Learning more about users' general experience and purpose
Our team conducted survey interviews with 4 different people to get a feel of what their experience with Venmo was like. Overall, it was a positively reviewed app that was mainly used to split payments with people.
Venmo was a popular app that is mainly used to split payments
Usability Testing
Creating a group transaction was the biggest struggle
We also gave them a list of tasks to complete on Venmo in order to gauge which component could be a potential problem area to focus on. These situations were based on real life experiences our team had. Task 2 was the task everyone struggled with the most.
No one knew how to create a group transaction
As a result, our main prolem space was:
How might we make the group transaction more intuitive and quicker?
Competitive Analysis
Inspiration and insight into transaction flows
We then compared other payment apps that allowed for group transactions. We looked closely at Zelle, Cash App, and Facebook pay as a result.
Out of our competitors, Zelle provided the most seamless group transaction
Ideation & Sketches
Sketches were used in early brainstorming
We each sketched out potential solutions to the issues we saw from our user testing of the Venmo app. We also incorporated useful components seen from our competitive analysis.
Will be used for Prototype A
Will be used for Prototype B
Prototyping
Getting straight to the prototypes
We skipped lo-fi prototyping to better optimize our time. Also since Venmo already has a distinguished and thought out design system, we felt that we were able go off on it.
We made two different prototypes in order to see which one was the most effective and user-friendly UI for our users. Prototype A stuck more closely with the Venmo design whereas Prototype B had a more profile-based layout, such as Instagram, for the group transactions.
We made two different prototypes in order to see which one was the most effective and user-friendly UI for our users. Prototype A stuck more closely with the Venmo design whereas Prototype B had a more profile-based layout, such as Instagram, for the group transactions.
Prototype A
This stuck more closely with Venmo design. The main focus was to add people and customizable payment in one screen to minimize steps.
We also included a separate confirmation page to keep brand consistency.
We also included a separate confirmation page to keep brand consistency.
Prototype B
Prototype B had a more profile-based layout, such as Instagram, for the group transactions. This was to create a more intimate social connection.
We included a confirmation pop-up that users may be familiar with.
We included a confirmation pop-up that users may be familiar with.
Usability Test
A/B Testing was used to get quick feedback from different perspectives
The two prototypes were used to conduct A/B tests on 4 different Venmo users to avoid any biases from the first interview. Prototype A had 2 testers and Prototype B had 2 testers. At the end, we showed them both designs to understand how they would compare the two.
Everyone was given a task on how they would use the pay and request function for group transactions. We also asked them some follow up questions about their overall experience with the prototype they tested.
Everyone was given a task on how they would use the pay and request function for group transactions. We also asked them some follow up questions about their overall experience with the prototype they tested.
Prototype A was more preferred
USER FEEDBACK
Overall, our users enjoyed the redesign
At the end of each usability testing session, we asked them for their feedback. Here are some responses to our question, "Do you think Venmo should implement our redesign?"
“God, I hope so. Yeah, there have been many complaints about making mistakes on transactions. If Venmo adopted this, then it could mitigate that problem.”
- User, Aged 20 😄
“I feel like it’s something they should already have, honestly.”
- User, Aged 24 😄
Key Insights
Simple is best 👑
Based on user feedback, prototype A presented a very simple intuitive UI that made task completion very straightforward. The users who tested prototype B stated that they had trouble distinguishing between “split amount” and “enter amount,” which confused them when completing the tasks.
We made Prototype A our final prototype as 100% of our users found it a lot more intuitive and easier to use.
We made Prototype A our final prototype as 100% of our users found it a lot more intuitive and easier to use.
Final Solution
This is the flow for group transactions.
Group Transaction
Streamlining group transactions by allowing users to customize amount of money all in one screen.
Next Steps
More interviews to better understand Venmo's users
If we had more time, I would like to interview a wider range of people to get a better idea of how Venmo's biggest age group uses Venmo. I'd also like to do more lo-fi prototyping and usability testing to ensure our design is user friendly.
Reflection
Less is more!
This project allowed me to see that users typically preferred a simple user interface since it feels more intuitive. The more complex it looks, the more steps it requires users to do which lowers the intuitiveness of the design. This will help me for my future design rationales as I remember to prioritize designing simplicity for user needs.
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