a pleasant way
to split payments with your friends and family
I was a sole Ux designer throughout the entire project cycle, from the research, analysis and planing to wireframing and prototyping.
Addressing the unpleasant situations of payment splitting among family and friends by providing a dedicated app that makes the payments splitting experience easier and more enjoyable for both sides - the collecting and the paying.
We discovered the great benefits of sharing over the years and recruited them to our financial requirements - now, we share big things like mortgages and simple things like a present to a friend. Typically, a designated individual is in charge of collecting money from group members as well as organizing payments and distributions.
The problem of the sharing arrangement is that people frequently forget to pay their portion, either on purpose or by accident, creating awkward situations for the collector who must repeatedly remind them. This can cause humiliation or force the collector to take up the payment themselves. This causes a major social problem in the group, resulting in cracks, money losses, and extreme discomfort, particularly on the collecting side.
From the participants who collected the money reported having a negative experience.
A questionnaire was given to 50 participants to gather information about their usage patterns and payment splitting experiences. 62% of the participants had collected or paid money for a share purchase in the past year, with over half of them being in charge of collecting the money.
The primary goals of the collections were to pay bills, go on trips, and buy gifts. 70% of those participants reported having a negative experience, due to persistent reminders, unpleasant feelings, irate responses, management challenges, and financial losses.
In the second phase of the study,
a specific user group was picked in order to gain further insight into the quantitative study's findings and identify their behavioral tendencies.
The best questions that helped me to understand the problems were:
“Tell me about how you typically split money in your group”...
That helped me grasp how payments are split and collected.
"Tell me about a bad experience you had with payments splitting"...
Helped me understand the users' problems and worries.
“How you handled the situation”...
Gave me insight into their desicions during uncomfortable situations and helped me to identify their Unveiling pain point.
Combining the results of the two studies helped me gain a greater understanding of the target audience and the product, and it inspired me to develop personas that represent the potential product users.
Main axis: Scrolling action.
Special features: Seeing payments and transactions from both friends and strangers on your activity feed by default.
Option to link your direct bank account for saving fees.
Option to pay straight from the app.
Cons: The interface is unusual for a payments system interface
and creates cognitive ambiguity among some users,
and trust issues among others.
Main axis: Input actions (numerical + textual).
Special features: The ability to pay straight from the app.
Discounts at locations where the app is accepted.
Dedicated Transactions screen with activity history.
Dedicated area for currency investments.
Cons: Although it is one of its features, payments splitting
is not the system's primary purpose.
Main axis: Money transferring.
Special features: It's possible to include a greeting card
with a transfer. Charge your transportation pass.
Option to pay to companies that have an agreement with the app. Option to request money and payments.
Cons: Focusing on variety of payments subjects
and not just splitting money.
Main axis: Expenses adding.
Special features: Transactions history.
Money borrowings. Option to split an expense equally.
Cons: Poor bills organization abilities. Poor reminder abilities.
According to the study, payments are split in more conventional ways, such as by splitting cash into envelopes and giving them in person, by bank transfer when handling large sums of money, or by handing out cash when the splitting must occur quickly and instantaneously.
Old norms, learned habit that translates to comfort, and a lack of awareness of alternative methods are the reasons why those methods are still in use.
Users between the ages of 18-50, with an average technical abilities,
which split payments with friends and family. They are divided into three groups:
Those who constantly assume
responsibilities first and work to
maintain order. Although they are
exceedingly kind, sensitive, and
attentive, they arenot suckers and
they demandto be treated fairly.
Those who value fairness over
minutiae. They will only be generous
if others are generous to them, and
unless they can prove otherwise,
they will always rely on others' word.
Those who need that the event
be flawless and free of surprises.
They consider order, equality, and
setting an example for others to be
their primary motivations, and their
social position is an integral aspect
of their daily lives.
A dedicated app specifically designed to handle payments splitting among friends and relatives. An easy-to-use interface was created to make it quick and straightforward for both the collecting and playing sides to split cash.
The user logs into the system and selects the option to create a new group.
The user then chooses who will participate in the event and whether the group will be permanent or temporary.
The user then provides event information, such as an image, description, and date, time, and place.
The user then enters a total amount for the group and is prompted to send a first message to the group members (right after creation), but he declines and proceeds to the event summary page, where he sends invites to the attendees.
