VENMO
Design a new feature that makes splitting a transaction and payments in a group more convenient and promising.
Timeline
4 weeks
Role
UX/UI designer, UX researcher
Tools
Figma, Miro, Adobe
Background
Venmo has emerged as one of the most popular apps for its electronically transferring funds from one party to another. It's widely used among millennials who have created a verb from the brand name as “Venmoing”. Venmo facilitates digital payments within a social network of known friends and people in close proximity geographically. Venmo recently also launched a feature where users can now host cryptocurrency exchanges, making the usability and accessibility of the app highly functioning and rewarding.
Project Goals
Design a new feature that makes splitting a transaction and payments in a group more convenient and promising. My main goal is to solve the bill splitting and paying problem by adding a 1 feature that will help users to be able to upload the receipt of the bill and have an automatic calculator when having to split evenly or separately all within the same group.
Challenges
Venmo is an amazing app where individuals can sent and request money that they owe to one another. However, when splitting a bill in a larger group, where one person has to pay for it it makes it harder for that specific individual to request money from everyone else who owes him/her the money. He/she would have to request each friends individually and calculate the amount outside the app using a calculator.
Design Process
Research
Research Plan
Competitor Analysis
User Interviews
Competitor Analysis
User Interviews
Define & Strategy
Persona
Product Roadmap
User Flow
Product Roadmap
User Flow
Design & Prototype
Sketches
Lo-fi wireframes
Hi-fi wireframes
Prototype
Lo-fi wireframes
Hi-fi wireframes
Prototype
Iterate & Revisions
Usability test
Affinity Map
Iteration
Affinity Map
Iteration
Research
Research Plan
I started to begin my design process for Venmo by making a depth of understanding of Venmo as a company and how I can incorporate a new feature into the app.
Research Goal:
1. To understand the goals and needs of Venmo users and develop a feature that makes splitting a transaction and payments within a group promising and efficient. 2. To provide transparency and convenience throughout their experience with the new feature.
3. To add an itemization feature where the users are able to upload their receipts in their group settings.
Research Objectives:
1. Determine how users split or make a payment in a group setting.
2. Understand and discover how users feel about Venmo's already existing features.
3. Research and learn about the market and its competitors both direct and indirect. 4. Determine what kind of payment options users mostly refer to during splitting bills in a group.
5.Determine pain points, needs and motivation in calculating and tracking payments that are itemized or split among individuals in a group.
Research Questions:
1. How do users usually calculate and pay their shared bills or transaction?
2. What are some of the circumstances that lead users to use fintech app and company like Venmo.
3. What are some of the features that will make bill splitting among a group more confidential and convenient.
4. What are users expectations and concerns from an app like Venmo with a new group settings feature?
5. Who could be our potential users?
I started to begin my design process for Venmo by making a depth of understanding of Venmo as a company and how I can incorporate a new feature into the app.
Research Goal:
1. To understand the goals and needs of Venmo users and develop a feature that makes splitting a transaction and payments within a group promising and efficient. 2. To provide transparency and convenience throughout their experience with the new feature.
3. To add an itemization feature where the users are able to upload their receipts in their group settings.
Research Objectives:
1. Determine how users split or make a payment in a group setting.
2. Understand and discover how users feel about Venmo's already existing features.
3. Research and learn about the market and its competitors both direct and indirect. 4. Determine what kind of payment options users mostly refer to during splitting bills in a group.
5.Determine pain points, needs and motivation in calculating and tracking payments that are itemized or split among individuals in a group.
Research Questions:
1. How do users usually calculate and pay their shared bills or transaction?
2. What are some of the circumstances that lead users to use fintech app and company like Venmo.
3. What are some of the features that will make bill splitting among a group more confidential and convenient.
4. What are users expectations and concerns from an app like Venmo with a new group settings feature?
5. Who could be our potential users?
Competitive Analysis
After my research, I moved on to analyze Venmo's competitors in order to understand the market's strengths and weaknesses. I used my secondary research in reviewing 5 existing apps like Venmo with split bill feature to help identity design patterns, opportunities and other elements. After interacting with the apps, I familarized myself with the context, application and features of the technology.
Market Research: Understand the fintech market’s trend and opportunities among millennial generation and the potential needs for the feature.
Competitive Analysis: Conduct comparative and competitive research to see how direct and indirect competitors are solving this issue of bill splitting in a group.
User interview/survey: Gather data and insights of their experiences using the app along in getting to understand their pain-points, needs and motivation in a feature.
After my research, I moved on to analyze Venmo's competitors in order to understand the market's strengths and weaknesses. I used my secondary research in reviewing 5 existing apps like Venmo with split bill feature to help identity design patterns, opportunities and other elements. After interacting with the apps, I familarized myself with the context, application and features of the technology.
Market Research: Understand the fintech market’s trend and opportunities among millennial generation and the potential needs for the feature.
Competitive Analysis: Conduct comparative and competitive research to see how direct and indirect competitors are solving this issue of bill splitting in a group.
User interview/survey: Gather data and insights of their experiences using the app along in getting to understand their pain-points, needs and motivation in a feature.
User interview
I further went on to gather participants for my user interview. I decided on interviewing 4 participants for my project. Before the interview, I accordingly created a list of questions based on my research and my participants experiences on interacting with apps like Venmo and their perspective on splitting bill in a group setting. The interviews was conducted over zoom call and in-person. User interviews allows me to empathize and gain an understanding of what users needs, motivates them and dislikes.
Some of the interviews questions incorporated in my interview script are as follow:
I further went on to gather participants for my user interview. I decided on interviewing 4 participants for my project. Before the interview, I accordingly created a list of questions based on my research and my participants experiences on interacting with apps like Venmo and their perspective on splitting bill in a group setting. The interviews was conducted over zoom call and in-person. User interviews allows me to empathize and gain an understanding of what users needs, motivates them and dislikes.
Some of the interviews questions incorporated in my interview script are as follow:
- Do you familiarize yourself with Venmo?
- How often do you find yourself using the app?
- What feature do you mostly use the app for?
- Do you use Venmo in requesting and sending money to friends when you split it in a group setting?
- How do you divide the amount or itemize the amount when splitting a bill?
- Do you prefer a feature where groups can be made and bills can be itemized to split a bill and keep track of all users in the group for their transactions?
My Goal:
To understand participants’ process during their experience when splitting bills in a group setting. Using their pains, motivation and needs, I will be developing a feature in Venmo where splitting bills can be itemised, can create and group and scan their receipts if needed. Convenience, Transparency, usability and convenience are what I’ll be aiming toward for this feature.
To understand participants’ process during their experience when splitting bills in a group setting. Using their pains, motivation and needs, I will be developing a feature in Venmo where splitting bills can be itemised, can create and group and scan their receipts if needed. Convenience, Transparency, usability and convenience are what I’ll be aiming toward for this feature.
Tsering
UX designer
Interview Debrief
The following are some of the examples of needs, motivation and pain-points regarding the new feature in Venmo "splitting the bill in a group setting."
Needs
- 4 out of 4 participants preferred an itemizable splitting option.
- 3 out of 4 participants preferred having a group chat to communicate within a group.
- 3 out of 4 participants preferred an option to upload the receipts.
- 4 out of 4 participants preferred an option to split the receipts both even and unevenly.
Motivation
- 2 out of 4 participants carried cash when going out in group incase they had to split the bill.
- 4 out of 4 participants felt Venmo allowed friends to be accountable of their fair share of money they owed to other.
- 2 out of 4 participants preferred transparency and privacy.
- 3 out of 4 participants used Venmo when splitting bills especially during dinners.
Painpoints
- 4 out of 4 participants find it inconvenient to keep track of the bill and the amount of money others owe when splitting a bill.
- 4 out of 4 participants find it frustrating when you have to go outside the app to split the amount (if needed) via a calculator.
- 3 out of 4 participants find it inconvenient to keep track of payments of friends regarding if they have paid or not.
- 2 out of 4 participants find that searching the same people user ID in a group can be repetitive and time frustrating.
Define
Persona
Based on one user interview, I created two personas that would best suit my feature that will be incorporated within Venmo and fit the different demographics that are most represented in the product, and will be telling the story of my redesign through the lens of these two users. Creating two different persona almost opposite to each other was important in my process of design the feature because I wanted to incorporated different perspective on my feature and how I may be able to define and design it within the app.
Based on one user interview, I created two personas that would best suit my feature that will be incorporated within Venmo and fit the different demographics that are most represented in the product, and will be telling the story of my redesign through the lens of these two users. Creating two different persona almost opposite to each other was important in my process of design the feature because I wanted to incorporated different perspective on my feature and how I may be able to define and design it within the app.
Product Roadmap
Roadmap allowed me to incorporate feature according to priorities. Insights from my research and interviews allowed me to focus on the breaking down features into must-have, nice to have, surprising and can come later categories accordingly.
Roadmap allowed me to incorporate feature according to priorities. Insights from my research and interviews allowed me to focus on the breaking down features into must-have, nice to have, surprising and can come later categories accordingly.
User Flow
I based my user flow entirely on how a user would browse through the app and interact with the new feature on the app. My main motive for the users was to allow them to split a bill among a group conveniently and in few steps making it easier for both parties. This eventually helped me in having a better understanding of designing all the necessary screen needed to achieve the user's goal.
I based my user flow entirely on how a user would browse through the app and interact with the new feature on the app. My main motive for the users was to allow them to split a bill among a group conveniently and in few steps making it easier for both parties. This eventually helped me in having a better understanding of designing all the necessary screen needed to achieve the user's goal.
Design & Prototype
Sketches
Starting with my sketches, I started to create low-fidelity sketches on my Ipad for the various pages/screens that I was using for my application. Sketching out the screens helped me establish the foundation on how the features would function or interact among the screens.
Starting with my sketches, I started to create low-fidelity sketches on my Ipad for the various pages/screens that I was using for my application. Sketching out the screens helped me establish the foundation on how the features would function or interact among the screens.
Hi-fi Wireframes
With the help of my sketches, I started to create Hi-fidelity wireframes on Figma by adding various UX and UI elements to the designs. The wireframes were developed with the intentions to interact into a prototype to test the app. Below are some of the screens of the new feature for Venmo.
Iterate & Revisions
Affinity Map
After testing the prototype and interviewing my users about the interaction, I was left with feedbacks which led me in creating an affinity map to recollect and organize my responses and observation. This step allowed me gain insights and grab opportunities in improving the interaction and overall application to be the best version of it own.
1
Success
- All users really liked being able to have this feature within the Venmo App.
- All users expressed the receipt upload feature was innovative and transparent
- All users were able to complete the given task clearly.
- 2 out of 3 users appreciated the Chat box feature for clarity.
2
Pain Points
- 3 users felt the names of the users in the group can be seen altogether.
- 3 users felt like the chat box messages can be clearer with the sender.
- 2 users felt the flow was a little tricky and hard to navigate because of the limited prototype function.
3
Opportunities
- All Users in the group's ID should be visible.
- Clear chat box variation between members and the admin of the group
- Add option for reoccurring reminders for debt owed.
- Incorporate an option where individual can get notification alert via email.
Iteration
The last step of this project was to review and gather successes, pain-points and opportunities to move ahead in creating a desirable feature for Venmo. I began to make priority revisions after conducting my usability testing accordingly.
The first iteration I made was on the create your group page where I made all user that had been added to the group visible. This would allow the admin for the group to see the group members before adding them to a group.
The second iteration I made was for the chat box page. Some of my participants during the usability test were confused on which side the admin of the group was chatting from. To solve the misunderstanding to differentiate between the admin and other group members chat, i changed the chat box color of the admin to blue to differentiate from the group members chat. I also added the number of members in the group next to the group members ID.
Reflection
Adding a feature to an existing App was a challenging Project for me. I initially wanted to choose an app with an I am the most comfortable with like Spotify, instagram or airbnb, but decided to challenge myself by picking an app from the finance industry. I love loving out with friends and am accustomed to Venmo when it comes to paying my friends the due amount and realized how Venmo could be more efficient as an app if they had a split the bill/payment feature within the app. From there, I decided to Pick Venmo as the app I would be wanting to incorporate a feature that could make users life and experience convenient, friendly and innovative. If I have to be honest, this project was one of the difficult one among my other project due to the lack of understanding and depth of the App and the industry. With time and a lot of research and interaction with other similar apps along with my mentor's help I was able to create a feature where users could split a bill or payments in a group setting either by uploading a receipt or splitting them evenly or unevenly. There were limitation in designing the app accordingly to my vision since it was already an existing app and had to make sure my UI elements and design matched Venmo. Beside that, this project definetly not only challenged me but also made me grow as a Ux designer.
