Banking accounts & transactions
Enhancing business efficiency and oversight by introducing subaccounts and revamping transactions within a German mobile fintech app.
Platform
Mobile (iOS & Android)
Client
Penta (Fintech)
Timeline
2020-2021
My role
UX / Product Designer
Introduction
When Penta, a fintech company catering to SMEs, introduced subaccounts to its web app, users eagerly awaited the same functionality for the mobile app.
Understanding Users and the Problem
Addressing the challenge
Penta's mobile app lacked subaccount management, hindering users like Alex (CEO of a financial SME) and Maria (Alex’s accountant). To address their pain points, I gathered the available user research and product knowledge, revealing several issues.
How might we help Alex Meyer, a pragmatic, open-minded, mobile-first CEO in the financial sector, effectively oversee and manage his transactions across multiple subaccounts?
How might we help Maria, Alex’s accountant, manage and document expenses across multiple subaccounts?
1
Functional parity
On mobile, transactions could only be made from the main account, and internal transfers between subaccounts were absent. On top of that, users could not prepare transactions or verify them (an essential functionality for Maria).
2
Subaccounts View
Subaccounts and their management was absent in the mobile experience, impeding Alex’s and Maria’s holistic financial overview.
3
Backend Constraints
Resource limitations dictated the prioritization of essential features, while backend limitations restricted global transaction view and search.
Ideation
First ideation
Single-Gesture View
A horizontal swipe gesture facilitated easy switching between subaccounts, providing immediate access to their respective transactions.
Bottom sheets are a great fluid solution for conserving screen space, making them ideal for the Penta home screen. Users can easily switch between subaccount management and transaction view by swiping vertically.
Subaccounts Management
Easy transferring, viewing, copying, and sharing of subaccount details empower users to manage their accounts effectively, hence they were prioritised and featured in the Account details section.
Transaction Redesign
External accounts and subaccounts were separated into distinct tabs, streamlining transaction management. Outgoing account selection and editing were optimized, and the success screen was enhanced with animations, clear actions and a primary button leading back to the initial screen.
Evaluative research
Usability testing
Issue 1: Unclear visual triggers
I removed the superfluous action links and replaced them with contextual interactions. I also moved the search button that lead users to believe it enabled global searches to the transactions bottom-sheet where it was context-dependant. Balance inclusion and reordering proved unhelpful for users at the time, so they were deprioritized.
Issue 2: Unclear navigation when initiating transactions
The transaction initiation was unclear for users because they couldn't differentiate between initiating an internal transfer between their own accounts and initiating an external transaction. The solution involved using a bottom-sheet that included these two distinct actions.
Adapting to unforeseen challenges
Ready to pivot
Standard scroll fallback plan
A React Native library component, the bottom-sheet, raised concerns during development. Since we lacked resources to develop our own component, I prepared a fallback plan using a standard scroll. Upon confirmation of the component's limitations, the team swiftly switched to the fallback plan, demonstrating adaptability and collaboration.
Operational setbacks
Having to pay Apple and Google a fee prevented us from offering the option to add subaccounts in the app. This setback was significant because creating subaccounts was a key revenue source for Penta. To address this issue, I replaced the section for adding and managing multiple subaccounts with a marketing section that encourages users to create subaccounts on the web app instead.
Success metrics
Surge in subaccount creation
We coordinated the release of the subaccount features with the marketing team to maximize impact. The marketing campaign combined with the user experience led to a nearly 40% increase in subaccount creation within the first month of release. This marked a significant business success, considering that subaccount creation was a key revenue driver for Penta.
Learnings
Navigating challenges & gaining insights
Be prepared to pivot
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, whether due to operational challenges, resource constraints or development obstacles. I've learned not to be disheartened by setbacks but instead to quickly devise heuristic solutions and always have a backup plan in place.
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Was the bottom-sheet truly necessary for a great user experience? Not really. The need to remove it from certain screens due to development challenges made me question whether it was the optimal choice in the first place or if I was simply driven by my ego. This experience taught me that simplicity can often save a project.