About the Project
Venmo is the leading cash transfer application. I explore ways to expand its existing features and ways that Venmo could utilize a smartwatch integration.
Team Size
4 UX/UI Professionals
My Role
UX Researcher
UX Designer for Smartwatch
FE Developer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Google Forms
GitHub
Date and Duration
August 2022
3 weeks
Proto Persona
A proto-persona was used to represent my preconceptions about Venmo’s typical users based on my existing knowledge at the time and assumptions I had about users before beginning research.
Interview and Survey Data:
8 User Interviews
Survey with 136 individual responses *excluding anonymous/speed takers
Per the survey, Venmo’s parent company, PayPal, is the biggest threat in terms of overall utilization. However, Venmo is the preferred choice when it comes to bill splitting. A dedicated bill split functionality will provide a much-needed competitive advantage.
User Research
Also Completed:
Contextual Inquiry
Affinity Diagram using user data
Empathy Map
Heuristic Evaluation
Accessibility Evaluation
GOAL: How can we understand the current user behavior for Venmo and find opprotunities for feature growth?
Objective 1: Determine how familiar users are with cash transfer apps.
Objective 2: Identify how users are utilizing cash transfer apps.
Objective 3: Discover how cash transfer apps can be improved.
User Insights
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Data Analysis
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Feature Iteration
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User Insights • Data Analysis • Feature Iteration •
More Research
Bill splitting remains the second most important utility among cash transfer app users in the survey. Not having a dedicated bill split functionality is a missed opportunity for Venmo.
Irrespective of respondents' age, 98% (133) of them reported using cash transfer apps. Suggesting a large market penetration and demographic utilization. Adding new features will be the key to stay ahead of the competition.
If bill split functionality is added to the Venmo app, encouragingly, 65% (86) of respondents expressed increased app utilization.
Amongst all participants who have used the cash transfer app, ~70% (93) of them also own a smartwatch.
However, the respondents are not using pay by smartwatch feature.
Even if "pay from smartwatch" dedicated functionality is added to the Venmo app, respondents willingness to utilize that feature remains low at 39% (52).
QR code adaptability from a smartwatch is not a winner but still is a strongly desired feature as 40% of respondents will use it if offered.
User Persona
User Insight: Elle needs a simple and convenient way to make cash transactions. She needs to be able to split bills with friends and set up recurring transfers while on the go with her favorite cash-transfer app, Venmo.
User Persona versus Proto Persona
Elle’s needs are that she needs a way to safely and securely transfer funds to others for services. This differs from Remy, who relies on Venmo to split bills when going out to resturants with friends. Additionally, Remy has an exisitng network she cash transfers with opposed to Elle who has not way of seamlessly and securely added people to her Venmo application. Both use a smartwatch and would like a phone application feature to remind them of reocurring expenses and easy payment splitting.
Problem Statement
Elle is unable to split payments with her friends in one easy transaction, nor is she able to set up a recurring cash transfer to other users in her contacts. She needs a convenient utility that will allow her to process all of the transactions needed in her life.
How might we improve the Venmo experience for users like Elle by offering a feature to add contacts, offer payment reminders/scheduling, and a more convenient way to split bills in a group?
Ideation
Competitive Analysis
3 direct competitors | 2 indirect competitors
Though Venmo is the leader in cash tranfer applications there are some things to improve. Compared to Zelle, Vemno lacks memorability on UI and user comfortability. Additionally, both Zelle and Cash App’s learnability allow new users to quickly pick up application features. Venmo has an opprotunity to widen their lead through interative changes to their UI and feature introductions.
Smart Watch Design and Testing
With 70% of survey takers owning a smartwatch, I decided to explore a basic smartwatch utility for Venmo. This feature would allow users to make and receive payments utilizing their smartwatch. I create two user flows for this integration as well.
I produced two prototypes for the smartwatch app. The two designs contained variations of the new features that would be compared by users in AB(C) testing.
Pay Feature on Smartwatch
Acceptance of Payment on Smartwatch
User testers responded to the clear design that reflected Venmo’s branding. We kept the green buttons in the smart watch application to keep congruency with the phone application. Users liked 1c and 2b for is clean user flow and least amount of interaction.
New Features to Phone Application Design and Testing
AB Testing for Bill Splitting
AB Testing for Reoccuring Payments
Again, I utilized AB testing to determine which prototype users preferred and parts of the app that needed to be redacted or adjusted.
Some of the feedback I received included:
Add gratuity/total bill breakdown on the final confirmation page
Change the function title from “recurring request” to “recurring transfer”
Keep the confirmation button green
Use the Apple calendar wheel to schedule payments
High Fidelity Prototype
Bill Splitting with 4 options for transaction division among users
Recurring Payment Feature
Favorites feature to allow for user customization
Smartwatch integration for on-the-go transfers
Website creation to announce new features
Next Steps
Given more time, I would suggest the following changes in future iterations:
Exploration of gratuity features within recurring requests
Toggle feature to turn recurring gratuity off/on
Push notifications for recurring payment reminders
Delayed gratuity setting for recurring payments
Development for Android
Geolocation to find contacts near me
Consideration for Optical Character Recognition for receipt scanning
Lessons Learned
Looking back, I would have done my research differently. Learning about the motives behind why user use Venmo versus other cash tranfer applications. Focusing on features that exist and improve upon rather than developing new ones that would require user education and change in behavior.
Venmo Announces Bill Splitting Feature
On February 16, 2023 Venmo announced to users via email that they are implementing a bill split feature to their Venmo Debit Cards. I captured close to what they implemented in this case study. The image in this section shows the Venmo’s released UI/UX.