When you’re creating products for digital-savvy customers, developing a bad user experience isn’t an option. Most customers are used to getting what they want, but they’re also used to an outdated system of payments and financial technology that doesn’t quite fit into their day-to-day schedules or ease-of-use requirements. It’s your job to put user experience at the forefront of your payments product development. That placement will set you at the front of the pack for overall customer experience, as your product shows your users what they’re missing everywhere else.
But what do those users want? What makes a customer’s experience great?
Improving customer experience: start by matching expectations
First things first, good customer experience isn’t always about giving the customer exactly what she or he expects. In the case of UX — often where good customer experience starts — users tend not to know exactly which UX elements will meet their needs, or even what those needs are. But they do always have one expectation you need to match: they want an intuitive, seamless and simple experience. What can create that experience?
1. Streamlined log in processes
No one wants to have to log in to a web interface on their phone every time they need to complete a payment or transfer money. They want apps that don’t require a login every time, but are also highly secure. Finding that balance may mean you need to allow customers to make their own decisions about how and when to log in — and make those decisions simple.
2. Transparency via notification
Communicating the status of a payment has never been as easy as it should be. And that frustrates consumers — especially those who are used to tracking items online, from furniture shipments to pizza deliveries. To achieve good customer experience through product design, you’ll need to provide notifications of tracking capabilities, including status updates, via push notifications, webhooks and/or emails.
With the upcoming implementation of Payments Services Directive 2 (PSD2), giving your users the correct, up-to-date info about where their money is will be even more of a priority. No matter what, your user shouldn’t be forced to log into your application to find information about payment status or tracking. That information needs to be available elsewhere, for easy access and integration with their daily tasks.
3. Design simplicity
Let’s talk about that app. A simple and beautiful UI is required for customer happiness. Success in the mobile app space has become less about price models and more about look and feel. Is every action intuitive? Does every screen feature the same, consistent, clear branding and sentiment? This aspect of improving customer experience is table stakes: give them something they like to look at and use.
4. Feedback submission
In the world of international payments, easy-to-access reporting around payment issues or failures is paramount to improvements. Give your users the ability to report these issues as they happen. Whether they’re using your product in their own service or they are an end user just trying to send a friend a bit of cash, every user appreciates the ability to interact with you quickly and with results.
5. Answers before questions
Similarly, on-demand access to information is a part of a good customer experience across the board. No one wants to call customer service when they experience trouble — they want to know what to do, right now! That means you should provide all necessary information at the click of a button (or touch of a screen, as it were). If a payment is missing, for example, your customer should know exactly what to do without digging for the answer. Anticipate questions so you can always stay ahead of their needs.
Diving into that idea further, you can even help customers begin to understand international payments through your interface. Education can go beyond your product and into the industry as a whole, so your customers become so well-versed in digital payments that they feel like experts themselves, which may make them natural evangelists for your brand or service. Simplistic and well-crafted design, alongside a commitment to anticipating questions before they’re asked, can help you add educational aspects to your app, thus improving the customer experience overall.
Here’s What You Shouldn’t Do
Great user and customer experience is an art and a science. You can’t get there overnight, even if the ideas above help. But there are definitely some things you should stay far, far away from:
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Never create clunkiness
Don’t make it too hard to find information. Don’t clutter your app with noisy or non-essential design elements. Everything should have a purpose.
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Don’t lose your focus
Yes, you want to provide educational content, help everyone streamline international payments, and keep your customers and consumers happy. But don’t get so bogged down in a beautiful UI that you forget to incorporate your core competencies. Continue to do what you do — well. It’s also imperative that you listen to market feedback on your product, so you know what needs improvement.
With all of this in mind, you’re ready to begin improving the experience users have with your payments product. If you want to learn more about how to get started, get in touch to schedule a discovery call today.
