top of page

Redesigning Aadhaar-Linked Payment System

Revamp Drives 10% Increase in Monthly Transactions

Project Summary

This project involves a redesign of a payment system connected to the Indian government ID, Aadhaar card. The goal is to significantly improve usability and enhance the overall user experience.

Project Highlights
  • The UI revamp resulted in a substantial financial impact, increasing the Gross Transaction Value (GTV) from an average monthly figure of 3000 cr to nearly 3300 cr.

  • Employed diverse UX methods for informed design decisions.

  • Utilized Nielsen Norman's usability methods to identify design gaps and explore design potential.

  • Developed high-fidelity wireframes using a design system to ensure consistency with the brand.

My Role

Led UX research and spearheaded the development of wireframes. Collaborated within an Agile framework, engaging cross-functional team members including Project Managers, Front-end and Back-end developers, and other stakeholders.

Project Status

The project is live and is well received.

About the App

It is the biggest branchless banking and digital payments network in India. It supplies a variety of financial and non-financial services to the masses across the country to the unbanked and underbanked through a robust financial inclusion model built on local retail networks.

About the Project

This project involves a redesign of a payment system connected to the Indian government ID, Aadhaar card. The goal is to significantly improve usability and enhance the overall user experience

Problem Statement

Revamp the AePS service for enhanced user-friendliness and seamless integration with the new design system. Identify and address gaps in the previous flow, aiming to deliver a modern, intuitive experience for users.

Redesign Reasons
Better user experience
 
Addressing usability issues
Capture all scenarios better

Owing to the constraints of a non-disclosure agreement, I am unable to present the previous UI screens.
However, I've tried to explain the problems I found below.

User Persona
User persona
Mahesh Singh, 43

Status: Married
Education: High School Graduate
Occupation: Retailer
Income: Rs. 50000+
Location: Madhya Pradesh

​Attributes
  • Not proactive

  • Slow learnability

  • Limited curiosity

  • Limited attention span

  • Strong memory and mental models

  • Low diagnostic capabilities

Scenario

​“Mahesh works out of a small “open” shop. Located in a busy market area, there is a lot of footfall around him. There are cars honking, hawkers strolling and people talking aloud. He deals in multiple businesses selling goods and services to passerby. He deals with many customers at once, demanding attention or resolution. Managing a business' means a lots of phone a calls to answer.”

Behaviour
  • Interacts with many people at same time while doing his work

  • Seeks support when unexpected things happens and expect a quick response for their customers rather than chasing resolutions and wasting their own time

  • Major time and focus on giving good service to customer to keep them happy and satisfied.

  • Work on other multiple system and expect them to work similarly

Pain Points
  • Chasing support and resolutions wastes time. It affects the relationship with customer and earning opportunities

  • Overloaded with work and doesn’t have the time or patience to learn anything

  • It takes time to learn new tools, services flows, complicated words

  • When a customer is dissatisfied with the service

  • Multiple businesses does not allow much time to learn new processes

  • Mind is pre occupied with many things while competing for attention

Goals
  • ​Need higher returns on time spent (ROI)

  • Wants to do as many transaction because more transaction = more earnings!

  • Wants to maintain a good image with his customers and be known for his service offering in the area

  • Wants more number of customers and also want to satisfy customers by solving their problems quickly

  • Always looking for new opportunities to earn more

Usability testing

Using Nelson Norman, 10 usability principles, we did tested the usability of each screens. Conducting usability testing with the system provided valuable insights into opportunities for enhancements, new features, and crucially, identifying pain points. Throughout each sprint, our focus was on achieving milestones to ensure a seamless user experience.

Competetive Analysis
Competetive Analysis
Competetive Analysis
Competetive Analysis

Conducting a competitive analysis allowed us to discern the strengths of our counterparts offering similar services. This, in turn, provided insights into the gaps we needed to address and improve upon.

Additionally, I curated a list of potential enhancements for the user experience by comparing the features of the two competitive apps.

Competetive Analysis
Competetive Analysis
Task Analysis

Deconstructing the services into distinct sub-tasks involves analyzing daily user activities within each sub-task. This approach helps identify opportunities to enhance user-friendliness and improve overall task efficiency.

Competetive Analysis
Customer Journey Map

After the tasks, we wanted to understand the emotions the user will go through in different stages. It is differentiated into different stages and the emotions that the customer goes through within each stage. It helped to understand how can we optimize the user's experience better!

Usability Testing
Wireframes
Wireframe
Wireframe
Hi-Fi Screens
Service Start Page
AePS Withdrawal Start Page

Start page of the AePS service. You can withdraw money or check balance and get a mini statement from your bank account.

AePS Withdrawal Entered Details

To withdraw, enter the amount and Aadhaar number or scan the card/virtual number.

AePS Balance & Statement Start Page

For balance and statement, input Aadhaar number by scanning card or adding virtual number.

Confirmation Screen
aeps-withdrawal-09

Bottom sheet for quick interaction, top banks listed first as per the data, followed by alphabetical bank categorization.

aeps-withdrawal-09-2

Bottom sheet confirms details, allows edits, and the CTA scan button enables upon permission acceptance.

aeps-balance&statement-07

Similar confirmation page for balance enquiry.

AePS Bank Selection

Bottom sheet for quick interaction, top banks listed first as per the data, followed by alphabetical bank categorization.

AePS Withdrawal Confirmation Screen

Bottom sheet confirms details, allows edits, and the CTA scan button enables upon permission acceptance.

AePS Balance & Statement Confirmation Screen

Similar confirmation page for balance enquiry.

Termination Screen
AePS Withdrawal Success Screen

Success screen for balance and statement. The balance is mentioned, and the mini statement can be expanded to see more.

AePS Balance & Statement Success Screen

Success screen for balance and statement. When the mini statement is expanded.

AePS Balance & Statement Success Screen

Success screen for cash withdrawal. It mentions all the amount withdrawn, balance as well as the bank details.

AePS Withdrawal Failure Screen

Failure state displays reason, provides instructions, includes CTA for the next step, and allows direct complaint submission.

Future Scope

For ongoing enhancement, regular reviews, extensive user testing, and data analysis are essential to ensure continuous improvement in the user-friendliness of the flagship AePS service.

Reflection

Redesigning the service was a fantastic experience. It involved breaking down components, deciding what to keep or remove. It taught me the importance of aligning design ideas with developers' practical insights. Through numerous iterations and collaborative discussions, the project evolved. While I led the effort, collaboration played a significant role. While perfection may be elusive, witnessing the before-and-after transformations and the positive financial impact of the redesign was truly rewarding.​

bottom of page