Intro
Overview
Introducing Tymit: a revolutionary credit product with commitment to reshaping conventional paradigms and putting the focus on transparency and flexibility for customers. Its primary revenue stream comes from user payments that correspond to the credit extended. However, when users fall behind on payments or accrue debt, we are confronted with a critical challenge that demands innovative solutions.
Problem
We currently fail in informing users about their outstanding balance, or how to clear their debt and we don’t give clear actions to contact Customer Support. Simultaneously, different teams like Customer support and Collections experiment a really heavy load of tasks regarding customers in arrears, from calculating balances to chasing users to communicate their debts or ask for a payment.
Collaborative approach
For this initiative I worked with the Product manager as main responsible for defining vision, prioritisation and ensuring alignment with business goals. Compliance expert to make sure we comply with relevant laws, regulations and industry standards. Billing and Collections teams to provide us with information about processes. Customer support to give us insights about common queries. Content designer as the expert in creating compelling and coherent messaging across different touchpoints. Last but not least, Front- End and Back-End developers to assure we work on solutions that are technically feasible, and QA to ensure edge cases are being considered.
My role
Product designer, with main focus in synthesizing user needs, business objectives, and technical constraints to create intuitive and impactful user experience.
Success criteria
Before diving into research to have a better understanding of the problem, we defined what results we expect to achieve:
- To develop a notification system that clearly informs customers when they enter arrears, promoting transparency and accountability.
- To provide users with intuitive visibility of their outstanding balances, facilitating informed decision-making.
- To communicate the potential consequences of arrears in a clear way, empowering users with knowledge to navigate their financial situations effectively.
Additionally, we aim to outline clear, actionable steps for users to resolve their arrears, ensuring a straightforward path to financial stability, while also offering seamless access to Customer Support, providing users with specialized assistance when needed. By achieving these objectives, we aim to strengthen user confidence, trust, and satisfaction while promoting responsible financial behavior.
Understanding Billing Cycle and Collections Process
First step of our research was understanding the complexity of our billing and collections systems. Through collaborative sessions with the Billing and Payments team and the Collections squad, we worked together to explore our main questions and identify key pain points in the user journey.
Findings regarding the billing cycle:
- Billing month happens from 24th to 24th of the subsequent month (For instance, purchases made from August 24th to September 24th are included in the September bill.)
- Payment date is always 7th of the next month (following previous example, September bill is due by October 7th)
- Start and end date for billing month may vary from month to month.
- Payment dates are subject to variation each month.
Findings regarding collections process:
- Customers in arrears are categorised into cycles, with each additional month of debt accumulation corresponding to an increment in the cycle number. (For example, a customer who hasn’t paid September and October bills would be classified in Cycle 2 of Collections.)
- Following Cycle 1 in collections, users may incur a late payment fee.
- Post Cycle 2 in collections, and subsequently every two months, users receive a Notice of Sum in Arrears.
- After Cycle 6 in collections, users face default status and consequent loss of access to the app.
- Customers can explore different options for debt resolution or payment postponement, such as Promise to Pay and Payment Holidays.
Current experience design analysis
Based on the information we had from Billing and Collections teams, and after a thorough analysis of the presented information and the current design experience, several key observations emerged:
- Limited visibility of billing cycle: Customers lack visibility of the billing cycle, as we are only providing a name for the billing plus a due date. This lack of information may lead to confusion.
- Insufficient notification of missed payments: Customers are not promptly alerted to missed payments unless they navigate through the Transactions list or tap to pay their bill, requiring additional effort and potential oversight.
- Lack of debt visibility: There is no clear indication of accumulated debt when multiple bill payments are missed, potentially contributing to customer uncertainty.
- Inconsistent communication approach: Communication lacks a cohesive narrative, varying depending on the channel and initiating team. This inconsistency leads to scattered information and a disjointed user experience.
- Absence of content strategy expertise: Communication lacks the guidance of a Content expert to define a comprehensive strategy tailored to each channel and stage of the user journey.
Solution
Our solution entails clear in-app communication regarding billing cycles and amounts due, coupled with multi-channel reminders to prompt bill payment, alongside providing clear recovery steps and easy access to Customer Support.
Initial solution constraints and technical considerations
After defining the initial parameters of our solution, we’ve established the following constraints for the first versions:
- Due to limited resources of Content Design, our solution won’t initially prioritize adaptability of messages strategy across various channels.
- Changes to fundamental processes such as categorizing customers in collections or modifying billing cycles are not feasible in the initial phases, as they involve manual processes and system constraints.
In addition, we collaborated with developers to explore potential approaches for addressing this initiative, while also acknowledging the limitations in modifying existing design components. For instance, the outdated implementation of the Home screen presents technical debt, limiting our flexibility in making changes; however, integrating new elements into the screen may prove more feasible than overhauling the existing structure.
Stakeholder alignment and solution details
In this phase, we commenced with a workshop session to align with stakeholders, prioritizing essential information and actions for the new user experience. Through collaborative discussions and visual support, we got their input to define the best order of information presentation within the app.
With these insights from stakeholders, and collaboration with Content Design, we defined the specific information to display at each stage of the billing cycle based on our prior research. During the billing cycle, we aim to showcase billing dates and provide reminders of approaching payment deadlines. When bills are ready for payment, we’ll include the option to “Pay now,” alongside the billing dates. In case of missed bills, users will be promptly informed of days past due, arrears amount, and offered actions to rectify the situation, either by immediate payment or contacting Customer Support.
Considering our constraints, we opted to introduce new components on the Home screen to highlight billing cycle information. After experimenting with various components from our Design system, we selected an informative banner with a prominent “Pay now” call-to-action to fulfill the primary purpose of the message. Additionally, we used the space below the bill amount to convey information about the billing cycle, maximizing user awareness and comprehension.
To provide users with a comprehensive understanding of potential consequences and access to Customer Support, we introduced a full-screen modal that appears upon app launch. This modal offers enough space for detailed explanations and ensures visibility of crucial information.
Results and Impact
Measuring success: key metrics and tracking events
To measure the effectiveness of our implementation, we’ve established tracking events that provide insights into customer interactions:
- Modal interaction: Monitoring the frequency of customers tapping on any button within the modal.
- ‘Pay Now’ button engagement: Tracking the number of customers who engage with the ‘Pay now’ button.
- Customer Support contact: Monitoring instances of customers reaching out to Customer Support to address their financial situation.
- Arrears clearance: Tracking the number of customers who successfully clear their arrears balance.
In addition to these tracking events, we’ve outlined key metrics to measure our success:
- Number of customers in arrears: Assessing the volume of customers with outstanding balances.
- Debt resolution in Cycle 1 of Collections: Monitoring the number of customers who successfully resolve their debt during the initial Collections cycle.
- Engagement with Customer Support in Collections: Tracking the number of customers in collections who actively engage with our team to resolve their situation.
These metrics will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of our implementation and help us evaluate our progress towards achieving our goals.
Postponed features for future iterations
To meet the implementation deadline before the next billing cycle, we opted to leave the following aspects to subsequent iterations:
- While acknowledging the importance of providing direct access to Collections options, we decided to leave this implementation for future iterations to prioritize other critical features.
- Given the time constraints, we postponed the refinement of our communication strategy to better engage users across different channels. This decision ensures that we can focus on delivering a functional solution within the stipulated timeframe while allowing for iterative improvements in subsequent releases.
Analyzing initial outcomes
Following the implementation of changes and subsequent analysis of metrics one month later, we observed the beginnings of improvement in several key areas:
- We noted a promising 5% decrease in the number of customers in arrears across each brand, indicating a positive trend towards improved financial management.
- The Collections team achieved a notable 20% reduction in their outbound calls to customers in arrears, suggesting increased efficiency and effectiveness in debt recovery processes.
- There was an average decrease of 30% in queries to Customer Support regarding billing cycle details, arrears balances, or consequences of non-payment, reflecting improved clarity and understanding among users.
These early indicators of improvement validate the efficacy of our changes and provide a foundation for further optimization and refinement in our ongoing efforts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, navigating tight deadlines and a limited scope proved fundamental in maintaining focus and delivering tangible value, even in incremental releases. This approach promotes an iterative process based in customer interactions and feedback, enabling us to continually refine and enhance the user experience.
Reflecting on the project, incorporating a small-scale user testing phase would have been invaluable, providing an initial validation of the new experience and potentially uncovering insights for further refinement.
Finally, I am deeply grateful for the support and collaboration of our stakeholders, particularly the Billing and Collections teams, whose expertise and insights were invaluable throughout the project. Special recognition is also extended to the Developers and Content Design team, whose dedication and contributions were essential in driving the initiative forward. It is through this collective effort and partnership that we were able to successfully deliver on our objectives and improve the overall user experience.
