Making Seamless The Transfer Processes

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TransferWise rebranded as Wise in February 2021 to reflect the broadening nature of their services. It led to several consequences, especially in the design processes according to a customer review: "What looks to be simple is never simple." New strategies and design changes made the experience slow and complex to use. I was part of UX research to redesign the Wise transfer experience.

All information in the case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Wise.

About WISE

Between 2018 and 2023, Wise saw its customer base increase rapidly, reaching a milestone of 16 million customers in March 2023. Wise stands out from some of its competitors by not marking up exchange rates to fatten profits. The company boasts that it avoids “unfair” exchange rates charged by banks. However, according to customer reviews, the company has lost its uniqueness and is no longer aligning with its original promises.

The challenge

My goal for the project was to make it seamless for them to transfer. The original premise was simple: transfer money and receive. However, we weren't trying to revert to a simple past. Our ambitions were to create a strong foundation that embraced a rapidly evolving business and more diverse user base.

Goals:

  • Make it fast and easy to use for everyone, everywhere.

  • Give users more fair over transfer time and money.

  • Create a platform for innovation and deeper engagement.

My Role

I worked on the UX strategy to focus more in-depth on Wise's transfer processes, collecting research data and analyzing possible strategies and solutions for the case study. In addition, I collaborated with the product design lead, who specializes in payments, to better understand the processes and gain more experience in the financial, banking, and payments fields.

Processes

During the research I used the following processes: collecting data, problem framing, product experience ladder, user journey, ux audit, ideation, value effort matrix, qualitative data, user flow, wireframes, prototype, ……

Collecting data

At the outset of the project, I didn’t have a clear mission or specific goals for the transfer experience. Without pre-existing insights, I collected data from

  • interviews,

  • social media monitoring,

  • secondary sources,

  • observations,

  • qualitative data, and

  • user testing to explore how customers transfer their money.

Discovery

One of the open sources I am using is Review websites, which provides users' reviews, emotions, and issues they face with a product. Here are the main topics: customer support, transfer processes and interface design.

I was surprised by the issues I found. From the simple transfer flow, users getting lost in the processes and the following consequences related to:

Errors • Delays • Closed accounts without any reason • Failed Transfers • Increased charges • Further checks • Untouchable buttons • Security • No refund…

Framing

Before I could jump into designing, it was important to define all possible options to choose the right problem framing.

After considering various options, I chose to stick with the most valued one: "For Wise clients who need to transfer money, how might we make it seamless for them to transfer so that we keep our market share."

To achieve the goal of "making it seamless," I am using the Venn Diagram and Product Experience Ladder.

This approach focuses on three main UX-related values: Viability, Usability, and Feasibility, rather than utilizing other Venn diagrams from the internet that may include multiple circles with various options and meanings. The Product Experience Ladder is akin to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, progressing from Useful to Seamless. Achieving seamlessness requires the product to pass through all stages, starting from being useful before becoming usable.

Success

What success looks like?

So, what will happen when I solve this "problem"? Here, I am using the following structure:

For (our user type),

We want to see…

As measured by…

First variant best fits the case study: “For Wise clients we want to see a reduction in completion of core flow as measured by successful first transfer”.

Research

In the main research, I will focus in-depth on all the core steps from registering a new user to completing their first transfer. User journey is one of the best methods that fit the case study.

I was surprised by the issues I found. Wise has significant shortcomings in its support services. Users often encounter confusion between payment and transfer issues, which leads them to seek support. When users receive no response or incorrect guidance from support, their satisfaction and retention decrease, impacting market share.

In conducting further research on this section, I created a user flow to better understand where users struggle within its sections.

Before this project, I had never used the Wise application, which was ideal for observing myself as a user.

However, I was unable to complete my first transaction due to failed verification. Here my progress was halted.

I had the opportunity to observe several users completing their first transfer:

After going through all the steps, users still can't complete their first transfer. They encounter errors or find buttons that are unresponsive. What if errors and verification incompleteness are one of the main reasons for users' low satisfaction? To delve deeper, I used open sources like https://mobbin.com/ to gather all the screens and complete a core flow to understand at which funnel step users are dropping off, allowing us to focus more on this issue.

Here is “Send” flow from https://mobbin.com/:

Unfortunately, the "Send" user flow is not what we are looking for.

In the "Send" flow from Mobbin, the user is performing their second, third, or fourth transfer. In the core flow, we consider the "first transfer" as point

In the core flow, we consider the "first transfer" as point A (sending money from the user’s first debit card) to point B (his/her second debit card in the same currency and country).

Funnel

Why Funnel?

A funnel is an effective way to visualize user flow because it breaks down the process into discrete steps, highlighting where users drop off. This clear, step-by-step analysis helps identify specific pain points and bottlenecks, providing conversion metrics at each stage. By pinpointing where the highest drop-off rates occur, funnels enable focused improvements on the most critical steps, enhancing the overall user experience and reducing completion time.

Quantitative data was conducted by 50 users from different backgrounds and ages. 

Here is the core flow:

  1. Login to Account

  2. Select Transfer Option

  3. Enter Transfer Details (Amount and Currency)

  4. Add/Select Recipient (Second Card)

  5. Review Transfer Details

  6. Confirm Transfer

  7. Transfer Successful

Smaller drop-offs in the later steps suggest that users are committed once they pass the initial stages.

The highest drop-off rate occurs between entering transfer details and adding/selecting the recipient (12.5%). This indicates potential complexity or confusion in managing recipient information.

The second highest drop-off is between selecting the transfer option and entering transfer details (11.1%), suggesting issues with the transfer form or details entry.

Let's focus!

On the step with the highest drop-off rate: entering transfer details to adding/selecting a recipient (12.5%). We'll go through the UX ideation process to address this issue effectively.

I conducted qualitative research with multiple users to understand why this drop-off occurs.

The findings pinpointed two main issues: users struggle with managing recipient information due to its complexity or confusion, and there's a lack of clarity in the recipient selection process.

Ideation

To address these challenges effectively, the Value/Effort Matrix was applied to prioritize and strategize solutions:

The implementation strategy focuses on prioritizing high-value, low-effort solutions such as autocomplete suggestions and single-step recipient addition to deliver immediate improvements.

Solution

To streamline the process of adding new recipients on Wise, implementing a user-friendly interface that guides users through each step efficiently would be well-suited to this case.

  • Develop a clear and structured form for adding recipients, ensuring all necessary fields are straightforward and easily accessible. 

  • Utilize progressive disclosure techniques to initially display only essential fields for adding a recipient, with the option to reveal additional fields (e.g., address details, specific instructions) as needed. This approach reduces clutter and cognitive load, focusing users on relevant information.

  • Incorporate autocomplete functionality in the recipient name field to suggest existing contacts or previously added recipients as users type, reducing duplication and errors.  

  • Implement smart defaults for common recipient details such as country, currency, or account type based on user preferences or previous selections, minimizing manual entry and speeding up the process.

  • Provide contextual help icons or tooltips next to each input field to offer guidance on what information is required and how it should be formatted, ensuring clarity and reducing user uncertainty.

Results

After implementing the enhanced recipient addition process, a comprehensive analysis based on user feedback, usability testing, and key performance metrics revealed the following results:

  • 85% of users reported that the new form layout was easier to understand and navigate compared to the previous version.

  • Progressive disclosure reduced the cognitive load, with 70% of users reporting that the form felt less cluttered and overwhelming.

  • The autocomplete feature led to a 40% reduction in errors related to duplicate or incorrect recipient details.

  • Users reported a 20% decrease in the time required to add a recipient, thanks to the suggestions provided by the autocomplete functionality.

  • 60% of users reported using the contextual help instructions, which provided clarity on required information and formatting.

  • Improved user retention rates by 10%, as users found the platform easier to use and more reliable for managing their recipient information.

Implementing these enhancements in the recipient addition process has significantly improved user experience and operational efficiency. The structured form, progressive disclosure, autocomplete functionality, smart defaults, and contextual help collectively contributed to higher completion rates, reduced errors, and increased user satisfaction. These improvements underscore the company's commitment to user-centered design and continuous product optimization, ensuring that the platform remains user-friendly and effective in meeting customer needs.

Case #2