after launch, users didn't receive the product quite as we expected . . .
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few users made it past the home screen >> time for a more appealing redesign
When examining our the data from our internal dashboard, we noticed that there were a high number of users who completed the sign up process but dropped out while on the home screen before even attempting to split a receipt. This lead me to conduct a set of user interviews in which I learned that our users disliked our homepage design because it was unappealing and confusing.
Prior to launching, we had decided to de-prioritize the home page because we deemed it more important to put our limited resources towards the core user flow of splitting a receipt. Yet ironically, many users never even saw our hard work because the homepage was so deterring!
We completely revamped the homepage with a new dashboard feature that provides useful information and easy access to previous receipts. When conducting a secondary round of user interviews, users shared that the new home page UI and navigation was "appealing," "easy-to-use," and "beautiful."
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users dropped out before their receipt finished uploading >> adding a new progress bar
When conducting usability testing, I noted that many users felt frustrated while waiting for their receipt to upload. Simultaneously, we received reports from our users that the receipt upload feature was "broken," when our internal testing showed that the feature worked quickly and reliably. Curious about this mismatch, I conducted more user interviews and learned that there was a confounding variable: location. Our users were scanning receipts in restaurant, which often have unreliable wifi, while our team was testing the app at a location with stable wifi.
Upload speed was a large issue for our development team to tackle that would likely take a couple months. Rather than wait on the dev team to finish the issue while continuing to lose frustrated users, I devised a temporary solution to change our infinite loader design to a progress bar that warned the user of longer load times when their wifi connection was low. After this quick fix, we found that our user dropout on the loading screen decreased, and we stopped receiving reports of that the upload feature was broken entirely.
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users felt uncomfortable asking others to use the app >> redesigning the experience to enable user to split on others' behalf
To our surprise, we frequently received feedback that even though some users loved our product, they felt too awkward to ask their friends to join their receipt. Or, in some instances, a user's friends would refuse to download our app, forcing the user to divide the bill using traditional methods.
The joining component was central our app's back-end functionality and our core user flow, so adapting to this new concern posed a significant challenge. I started by hosting a whiteboard session with the development team in which we explored our options, posing "how might we enable a group leader to add a friend to their receipt asking them to download Celipa?"
We partnered to create a new back-end system component and a new UI feature that allows a user to add friends from their contacts or by phone number and split the reciept on their behalf. When added, the friend receives a text message notification which is followed by another message that lets them know how much they owe the group leader with a payment link to settle up. This way, the group leader is able to split the bill and their friends don't need to download Celipa.
Our solution not only solved the original problem, but also enabled iOS users to add Andriod users to their receipt prior to our Andriod launch a few months later. The new feature also solved an edge case that we had noticed: now, even if one group member's phone died, the group leader could still split the bill, and they could settle up with each other later.
Search contacts or
add by number
Add friends to receipt to tirgger text notification
Select items for other users
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