UX Case Study · Mobile · Fintech

Simplifying a
mobile payment flow

A ground-up redesign of a peer-to-peer transfer experience — reducing friction, building trust, and making sending money feel effortless.

UX Research Interaction Design Prototyping 12 Weeks NDA · Details abstracted
9:41●●
Good morning 👋
Alex C.
AC
Total Balance
$24,831
↑ +$1,240 this month
↑
Send
↓
Receive
⇄
Exchange
Recent
☕
Blue Bottle
Today
−$6.80
👤
Sarah M.
Yesterday
+$320
⊞
Home
↑↓
Pay
📊
Stats
👤
Profile
9:41●●
✓
Payment Sent
$1,500
to Sarah Mitchell
Ref#FP824901
FeeFree
StatusCompleted
Download Receipt
🔒 This project is under NDA. Specific metrics, client name, and detailed research data have been abstracted to protect confidentiality.
Problem

Users were dropping off before completing transfers

Research revealed a multi-step payment flow with redundant confirmations and unclear feedback that was causing high abandonment — particularly among first-time users.

📉
High
Abandonment rate
Over half of initiated transfers were not completed — most dropped off mid-flow.
🔁
7 Steps
To complete a transfer
The existing flow required multiple redundant screens and repeated confirmations.
😕
Confusing
Fee & status display
Users were unsure about transfer fees, timing, and whether their payment had gone through.
📞
Elevated
Support contact rate
A significant portion of support inquiries were for issues resolvable with clearer in-app feedback.
Process

How we got there

A four-phase process — starting with understanding, ending with a validated design ready for engineering handoff.

01
Discover
User interviews, session recordings, funnel analysis
02
Define
Journey mapping, friction audit, design principles
03
Design
Wireframes, flows, hi-fi prototype in Figma
04
Validate
Usability testing, iteration, handoff
Research Methods
→Moderated user interviews (new + returning users)
→Session replay analysis across key drop-off points
→Funnel analysis to identify where users exited
→Competitive review of peer P2P apps
Key Design Principles
→Fewest possible steps to complete a transfer
→Surface fee and timing info before confirmation
→Unambiguous success and error states
→Progressive disclosure — show details when needed
Flow redesign

From 7 steps to 4

The original flow was audited step by step. Redundant screens were merged, and friction was reduced without removing any necessary confirmation.

Before
7 screens
1
Home dashboard
2
Select transfer type
3
Search recipient
4
Enter amount
5
Review transfer details
6
Authenticate
7
Processing → success screen
~4 min
Avg. time
High
Drop-off
After
4 screens
1
Home — quick-send shortcut
2
Recipient + amount (combined)
3
Summary — fee, timing, confirm
4
Authenticate + instant success
~47 sec
Avg. time
Reduced
Drop-off
Key screens

The redesigned experience

Six screens that together form the core transfer journey — each designed to remove uncertainty and get out of the user's way.

9:41●●
Good morning 👋
Alex Chen
AC
Total Balance
$24,831.50
↑ +$1,240 this month
↑
Send
↓
Receive
⇄
Exchange
+
Top Up
Recent
☕
Blue Bottle
Today
−$6.80
👤
Sarah M.
Yesterday
+$320
Home
Balance at a glance, quick-send shortcut front and centre
9:41●●
Send Money
🔍 Search name or account…
Recent
SM
Sarah
JK
James
RP
Rita
Saved
SM
Sarah Mitchell
•••• 4291
→
JK
James Kim
•••• 8801
→
Recipient
Recents and saved contacts surface immediately — no typing needed for repeat sends
9:41●●
Enter Amount
$1,500
Available: $24,831.50
+$50
+$100
+$500
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
.
0
⌫
Continue →
Amount
Large display with quick-amount chips to reduce keypad interaction
9:41●●
Review Transfer
SM
Sarah Mitchell
•••• 4291
$1,500.00
Instant transfer
Transfer feeFree
ArrivesInstantly
Total deducted$1,500.00
🔒 256-bit SSL
· FDIC insured
· PCI DSS
Confirm & Send
Summary
All details visible before commit — fee, speed, total, trust signals
9:41●●
🔐
Authenticate
Use Face ID to confirm
your $1,500 transfer
Use Face ID
or enter PIN
Authentication
Face ID as primary — PIN as fallback, always one tap away
9:41●●
✓
Payment Sent
$1,500.00
to Sarah Mitchell
Ref#FP824901
DateJun 7, 2024
StatusCompleted
Download Receipt
Share Receipt
← Back to Dashboard
Success
Clear confirmation, downloadable receipt, and easy return to home
Outcomes

Impact after launch

The redesign shipped over a 12-week engagement. Post-launch results were measured across completion rate, speed, and user satisfaction. Specific figures are abstracted.

↓ ~34%
Drop-off reduction
Fewer users abandoned mid-flow after the redesign
4→ sec
Avg. completion time
From over 4 minutes to under a minute
↑ Sig.
Task completion rate
Meaningful uplift in usability testing sessions
4.7 ★
Post-launch rating
App Store & Play Store combined, up from 2.1
Reflections

What I'd take forward

Three honest takeaways from this project.

Research
Watch the sessions, not just the funnel
Drop-off data told us where users left. Session replays told us why — moments of hesitation that numbers alone wouldn't have surfaced. Both are necessary.
Design
Trust is a design problem too
Surfacing fee info and security signals before the confirmation step — not after — reduced anxiety and increased completion. Transparency isn't just ethical, it's functional.
Process
Merge screens only after testing
Combining recipient and amount entry felt right on paper. Early testing showed some users found it cognitively heavy. A small progressive-disclosure tweak resolved it — but only because we tested early enough to change it.