INSURANCE / FINANCIAL SERVICES
Streamlined billing for effortless self-service.
A redesigned billing experience that puts customers in control of their payments—whether it's making a quick payment, adjusting preferences, or managing saved methods—making the entire process faster and simpler.
Overview
Problem
Billing is a critical part of the customer journey, but lengthy, complex processes often lead to frustration. A leading financial services provider recognized this issue and sought to improve their existing billing and payment flows. Customers were struggling with paying bills or updating saved payment methods, as the process was both confusing and time-consuming. The client needed a solution that would streamline these flows, reduce friction, and empower customers to complete transactions online, without calling in for support.
Solution
We redesigned the billing experience to make it simple and intuitive. Key entry points were streamlined, allowing customers to easily find and complete their transactions. We reduced the number of steps in each flow, making it faster to pay bills and update payment methods. Customers now have full control over their payment preferences, making the entire experience more seamless and efficient.
My role & responsibilities
Lead UX Designer
Strategy & planning, Workshop facilitation, Cross-functional stakeholder management, Information architecture, User journeys and flows, Design reviews, Wireframes for design handoff.
Duration
January – October 2023
Impact post launch
Increase in transactions completed online, reducing the reliance on support channels
Enhancing customer comprehension and reducing cognitive load
From and average of 6 to 3, enabling users to complete tasks more efficiently
Unpacking the problem space
Heuristic evaluation
What are we even trying to fix?
Difficult to get a quick overview & navigate to relevant CTAs
The billing summary page was cluttered, making it challenging to quickly grasp critical information like the outstanding balance. Customers struggled to identify the relevant CTAs to update their payment methods, increasing the risk of missed payments.
Fragmented tasks caused confusion and increased mental load
Despite offering flexibility, providing 5-6 CTAs confused customers. They had to read and evaluate multiple options, overwhelming them and leading to task abandonment.
Time-consuming flows with multiple steps led to incomplete tasks
Completing payments or modifying saved payment methods took an average of 23 minutes, with an average of 6 steps per task. This lengthy process led to frustration and increased task abandonment.
Competitive Analysis
Drawing inspiration from e-commerce, travel, and service/utility sites, created an understanding of established norms and customer expectations for seamless, intuitive payments. This helped benchmark across industries and shape the design direction for the solution.
Key Insights
Quick and simple wins: Payment processes should be streamlined to focus on clarity—displaying the amount, selecting a payment method, and confirming the transaction in as few steps as possible.
Recognition over recall: Let customers recognize their saved payment info rather than recalling it, reducing cognitive load and simplifying updates.
Clear and consistent feedback: Providing customers with immediate, understandable feedback at each stage of the payment process builds trust and confidence. This includes clear confirmation messages and progress indicators, so customers always know where they are in the flow.
What are some billing best practices across industries?
Key solutions
How can customers easily get a birds-eye view of their critical billing information to enable easy action?
Billing Summary Page:
Established a clear information hierarchy, ensuring the outstanding balance was the most prominent, providing customers with a quick overview of key details.
Utilized grouping and tile-based design to visually separate related information, improving comprehension and reducing cognitive load.
Streamlined detailed data (e.g., payment schedule, transaction history) into easily scannable tables, with a focus on surfacing the last 5 transactions, while offering a “see more” link for additional details. This allows customers to prioritize key actions and navigate information seamlessly.
How can customers quickly make a one-time payment to remain in good standing?
Make a Payment flow:
Offered customers flexibility to choose payment amount, whether it's the overdue balance, full remaining balance, or a custom amount.
Increased convenience by surfacing previously used payment methods, while enabling customers to easily add a new one if needed.
Provided reassurance with a clean and straightforward Review and Confirmation page, helping customers feel confident in their transaction.
Manage Payment Methods:
Designed a consolidated, one-stop page that gives customers the flexibility to manage all their payment tasks, from updating payment methods for specific policies, to adding new payment options, all within a single interface.
Implemented in-line confirmation messages that provide real-time assurance, letting customers know their changes were successfully applied.
Simplified the previous multi-step flow (5-6 steps) into a quick, intuitive 1-2 step process, reducing friction and improving the overall experience.
How can customers easily manage their saved payment instruments and make updates?
How can customers on automated payment plans choose a preferred payment date?
Change Payment Date:
Saved time and effort by allowing customers to not only change their next payment date but also adjust all future payment dates within a single flow.
Added a link to their payment schedule so customers could easily view how their selected payment date affects the split of the remaining balance across future months.
Implemented a clear hierarchy of information and an updated UI to ensure customers could effortlessly understand and manage their payment preferences.
In conclusion
The redesigned billing experience has empowered customers to manage their payments with ease, reducing friction and enhancing confidence in completing transactions online.
By streamlining the process and focusing on clarity, the new flows have significantly improved customer satisfaction and self-service rates. The project not only increased online transaction completion but also minimized reliance on support channels, providing a seamless, intuitive experience.
Ultimately, this overhaul simplified complex tasks, allowing customers to effortlessly manage their billing needs on their own terms, driving both satisfaction and operational efficiency.
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