UX/ UI of PayPal — The user flow and basics of money transaction to answer why do we choose PayPal?

PayPal is one of the most used apps in the world and its founder Elon Musk and his success in the digital technology world speaks for itself. However there might be many alternatives to the PayPal app which can be used but non of them is equally successful. This is why I want to examine in the following one of the basic user flow structures of the PayPal app: Money transfer!

User’s goal for online money transfer

• Easy & fast money transfer: The main goal for the user is to find an alternative, fast and easy way in comparison to normal bank transaction to transfer money.
• Anonymous: The user wants to transfer money to family, friends or even business contacts.
• Low bureaucratic features: The user wants to transfer money within seconds, without much paper work from one account to another in a reliable way rather than going physically to a bank or doing “a lot of paper work” in order to transfer.
• International & cheap: The user wants to make money transactions among countries without a high cost of commissions as it is usually the case e.g. EU to America. Despite PayPal is banned in some countries most of the countries allow to connect their national bank accounts to PayPal
• Reliable & save: Despite the easiness and comfort of the app — reliability and the security of the money must be guaranteed.

In the following the user flow for one money transaction at the example of the PayPal will be demonstrated. The user flow can be divided into 6 different steps which are the following:

Step 1: Log-In or Registering

When the user opens the application on the iOS mobile you will be asked to enter your password if you have been registered before. Once entered you have to click the “Einloggen” ( Log-In) button in order to get to the start page.

Step 1: Login Page

Step 2: Startpage — Sending & Requesting money

You are directed to the start page of PayPal with an overview about your current amount of money on your PayPal account. You will find The option for shotcuts to send again money to frequently selected accounts. You can also choose to transfer or request money. If you want to send money you can click on the button “Senden” which leads you to step 3.

Step 2: Overview & Startpage

Step 3: Selecting the account for the money transfer

You will find a search button on the top for the specific search of a name or person with their user name, E-Mail adresse, or phone number. Plus under it you will find a list of the suggested names of frequent transactions that you have used before. Furthermore you will find the connected names from your contact list on the phone. In this example by clicking on the name of frequent used contacts (username 1) you will be directed forward to step 4.

Step 3: Contacts & Accounts for money transfer

Step 4: Indicating the amount of money for the transfer

A window pops up where you can indicated the amount of money that you want to send + you can indicate a short message for the money transfer. Click on the “Weiter” (Next) button to proceed.

Step 4: Amount to be transfered

Step 5: Control/ Verification of the transfer process

A window with your anonymous bank details will pop up from which the money will be withdrawn. You have the option to click money transfer for friends of family or for business services. Choose in this example on “für Freunde und Familie” ( friends & family) in order to verify the process and accomplish the payment.

Step 5: Verification processs

Step 6: Overview of Payment Transaction

After the transaction is completed a new window opens up with the details about the payment transaction plus you may provide feedback as user how the transaction succeeded and give feedback to the PayPal app. With the “Fertig”Button you finished the transaction and will be redirected to the main user menu to step 2 or you can click on “Mehr senden” (sending more) which directs you to step 3 again.

Step 6: Summary transaction

Conclusion

PayPal has integrated a lot of great and easy features to accomplish a simple money transaction. However in regard to the recent development of the social media and creating their own currencies as much as the new age of block-chain technology — We need to think further. PayPal will be in future out-dated or it has to change its ways for money transaction. Securtiy of money is another big issue of PayPal — as money laundering or money transaction tracing is not necessarily linked to the national tax systems and therefore can be exploited. For now, PayPal is probably still one of the best E-commerce tools for simple online money transactions.