SplitBill: UX Case Study

Challenge

A group of friends go to a restaurant. They order food and drinks. Everyone had their own preference in ordering. Some items were shared among everyone while some were eaten individually or in pairs. Design an application to split the bill among the group.

Persona

Target Audience

• Collage going students
• Senior School going students
• Young working professionals

Questionnaire

1. Are you using an application to split the bill?
2. What is your experience using the application?
3. What are the pain points using the application?
4. What are the things missing in the application?
5. What are the applications that you normally use?
6. How do you split the bill now?
7. What are your pain points?
8. How was your last experience splitting a bill?
9. Which place do you split the bill?
10. How do you communicate about the status of the bill?
11. How do you store or share the receipts of the bill?
12. How do you document how much you own and how much is owed to you?
13. How do you keep a note of it for past events?
14. How you keep track of who has paid that past bill and who owes you?
15. What are the ways in which you split the bill?
16. How do you prioritize who to follow up first?
17. How do you document if a friend has paid for another friend?
18. How much time does it take for you to type a message for everyone who owes you watching the receipt?
19. Does everyone pay in full or in parts?

Interview

The interview was taken from some college going students and working professionals.

What application are you using an application to split the bill?

Splitwise.

What is your experience using the application?

It is difficult to convince friends to download a new app. They don’t believe that this matter is important. Some friends don’t pay dues on time or they forget what it is for. I mostly make payments with a friend for the rest of the group. They would prefer me to send them a message on what’s an app with a photo of the receipt. They don’t want to download the same app that I have or they will remove it after some time. This can only work if an app like Paytm which is essential to make digital payments also is with them.

What are the applications that you normally use?

• Google Drive.
• Whatsapp.
• Google pay.
• Paytm.
• ICICI bank app.

Which place do you split the bill? Where does it happen most frequently?

• Shared apartment.
• Groceries.
• Restaurant.
• Home delivery orders.

How do you split the bill now?

• On paper, in a journal, or by the calculator. It’s not by menu items, as there is very little time at most of the crowded places, we split the whole bill equally. This causes discomfort to others who ate less or didn’t order most of the menu items.
• The bills are arranged in one place and there is a discussion on the purchases.
• Mostly one person or two in a group pay for the rest of the group. They are paid back according to the amount owed.

How is the payment made to you?

• Wire transfer.
• Cash.
• Installments.

What are your pain points?

• There is a necessity to store history or timeline of bills.
• There is no place to store who owes the amount. The dues are lost because they are not properly maintained.
• It is difficult to remind friends to pay up.
• There is very little time to split the bill before payment.
• If no one has enough cash to pay the whole bill, one person has to pay the whole bill which is not convenient.
• There is only cash available. Mobile or internet is not there.
• Everyone does not have the same application. Downloading the application takes time.
• Paying for the dishes not eaten or shared.
• The texts regarding the status or any comments on the bill are lost.
• Having an old mobile cannot run very new apps and complex UI. The net speed also does not support loading heavy apps.

How was your last experience splitting a bill?

• Not good. It’s never fair. The details are not remembered or need to feed entry in mobile of how much I owe a person. Sometimes do not have cash.
• The bills become so many that a journal is required to keep track.
• There are a lot of fights as the items purchased were not approved by everyone.
• There are friends who always pay late. There are some who pretend they don’t remember the bill or ask about the details of the payment after a long time when the bill is lost or something.
• Sometimes the items are chosen, and orally the description on mobile is not clear, so a picture is sent on a chat app to understand the description.
• As we are all working one of us can afford to pay for a decent bill on behalf of others but at the end of the month, the money owed is necessary to pay the bills.

How do you communicate about the status of the bill?

• I need to constantly remind orally.
• I need to send messages.
• We talk about it on a meet but cash is not available at the time.
• The status of the last bills comes up when a discussion on new bills is going on.

How do you store or share the receipts of the bill?

• Storing receipts in a folder or in a journal.
• Receipts get lost as they get thrown by mistake.
• Take a picture and put it on mobile or in an online drive or email.
• Share it on chat with others.

How do you keep track of who has paid that past bill and who owes you?

• In the paper, but mostly it gets lost.
• In mobile, it gets deleted or forgotten where it’s stored.

How do you prioritize who to follow up first?

• The ones who owe the most are remembered.
• In the course of time, the ones who paid less are forgotten.
• The person who has not paid a lot of pending bills are remembered.

How do you document if a friend has paid for another friend?

• By a message sent by one of them.
• By oral communication.
• Noting it down o paper or on mobile.

How much time does it take for you to type a message for everyone who owes you watching the receipt at a restaurant?

• It takes a lot of time. The details are not complete. Need to use short names. Need to split the bill by calculator on mobile. I need to ask every one of what they ate. Some people change their minds later of what they shared and then a recalculation is needed.

Does everyone pay in full or in part?

Collage Student — Most of the time, it is paid in parts or an adjustment is made while paying for other bills.

Job holder — Paid in full, mostly at the start of the month. It is also better if a reminder is sent at the start of the month, money is returned faster.

Scenario

At a Restaurant

• Friends go to a restaurant.
• They order individually, for the whole group or in small groups.
• After the meal, the bill is ordered.
• There is very little time to calculate.
• An individual calculation of what was ordered is not done. The whole bill is split equally, which is not fare.
• A friend or two pay for everyone and the others pay back later.

At apartment — groceries, home deliveries, and utility bills.

• One or two friends mostly pay up all the bills of the apartment.
• At the end of the week or month, the bills are accumulated or a journal is opened (Paper or digital).
• The payments are analyzed. Items for the apartment, individual, or smaller group.
• There are disagreements on items that were purchased.
• An agreement is reached after a stressful situation.
• After the meal, the bill is ordered
• Payment is made in parts or in full. The money owed is given for next month’s bills.

Affinity Diagram

Brainstorming

The problems which share the same solution have been grouped together in each “HMW” (How Might We) category below. The user stories have been formulated based on it.

A) HMW split the bill outside and at home?

Very less time in splitting the bill in public places.

US 1: As a user, I would like to participate with others in real-time so the process finishes faster.

US 2: As a user, I would like to scan the bill so that the menu items are added quickly to the application

• Everyone can join in on a bill, put their own entries to split the bill, and also verify together.
• A wallet can be introduced from where the money can get cut automatically or sharing options needs to be assigned to those who will make the payment.
• Scanning the bill that will make it faster to assign people to a menu item.

Sometimes only cash available. Mobile or internet not there.

US 3: As a user, there should be an option to acknowledge payment by cash so that no internet is needed.

• An option to accept cash and settle the bill.
• Pay by cash, the bill can be settled by cash.

Downloading the app takes time.

US 4: As a user, I would like to do the payment digitally by a link received or sent by SMS so that I don't have to download the app.

• Get a link of payment or details of split on SMS. The payment happens on a webpage.
• A guest interface governed by an id.

It comes as a surprise that there is a shortage of money among a few members of the group. One or two friends end up paying the whole bill.

US 5: As a user, I would like to discuss with others and add some amount in a digital wallet before a split so that there are no last-minute surprises.

• Propose to fill the wallet before making the visit.
• The extra money can be returned back from the common wallet.

Bill split calculations are done in journals or calculators. Paying back to two or more is difficult to calculate and manage. Friends try to avoid the responsibility to manage dues and calculate the split. Payment by cash, online payment, or compensation in other bills. Dues are paid in parts by some friends.

US 6: As a user, I need a system that calculates correctly the total amount to be paid and to whom so that I can focus on payment quickly.

• According to how much the two participants have contributed, the division among the rest is calculated.
• The app will calculate the distribution according to the list of items added and the number of members.
• Notify everyone in the group.

The items in the bill are not assigned properly. If the bill is paid on behalf of someone, it is notified by chat or orally. Disagreement on the split bill and a recalculation is required.

US 7: As a user, I would like to have a message section so that I can discuss the updates and communicate anything important with others in the split group.

• The participants can all be part of the calculation in real-time.
• Any edit or update will be shared to all via notification, email, SMS.
• A message or chat section to keep track of what everyone is saying.

B) HMW remind people to pay up?

Difficult to keep track and remind who has not paid. Friends pay late and need to be reminded constantly.

US 8: As a user, I would like to have a tracking system so that I can know who has not paid and how many reminders have been sent.

• An automated system will keep track of this.
• Send reminder messages if not paid.
• Details of the next reminder with a date if not paid.
• Details of how many reminders have been sent and on which dates.
• Message or chat section.
• Reminder frequency set.
• The system will send automated emails to members who have not paid.
• Profile of members participated in a split.

Money owed is needed at the end of the month. Dues are paid by friends faster at the start of the month.

US 9: As a user, I would like to have an option to set the date on which reminder can be sent so that I can put it at the start of the month when needed.

• Reminder preference set for the start of the month.

People who owe the most are on priority. People who owe less are forgotten mostly.

US 10: As a user, I would like to have the option to prioritize the list so that I can focus on the most important tasks.

• Automate prioritization to remind more the members who owe the most.
• A note on the member’s profile of how many reminders were sent before they paid back.

Reminding on phone by text or meeting face to face.

US 11: As a user, I would like to send the reminders as app notification and also as SMS and email so that I don't miss any important channel to reach the member.

• Reminder sent by email, SMS, chat, and in-app notification.

C) HMW do the management of bills, splits, owed, and paid?

Pictures of bills are lost in mobile as not tagged or organized. Paper receipts get lost easily. The picture sent on the group chat needs to be stored. Picture stored in google drive or sent on email needs to be stored in one place. Bill spit on paper gets lost. A home journal to keep track of past payments and money owed.

US 12: As a user, I would like to have a central place where I can see all the important receipts and documents uploaded so that I don’t lose them.

• Auto-Tagging the pictures in the project they were saved in.
• Import from google drive documents and receipts.
• Stored in the app split group.
• A place to store pictures of receipts by taking a picture and uploading it.
• Everyone gets a notification in the group of the upload.
• The user will have the right to manage the receipts.

Difficult to remember comments of friends on the receipt.

US 13: As a user, I would like to have channels separate to talk to a member about split groups and other topics so that I can have privacy from other members.

• A message or chat section in the application.

The timeline of the bills cannot be maintained easily.

US 14: As a user, I would like to have an option to view bills according to date of creation so that I focus on the latest ones if needed.

• The application will maintain a timeline of the bills by date.

Searching past bills are difficult.

US 15: As a user, I would like to search the bills on important parameters so that I find them easily.

• The system will search the bills on parameters defined.
• Members.
• Place.
• Date.
• Keywords or tags.

Cash, online payment, paid in parts, or compensation in other bills. Dues are paid in parts by some friends.

US 16: As a user, I would like to keep track of the number of installments so that I can plan my options.

• Management of who has paid and how much is maintained by the system.

D) HMW handle habits of friends?

Delete the app if it is complicated to operate.

• The user interface of the app needs to be simple and to the point.

Difficult to convince them to download the new app.

• The application needs to be light to load quickly.

Task flow, Wireframes, and Prototype

The user story numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 14, 16 have not been included in the task flow and wireframes below.

Splits

There is a list of number of split groups the user participated in
an option.

The user can also search the split group based on name, place where it happened, and name of any other member involved.

The user can sort the list according to the total amount of splits from low to high or high to low.

Add a split group

The user can click on the add button to add a new split project.

Split group detail page

Assign:

The members of the group can add items simultaneously. The members present on the group are highlighted and the ones not present are greyed out.

New items can be added by any member which they consumed.

There is a filter button to filter out the list of items, according to members it’s assigned to.

The members of the group can be added or removed through the member management section by clicking on the edit symbol over the “Members” title. The share option is activated against those members who will be sharing the total bill and need to be paid back.

The add member screen can be accessed by clicking on the add button near the member list.

New members can be added using the “+” button to the split group and to each item added in the group.

The member profile can be accessed by clicking on the respective member icon.

Verify:

This section will summarise the payment each member has to make and to whom. The cost of the dish will be divided among the members who consumed it.

It also gives the details of the members who have paid the bill. Clicking on the link will give the bank transaction details.

Messages:

Messaging channels to each split group will be created automatically. It will contain details of the money owed or to be paid to a particular member. New channels can also be created which are separate from split groups.

This is the section where all the members of the group can send messages to each other regarding the split process. They can upload photos and other docs here.

Attachment:

In this section, the receipts, bill photos, or any other document or picture of the place uploaded will be visible.

Members

Here you see a list of members divided into three tabs. List of all members, list of members who own money, list of members to whom money is owed.

The list can be sorted to the amount of money owned most, least, or the number of reminders sent.

The members in the list can also be searched by their name.

Member Detail Page

The member details can be seen on this page. The details of the total amount owed or to be paid.

Message:

To each channel, only one split group can be associated. You can also create other channels to which no split group is associated. Private messages can be sent in the channels.

Reminders:

In this section, the list of reminders sent can be seen. The reminders can be filtered to one or more split groups.

Clicking on the reminder in the list, a popup will show the message sent.

A new reminder can also be added.

Statements:

In this section, the list of statements of the payments made can be seen. The statements can be filtered to one or more split groups.

Clicking on the statements in the list, a popup will show the transaction details.

A new transaction can also be added.

Settle:

The amount to be paid can settle with the amount owed. By clicking on the settle button, we reach the settle section. Here the groups that money is owed can be selected and adjusted to the amount to be paid.

In another scenario, if the amount is just owed or to be paid to a member. The ‘settle’ link is replaced by either ‘pay’ or ‘remind’.

Notifications

For any action being taken by other members in a split group the user is part of, the notifications to that will be displayed in this section. These notifications can be saved or removed from the list.

Pay

Payment can be made to any member in the list of members already added. A new member can also be added. Payment to more than one member can be made simultaneously.

Profile

The user can control the profile from this page.