Product Design Thinking: Understanding the Challenges Faced by Users in Online Payment Experiences Using the BELL Application
A story starts from my experience: Define Users’ pain point for the online payment.
Based on the research, there are a lot of immigrants in Canada. It says that by 2036, immigrants will represent up to 30% of Canada’s population, compared with 20.7% in 2011.
Do you wondering why I mention about this common sense first? That’s because I’d say that our many percentage users might had been each slightly different experience on the mobile and online platforms on their previous country where they stayed. Also, they might have much different language skills and different knowledge about online payment. As a UX/UI designer as well as Product designer, I strongly think we must care about this could be one of the user’s pain points.
Returning to my experience, I recently encountered difficulties while trying to pay my mobility bill for the first time through the BELL mobile app. I didn’t believe it was my fault, and I also didn’t assume that I was the only one facing this issue. Therefore, I sought out other users who had experienced similar struggles with the online payment process, specifically on BELL’s service page on their website.
As you can see, despite living in a digital environment, users continue to encounter difficulties with online payment systems. In particular, the user at the bottom of the image shares a similar struggle to my own experience. They attempted to make a payment using a Visa Debit Card but were unable to do so. This aligns with the exact issue I faced.
Let’s explore the payment process further. Below is the pre-authorization payment process provided by a company. At first glance, it appears to be a seamless process that would work well for the majority of users. However, I personally encountered an issue during step #5 of the process.
Here is a screenshot of the payment I attempted on my mobile device. Unfortunately, I encountered an issue during step #2 of the process. Despite providing my debit card information, the system proceeded to the next page without displaying any alerts or messages. It was only at the final screen that I realized the payment had failed. This wasted a significant amount of time and caused frustration during the process.
I repeated the entire process multiple times because I thought I might have made a typing mistake.
While I understand that I may not be an expert in using mobile techniques, instead of feeling ashamed, I began questioning why the user experience was not accommodating for someone like me. The confusing process prevented me from making the payment on time, and I ultimately had to visit a BELL store in person. There, I was informed that only credit cards, not debit cards, could be used for making payments.
So, I immediately mentioned that my debit card also has a credit card function. It can be used as a credit card as well.
From this mixed-up information, some people might assume that they can use a debit card as a credit card for online payments. This can be especially confusing for individuals who are not native to Canada, like myself. I strongly believe that they would greatly benefit from clearer and more direct messaging to help them understand the payment process. Even if they encounter difficulties and receive popup alert messages, they may not know which information they provided is incorrect due to their limited experience with mobile payments in Canada, similar to my own situation.
How might we provide more direct and user-friendly alert messages for a wide range of users?
Based on my research, I tried to create the alert message with more clear and concise language to understand simple and easily. I think it’s important to avoid technical jargon or complex terms that may confuse users, especially those with limited language skills or knowledge of online payments.
I addressed this issue by suggesting the implementation of an alert message when the user selects the option to pay by credit card.
As you can see, when a user selects the credit card option for payment, a popup message appears stating, “Debit cards will not be accepted for transactions.” This simple addition of an alert message would make the payment process much easier and more seamless for users.
Conclusion
Recently, I encountered a frustrating experience while attempting to pay my mobility bill through the BELL mobile app. This experience led me to identify a significant pain point for users. The pain point, in this case, was the confusion and difficulty users faced when using online payment systems, particularly when it came to the acceptance of debit cards as a form of payment.
Through my own struggles and subsequent research, I discovered that some users, especially those who were not native to Canada, assumed that their debit cards could be used as credit cards for online payments. This misconception caused frustration and confusion when their payment attempts failed repeatedly.
This pain point highlighted the need for more direct and user-friendly alert messages, as well as clearer communication about the acceptable forms of payment. It became clear that addressing this pain point was crucial for improving the user experience and reducing the obstacles users encountered during the payment process.
😉 Thanks for reading to the end! I’m Juna Jung, a product designer at Ruda Design Studio. If you feel like a coffee chat, connecting, or just want to see what I’m up to, follow me on instagram and LinkedIn.
If you have any projects you want us to collaborate on, let us know!
