Reserve Account
Ensures small and medium-sized businesses could process refunds during low cash periods by holding funds upfront, increasing refund success rates by 13%.
Role
Product Designer
Researcher
Responsibilities
Discovery Research
UX/UI Design
Usability Test
Design System
Team
1 Product Owner
3 Developers
Timeline
6 Weeks, 2023
APay is a fintech company. Using its merchant app, merchants can:
Currently, when refunds exceed a business’s account balance, transactions enter a “pending” state. During low sales periods, many businesses face cash flow issues and delay adding funds, which leads to failed refunds and an average success rate of only 84%—below the industry benchmark of 90%. This not only damages businesses’ reputations and erodes customer trust, but also reduces APay’s merchant retention.
Reserve Account
Access from the homepage. Educational content helps merchants onboard to the Reserve Account
Digital Funding Process
With just a few clicks, you can add money to the Reserve Account as a refund buffer
Auto-refill
Once auto-refill is set up, it automatically tops up the Reserve Account from a linked bank account when the balance drops below the required amount
Timely Alerts
SMS alerts keep merchants instantly updated, even offline, with a direct action link for quick and effortless responses
+13%
Refund success rate
At the start, the team had no clear solution. I took the initiative to analyze 5 global competitors to understand industry practices and proposed 3 potential solutions. After evaluating them with the cross-functional team, we selected the 'Reserve Account,' which holds a fixed amount of business funds upfront as a buffer to ensure refunds during low-cash periods. To maintain this balance, we paired it with 2 digital funding options.
Define user needs without direct access to target users
With no budget for direct user interviews, it was difficult to define true user needs. Instead, I spoke with internal stakeholders—the customer service and sales teams—to understand their characteristics, working environments, needs, and goals. Then, I developed a user persona and used it to guide the design.
When designing the Add Money flow, I proposed 2 common patterns for non-tech savvy business owners. While the consolidated design best supported the user need for efficiency, the step-by-step approach followed our existing patterns, was easier to implement, fit the tight deadline, and ensured design consistency across the app. As a result, I chose the step-by-step flow for this release.
To avoid compromising the user experience, I aligned with the product owner and dev team, then added the consolidated idea to the design backlog and replaced it with a step-by-step flow aimed at future efficiency improvements.
Due to the convenience of auto-refill, we encourage merchants to use it, so a clear and motivating entry point is essential. I began by analyzing indirect competitors with similar experiences for inspiration. They placed 'setup' and 'disable' under a single 'Add Funds' button, which caused confusion—why go to 'Add Funds' just to disable the feature?
Since their Auto-Refill is tied to a subscription, making it difficult to disable helps generate ongoing revenue for the company. In contrast, our Auto-Refill exists purely to offer convenience.
To enhance clarity, I proposed separate entry points for setup and disable. After exploring options with low-fi sketches, I selected one, tested it, and iterated based on feedback.
For scenarios not addressed by flow optimization, I introduced alerts. Developing a 5-step mapping process, I identified 20 potential alerts across 2 tasks, 3 states, 2 communication methods, and 2 urgency levels.
5-step alert mapping process
Detailed design specs for on-time launch
To deliver high-quality designs on time, I anticipated challenges and provided detailed specs (flows, wireframes, assets, copy, scenarios). Also, I synced daily with engineers to ensure accurate implementation.
Design specifications + content for alerts
If I had more time, I would
