Client: SK Planet America
Team: Susan K Rits, Head of UX; Jade Liang, UX/UI design; Grace Jungok Cho, UX design
Time to launch: 1.5 months
Slyde Mobile Payments
At SKPlanet, our team designed and built the first mobile payments app in the US. Using iBeacons and proprietary mobile payments technology, Slyde lets you walk into a store, make a purchase and walk back out without ever taking your wallet or your smartphone out of your pocket. Our intuitive UX was easy to use, our gorgeous UI delighted users bringing them back again and again.
Challenges
Aside from multiple cutting-edge technology challenges (iBeacons, mobile transactions, POS) the customer experience design was a big issue. Our existing mental models for making an in-person purchase did not yet include walking into a store, grabbing a basketful of goods and walking out without talking to a clerk. Yet, that was the transactional model we were beta testing.
Pain points included:
- Wondering if other customers will think you’re stealing
- Not knowing if the clerk accurately identified you when you walked into the store
- Worrying that you’ll be overcharged, charged from someone else’s goods, or not charged at all
Solutions
We conducted design ethnographies to understand how small business work-flow happened so that we could build a service and UI experience that worked with that model as much as possible.
- We built in redundancies in the form of messaging, text alerts and receipts so customers had plenty of information about their transactions, before, during and after.
- Using animations and with careful attention to interaction flows within the app–triggered by users and the iBeacons–we kept everyone informed during all phases of the in-store interaction.
- Usability testing helped us refine our messaging, interactions, work flow and merchant dashboards to ensure that our data and assumptions were valid.
- We iterated until we got it right
Mock-ups
Deals Section
Wallet Section
Ready to Pay
Intuitive User Interface
With mobile especially, the user experience must be simple and intuitive. No time to watch a demo or search the Q&A. Our designs are easy to understand the very first time a user sees them. And they’re delightful to use, so customers return again and again.
Excellent Results
Our designers are masters of visual communication and information architecture. Which means the work they produce is fantastic too.
