Wisely Pay for the underbanked
Timeline: 7-week engagement
Project Objective
1 in 5 Americans are paid through ADP’s payroll services - many of which are underbanked and using expensive, unregulated alternative financial services, like payday loans and check cashing services. This presented a unique opportunity for ADP to help shape the financial well-being of a largely underserved population. They approached us seeking to enhance their payroll differentiation and offer valuable services of an untapped market for their service, Wisely.
My Role
For this project, I joined as an UX and visual designer, I was responsible for creating the brand’s visual design language, key screens for their native mobile app, companion website, and a design system that could be easily expanded by their design team. I also worked closely with the lead interaction designer to create the architecture of their mobile app.
Challenge
At the start of the project the client was unclear on the optimal audience to target. We quickly realized that there were many stakeholders that had varying objectives, making it had to narrow in on one audience to serve. Through our research we wanted to find the right audience for this product.
The Approach
We conducted primary research through one-on-one interviews with stakeholders, qualitative journaling studies with using Dscout, as well as workshops with stakeholders and potential users.
Research Common Themes
01. Show me you know me
Our research showed that life events can cause people to re-evaluate their lifestyle and financial habits. Additionally, broader socioeconomic triggers represent opportunities for those with a lack of trust in banking systems. These factors lead to a desire for a more personalized and transparent experience.
02. Role of Time
Time played a critical role in the way participants talked about their finances. Whether it was in the context of aspirations or frustrations, people tend to associate time with money
03. Education as an enabler
Financial education was one of the most common themes throughout our research. Often cited as missing or learned the hard way, financial education was recognized by participants as key to better understanding their finances and empowering themselves.
04. Simplicity above all
Our research revealed that our target audience tends to have their own workarounds or processes that help manage their finances. These ‘systems’ are often overly complex and present more problems than solutions. This represented a clear opportunity to exercise the power of simplicity through a compelling UX navigation.
“It’s very difficult when I’m living paycheck to paycheck to even consider having to save money for my future, but I hope to have more money in the future”
“Cash checking places are kind of a double-edged sword, the fees are a little high but at the same time, I don’t have to worry about the account bouncing on me just trying to pay a bill.”
Ideation Workshop
We hosted two co-creation workshops where we brought together regional stakeholders, digital experience designers, and product managers to brainstorm the future vision & value proposition for Wisely. During these workshops we also found the desired look and feel of the app and companion site.
Style Tiles
I created four design directions using style tiles to the client. They were meant to effectively convey initial ideas to get quick client feedback. The client was able to react to these designs by telling us what worked and didn’t work for the brand. For example, they preferred to use illustrations instead of images, as they felt it was the right way to communicate their “friendly message”. The final design combined various elements from all style tiles.
Final Designs
After hearing the feedback from the style tiles we hosted a co-creation workshop were we aligned with the client on colors and illustration style. We choose green and purple as our main colors. Green represents growth as well as money and purple represents royalty and stability.
To help users navigate the app we use color as an indicator, for example when users were in the “Today” page the background color changed to a gradient that combined green and purple.
The final layouts are open, airy, and simple to allow the user to focus on the tasks at hand. The illustrations acted as a visual conduit between the user and the Wisely brand.
The Result
Our deliverables included hero flows, a site map for the mobile app, an interaction model, and key screens for the mobile app and the companion website. We also created a design system to support the development and future expansion of both products. The final design makes it easy for users to see their balance, see past transactions and save for their goals.
Key Features
We had three priorities in mind when designing Wisely: a narrative navigation, guiding messages and card utility.
Narrative Navigation
Three tabs – Today, History and Future – serve as the main navigators for the app. ‘Today’ is the homepage, past transactions are situated in ‘History,’ and savings are located in ‘Future.’ This nomenclature creates a sense of narrative and approachability .
Future
In “Future,” users can view their savings. Actions to deposit funds and create a new envelope are surfaced with priority. This envelope budgeting system divides the user’s income into different spending categories —summer vacations, rainy day, etc. they can be used any time.
Guiding Messages
This is where Wisely directly speaks to users by giving quick app tips, providing transaction updates, onboarding, updates about transactions, simple educational material, and nudges to promote behavior change.
Card Utility
Call center data shows that users are most interested in viewing their account balance and recent transactions. To account for this, balances and recent transactions are surfaced to the homepage..
Impact
The Wisely app has been very successful since launch. It has helped a lot of customers have a seamless and engaging payroll experience. The app has become a growing business within the organization and has expanded to other audiences and markets.
User Reviews
“Been using Pay Card since the initial launch; it’s easy to use and is very helpful with saving some extra cash with its ‘Savings Envelope’ feature”
“The app is great. It’s sleek and I find it intuitive to use. My paycheck hits my card and I don’t have to think about it, since it alerts me in real-time. I like the automatic categorization of my spending”